should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

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claaa7
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should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

Post by claaa7 »

just like Angelo Badalmaneti and Dean Hurley, Johnny Jewel added nothing but brilliance to The Return. i first saw the music vieo he released for the title track "Windswept" a few weeks before the series started airing and i instantly got the entire project and I'm very happy that i did as it's probably one o my most played LP:s of the year (along with the other TP soundtracks). just like the vocal soundtrack brings me back to the Roadhouse and the world of Twin Peaks and the instrumental score brings me to Twin Peaks, the White Lodge and the world over and under us, so does Johnny Jewel's synth heavy nostalgia piece.

all of the music on "Windswept" was written with 'Twin Peaks' in mind and there could pobably have been room for at least a few more songs in the series imo, e.g. "Television Snow", "Insomnia", "Between Worlds", etc. my favorite song by far is still "Windswept" and I was so thrilled to hear it during the end credits as we Cooper lost within himself, not being able to communicate, having to rely o the kindness of others to even make it home. So I was even more thrilled when episode 6 continued wiht the "Windsweot" hthem as that scene picked up where we left of (perhaps the best example of how this was definitely not shot as a regular TV series within the episodic format, but rather broken up in episodes very late in the game (the transition from ep. 3 to 4 is another clear example).

from there we heard "Windswept" several times as Cooper's initution and cleverness started guing him to make sense o it - even within his heavily altered state. there's no denying that "Windswept" became Cooper's theme as Dougie in ep. 5 and 6 and i found it to be extremely poignant and haunting in every respect. just like they weirdly used the Blastah Beatz instrumental for Lorraine o perhaps more similairly the "Accident/Farewell" heme for emotional and heartfelt scenes that involved ultimate loss (the death and mourning of Margaret Lanterman, the acccident with Richard in the truck and the little kid, and that scene with Cooper seing Sonny Jim in the backseat while breaking down in tears - probably because he knows deep down that he will leave this family again soon enough). so as good i feel that "Windswept" was utilized in the two parts that it was heard in, i can't help but feel that it was somehwat of a missed oppurtninity not using it at the very last one more time, probablt two. That would really solidify the song as the true leitmotif of Cooper searching for himself in Las Vegas. what do you think and are there any other Johnny Jewel tunes from the album you thought should have been used (i think it total we got about five)?

finally the soundtrack stage of "The Return" has been a brilliant run. I would place the "Limited Event Series soundtrack", the album score with lots of instrumental Badalamenti works, in my top 6 albums of the year - defo one of my most played. the vocal / Roadhouse album is early a 4/5 album and it's a great way to get the themes and vibe of the series within a 77 minutes snapshot. and then you got the highly concentrated "Windswept" which i can always put on from front-to-back and be sure i will have a pleasant 45 minutes of listening. what other music from Jewell could you guys recommend?
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laughingpinecone
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Re: should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

Post by laughingpinecone »

Yes! Both the titular track and others like Insomnia, as you point out. But I wouldn't know where they would fit...

I wonder why Lynch went for an instrumental version of Saturday for Chromatics' second Roadhouse appearance? Did the lyrics not fit?
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claaa7
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Re: should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

Post by claaa7 »

laughingpinecone wrote:Yes! Both the titular track and others like Insomnia, as you point out. But I wouldn't know where they would fit...

I wonder why Lynch went for an instrumental version of Saturday for Chromatics' second Roadhouse appearance? Did the lyrics not fit?
I kind of liked that instro version of Saturday even more than the vocal version. But you might be on the right track as far as the lyrics not being a Good fit. The more i watch the show and hear the soundtrack the more i realize that the songs and their lyrics are far from coincidental.

I mentioned in my OP about the use and significance of the Accident/Farewell Theme but i just realized its also used in part 18 as the Dougie tulpa are reunited with his "family". Hmmm....
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Pinky
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Re: should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

Post by Pinky »

I love the Sax/Rhodes mix, maybe even more than the version we heard in The Return.
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Gabriel
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Re: should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

Post by Gabriel »

laughingpinecone wrote:Yes! Both the titular track and others like Insomnia, as you point out. But I wouldn't know where they would fit...

I wonder why Lynch went for an instrumental version of Saturday for Chromatics' second Roadhouse appearance? Did the lyrics not fit?
Maybe Megan Louise simply wasn’t available, so it became a Chromatics instrumental instead of a Desire vocal piece. Two thirds of Desire are also half of Chromatics, after all.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: should "Windswept" have been utilized more in The Return?

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

Gabriel wrote:
laughingpinecone wrote:Yes! Both the titular track and others like Insomnia, as you point out. But I wouldn't know where they would fit...

I wonder why Lynch went for an instrumental version of Saturday for Chromatics' second Roadhouse appearance? Did the lyrics not fit?
Maybe Megan Louise simply wasn’t available, so it became a Chromatics instrumental instead of a Desire vocal piece. Two thirds of Desire are also half of Chromatics, after all.
In one of Dean Hurley’s KEXP interviews (which are indispensible to discussion of song selection on TR), Hurley says they initially asked Johnny Jewel if they could have “Shadow,” and he responded by sending them a plethora of material that was currently in process with his permission for them to use whatever they wanted. IIRC, the way Hurley tells it, the instrumental of “Saturday” was an earlier version that eventually evolved into the vocal version on the album. DKL seems to have fallen in love with the instrumental as soon as he heard it, whereas the vocal presumably didn’t move him the same way, perhaps just because he didn’t hear it first (the latter is purely my speculation, but this is often my own experience when hearing new music).
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