Five Moments That Show The Bond Between Angelo Badalamenti And David Lynch
The news of Angelo Badalamenti’s death last week was a catastrophic loss to the world of both music and film. His work soundtracked some of the most iconic moments in recent cinematic history, most notably in his collaborations with the wonderfully weird David Lynch. A day before the news broke to the world Lynch posted his daily weather report. Years of musical unity, passionate creation and genuine friendship came to a conclusion with his simple statement ‘today, no music’ followed by a long and painful silence.
The skill of Badalamenti was his ability to elevate the genius of Lynch’s directorial style and emphasise their emotional impact. The themes of Lynch’s work swerve from society’s seedy and seductive underbelly to moments of intimate, genuine human emotion and Badalamenti expertly created the sonic textures that were necessary to make these scenes resonate. This is perhaps most clearly embodied in Lynch and Badalamenti’s collaboration on Twin Peaks’ ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’, which combines murky and dark tones with a tragic yet beautiful piano line that eventually fades, once again, into the gloom. Much like the complex life of the intoxicatingly troubled Laura Palmer, Badalamenti created a track filled with fear and uncertainty running parallel to moments of hope and beauty.
The following are a just a handful of the moments in Lynch’s work in which Badalamenti’s style was perfectly on cue.
—
Twin Peaks S3, E3 (2017) – Bobby sees Laura Palmer’s picture
‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’ was so heavily played in the original series’ of Twin Peaks that it’s absence in the first three episodes of the show’s revival gave audiences an uncanny sense of something being missing. The characters that they saw looked familiar but had clearly changed, and the feel of the town was at odds with that of the episodes that had aired 26 years prior. This shifted in one emotional moment, as Bobby sees a portrait of Laura Palmer and memories come flooding back, perfectly accompanied by the ageless track composed by Badalamenti decades prior.
This scene is a key insight into the way Badalamenti’s compositions compliment Lynch’s directorial style, taking vulnerable moments and heightening their emotional impact. The meaning of ‘Laura Palmer’s Theme’ developed alongside the show and was often used for particularly poignant scenes for a variety of characters. Bobby, who is introduced at the start of the series as relatively ignorant and unlikeable, has shifted into a far more nuanced and vulnerable individual as a result of Laura’s death.
The recurrent use of Badalamenti’s tracks highlight the ways in which Laura’s absence has caused such shifts for those around her, and emphasises the way in which it continues to haunt them still.
—
Blue Velvet (1986) – Frank’s Return
Blue Velvet was Badalamenti and Lynch’s first collaborative work, and it is a masterful display of the way in which Badalamenti understood and accentuated the balance of tension and release that is so crucial to Lynch’s films. There are many brilliant musical moments in this film, and the title credit theme is arguably the most dramatic and beautiful of Lynch’s film themes. However, perhaps where Badalamenti truly shines though is in his ability to expand upon and embody the distinct characters of the film, particularly seen with it’s villain Frank.
Frank is one of the most brilliantly written, psychopathic criminals seen in cinema. In the terrifying scene that occurs towards the film’s end, Frank returns to his apartment with the protagonist Jeff hiding in his cupboard. Badalamenti brilliantly combines periods of quiet with moments of intensity. As Frank rants and raves the score mutes down to allow his harrowing and deranged words to take true effect. As his physical behaviour becomes more crucial to the scene the music swells culminating in the most dramatic and satisfying villain deaths in recent cinematic history.
—
Twin Peaks S1, E2 (1990) – Audrey’s Dance
Early into the first season of Twin Peaks as audiences were still beginning to grasp the atmosphere of this surreal and alluring town, Audrey Horne, one of the most enigmatic protagonists of recent TV history, begins to sway to a tune, stating “God I love this music, isn’t it too dreamy?” The trance-like scene that follows involves the bewitching Audrey swaying, lost in the music, while the rest of the townsfolk look on bemused.
According to Sherilyn Fenn, who played Audrey, the scene was essentially made up on the spot, and she had never even heard the track before. Fenn states that Lynch told her “you’re just gonna stand and start to groove to this really cool, sexy, jazzy thing that Angelo and I just wrote! It’s Audrey’s theme and you’re gonna get lost in the music.”
This track embodies many of the key elements that Badalamenti’s music brought to the series. It is seductive, mysterious and constantly intriguing in a quintessentially cool way, much like Audrey herself. It also encapsulates the symbiotic nature of the show’s characters and Badalamenti’s compositions. The track wasn’t originally written for Audrey and is heavily used in scenes with other characters, especially Bobby.
The music highlights the overlapping natures of the show’s complex and mysterious characters, and the way in which characters themselves change and develop to align with the music’s mysterious tones.
—
Mulholland Drive (2001) – Title Sequence
Considered by many to be Lynch’s most important work, Mulholland Drive’s opening scene juxtaposes swinging upbeat music with a hazy, dark title sequence that sets the mood for the rest of the film. Badalamenti masterfully pulls darker tones through the swinging intro, which leads to the bright and colourful imagery giving way to the murky underworld beneath it.
Many of the aspects of his earlier collaborations with Lynch are apparent in the soundtrack for this work, but his ability to create a sense of emotion or dread without the necessary logical attributes are masterfully at play within Mulholland Drive, highlighting the mysterious and seemingly illogical themes that are central to the film’s narrative.
—
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) – Closing Scene / ‘The Voice of Love’
Many consider the score to Fire Walk With Me to be one of Badalamenti and Lynch’s greatest collaborative achievements. It achieves new levels of sleaziness but swells with incredible moments of emotional intensity. Arguably the most moving scene of Lynch’s entire filmography comes at the end of the film, which provides a remarkable insight into the period leading up to the death of Laura Palmer. The arc of the series, from viewing Laura as an innocent yet troubled teenage girl to understanding the pain and difficulty she was forced to endure in her life, is brought to a stunning conclusion.
Badalamenti’s score is crucial in capturing the pure euphoria felt by Laura as she realises that her suffering is over, shifting the scene away from earthy pains into a space of divine tranquillity. The crucial elements of Lynch’s previous sinister Red Room scenes are there, but Badalamenti’s score has complete dictation over the tone. Orchestral harmonies rise and fall, swelling to a state of bliss that leaves the film’s ending tone on a tragic high, so different to the brutal death we know Laura was forced to endure.
—
Words: Eve Boothroyd