WHY DOES EVERYONE LOVE THE TWILIGHT SOUNDTRACK ???
By Chloe Rawlinson
As a Twilight fan, I have fallen victim to the soundtrack consistently appearing on my most-listened-to lists on Spotify each year. Clearly, I am not the only one, as songs from the movie pop up all over social media and music streaming platforms. I figured, since the quality of the movie is so heavily debated, that I should do a bit of a deep dive on the music featured in the film to see why it's so incredibly captivating.
The movie features songs from a plethora of different genres, but these picks still do a great job of conveying the same moody vibe as the setting, early 2000s fashion, color-grading, and characters do. The soundtrack of the first film bounces back and forth between indie-folk such as “Full Moon” by the Black Ghosts and “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” by Iron and Wine, to more punk-focused dance tracks like early Paramore’s “I Caught Myself” and “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse. It also features several singles by bands like Linkin Park, Mutemath, Blue Foundation, Collective Soul, and O.A.R.
Collectively, while the soundtrack isn’t the most cohesive stylistically, especially with the use of piano pieces composed by Carter Burwell for the score, they can still paint the picture of a dramatic, forbidden romance within a small-town, rainy Washington backdrop. Twilight’s soundtrack has an edge, like the visuals in the movie, and I love it. The beautiful, yet dreary Pacific Northwest setting has a special way of pulling together the different styles in each song.
While some of the songs are more mellow, the vocals still tend to grasp a listener just as much as the Muse or Paramore tracks do. A perfect example of this is “Love Is Worth The Fall” by O.A.R. Lead singer, Marc Roberge, belts above the instrumental, drawing attention to his rock-style vocals and lyrics that reflect the story of the film franchise. However, I think this could be said about all of the songs featured. I think the songs and artists being unique to themselves within the same general feel gives them each a piece of interest. I would genuinely call it a no-skip album.
In my opinion, within a relatively small selection of songs, the tracklist pulls a lot of weight, adding just the right amount of gut-punch to a movie that may not be as hard hitting on its own. For a film that could have gone many different ways in regard to soundtrack, I’m incredibly grateful that they chose a more punk-focused lineup with some intentional folk additions. I know that the general consensus on the movie is pretty torn, especially across generations, but in my opinion, the soundtrack should be on everyone’s radar.
