I was on the train to uni this morning and had a bit of an epiphany. (I think best in the shower or on the train). It was one of those epiphanies so grand it was outwardly visible, garnering a few stares from my fellow passengers. Side note; is Dahl at 8:30am on public transport ever a good idea?
I’m typically more musically inclined as opposed to film, but appreciate and understand the different yet similar ways both art forms can reflect and inflect emotion unto its audience. I am known to go on about songs “hitting my ‘groove spot’” when a beat or melody is so right that I can’t help but physically feel it in my bones, and I understand that others may have these sorts of feelings in regards to a moment in a film.
I find that other aspects so prominent in the ‘feeling’ of music include time, association and nostalgia. The conception of my group’s final project began with talks of opening sequences and their importance in forming the identity and presence of a television program. I think these notions were subconsciously floating around my head, sparking revelations-to-be.
Back to my epiphany – after listening to ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield, the theme song to one of my all-time favourite reality shows, The Hills, ‘Echoes’ by The Rapture coincidentally came on shuffle, which happens to be the theme song to my current favourite TV show/binge fiend, Misfits. I’m not quite sure if this was a delusional response, considering I have listened to it as part of the show 22 times in the past fortnight (#noshame), but I was immediately thrown into the context of the show – I felt pumped up, mysterious, powerful, purposeful, and like something BIG was about to happen. I noticed the way by which I instinctively connoted these notions of the show to the song and inflicted them upon myself, and was inspired to listen to a string of other theme songs to see if they would have the same effect.
First I listened to “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts – better known as ‘the Friends song’ – and was immediately thrown in front of a fountain in New York with my besties Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Pheobe and Joey. I could FEEL the show in my bones. Next up was “Secret” by The Pierces, Pretty Little Liars’ signature track, and immediately a coldness came over my body, sending shivers down my spine, making me lose trust in the world and question whether ‘A’ was on my carriage. I finished with “Who Are You” by The Who, à la CSI, and felt like a badass crime fighter ready to take on the world.
In that moment I was convinced I had just found the key to an alternate universe/was given the ability to teleport into the TV screen/discovered the secret to time travel.
I don’t quite have a conclusion to my findings, but was just inspired by how great of an impact a small piece of an entire series can have on its audience, and how timeless this impact is. Listening to the theme song of your favourite show can, in a way, enable you to revisit and recap a series – and all of the feelings and emotions associated with it – in just a couple of minutes, simultaneously teleporting you into your very own episode.
I’ve made a Spotify playlist for you to have a listen to these songs + a couple more. Let me know if you catch my drift/ride my wave or if you think I just need a well deserved holiday.
