I Hope I Get Old Before I Die

The other night I was laying in bed not sleeping (and not doing anything else, sickos), and was thinking about how cool it would be to have your own soundtrack. Granted, this fantasy is nothing new and has been played out in TV and film ("Family Guy" and "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka" come to mind); with everyone having some sort of mp3 player, people can pretty much make their personal soundtrack list and walk around without communicating to the outside world.

It's still fun to think about, especially if everyone could hear the music and react with the intended emotions the "soundtrack" is supposed to deliver. Plus, nothing would build you up more than hearing music that further amplifies your situation.

Now, I could build my own list, but since it is a soundtrack, I should probably leave it in the hands of the people who know how to put one together-so here are the directors I would love to have create my personal soundtrack.

*I know that not all directors have a connection to the music that is being placed in their film, but I will work from the assumption that the directors I am talking about do, since they always seem to have great music.*

1. Wes Anderson- I was watching the Life Aquatic the other day, and while not a favorite of mine, it's hard to deny how great the music is in his movies. It almost seems that he builds his movies from the music, and often with variations of the original: The reworking of "Hey Jude" to open The Royal Tenenbaums (which went on for at least five minutes), the acoustic Portuguese renditions of David Bowie, Sigur Ros, The Kinks, etc. Anderson has the ability to use music to exactly fit the scene, without seeming to flaunt his musical tastes (a la Zach Braff in Scrubs and "Garden State"). No doubt my life would be much more cooler, whimsical, and ironic with Anderson at the helm.

As an added note, Creation's "Makin Time" is one of best openers in film, and thanks to this movie I discovered this highly underrated group.

Sigur Ros, "Staraflur"

The Life Aquatic Sigur Ros


Creation, "Makin' Time"

The Creation, Making Time
Uploaded by AnneHelene


2. Martin Scorsese- Hard to argue with movies like "Goodfellas", "Casino", and "The Departed". Scorsese has a bit of Rolling Stones fix (not as bad as Rolling Stone Magazine, at least), but he still sets up great scenes with equally great-fitting music. Scorsese's music does an excellent job defining an era or attitude with well-known songs, without coming off as lazy (which occurs with just about every romantic comedy) and going for the obvious choice.

"The Departed" Trailer

The Departed
Uploaded by delmedkenobi

3. P.T. Anderson- Other than the fact that this is another great director with my last name, PT is a great blend of the other two directors, finding a happy medium between obscure tunes that fit in perfectly and mega-hits that capture a time period exactly. He can get soapy, but it's always on a grand scale. Additionally, the studio scenes and subsequent miscommunication about "the tapes" in "Boogie Nights" is one of the great rock star delusion scenes in film.

"You Got the Touch" Boogie Nights



Is there a director in particular that you would like to have out your soundtrack together? Or are there particular songs you would like to have been playing during "significant times" in your like. I'll throw one more in: What song do you want played at your funeral (when they are taking your casket out of the hearse and putting it into the ground)? I'll have to think about this one, but as Wes showed, you can never go wrong with ANY Sigur Ros.