The Sole Survivor This week’s song is “The Sole Survivor” by Thrice, the second track on their album Beggars. It was a strong contender, but it was the song we chose in the end. The song plays at the end of the film and it is an instrumental. It is the one scene where the hero is finally able to sit down and relax after a long ordeal and even though he can breathe easily for the first time in what seems like an eternity, he is haunted by images of his past. It is a powerful song that really hits home the gravity of the whole situation. The lyrics go like this: I can’t believe what I can’t see I can’t change what I know Stare out in the sun And watch all the light die And while I sit alone It reminds me I am not alone And when I close my eyes I wonder who I’ll see Is there anyone left here Or has the whole world changed? I can see the change in me So many things just die So many doors just close Walls fall and windows break And just when I can feel you breathe You breathe a word you’d never say And then, in the song’s final verse, comes one of the song’s main themes, and in a few words it sums up the movie: To say goodbye and to say hello You just gotta find the light I know that’s what you’re running from But I want you to know That for the time we had together I won’t regret Or regret the time that’s been unkind No more silence, no more silence at all I was made for silence, but not silence at all As I am running from you And I see everything at once All the pain of the past, the pain of the future And the time we had together It’s an important lesson for those we leave behind when we leave them in that state. It’s the kind of lesson that we would prefer not to learn or have to apply, but it is sometimes a necessary. This song is also important as it shows just how much distance and time can sometimes seem like the only way out. It’s a feeling that every action has a consequence and the only question is how you deal with it when you know that the cost is too high. The music and the lyrics are just two things that are intertwined in this piece and both of them are very strong elements. It is an absolutely powerful song. The Soundtrack Every film has a soundtrack and the soundtrack for ‘Suffering in Silence’ is no different. The soundtrack features artists who were just as influential in the 80s and 90s as those who appeared in the film. The soundtrack comes in two different packages: a double album called The Suffering in Silence soundtrack, which was released by DreamWorks Records, and an accompanying CD called The Suffering in Silence: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which is the original soundtrack that was used in the movie. Both albums feature many artists and the songs on the first one include some well-known hits as well as some less famous ones. The second album features the original movie score, which makes this album a real treat for fans who are interested in film soundtracks. The film makes use of some old music (like Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor) as well as some newer songs, with the majority of the songs being from the 90s. This is not surprising given that the original movie came out in 1999. The soundtracks were composed by Mark Mothersbaugh (composer for Devo and several other well-known groups), Randy Edelman (composer for ‘The Goodbye Girl’, ‘The Good Son’ and ‘Stuart Little’ among other things) and Stephen Anderson, who is the composer of the music for the documentary film “The Blues”. It was a wise choice to go with different composers and Mark Mothersbaugh’s work adds that certain “vintage vibe” that would have been impossible to capture with a score composed by a single person. The mix of the two is not bad though and they all come together in a way that works. The Suffering in Silence: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack The first CD of the soundtrack, which is titled The Suffering in Silence: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, features a lot of the same songs that appear in the film but a couple are a bit more memorable and I personally feel that they were better used in the film. This CD has 11 tracks, each one ranging from two and a half to four minutes long and all of them being composed by one of the above-mentioned composers. It starts off with “Agnus Dei,” which has an 8 minute length and was composed by Randy Edelman and the music is mostly acoustic, with only a little bit of keyboard being used. It’s an epic and spiritual piece that reminds me of a more modern piece that is similar, “Veni” from The Sixth Sense (which I thought was a great movie). It includes some violin and is not bad and it’s worth listening to. The next track is “Bassoon Waltz,” which has the title as the name of the track, which is not very unique but it’s a decent enough way to present this piece. It’s a pretty piano piece with a bassoon that sounds surprisingly good as well. The bassoon sounds less like a sound and more like a character, so it’s fitting. The tune sounds less like anything you’ve ever heard before though, which is probably a good thing. Then there’s the next piece called “Alice on the River of Eternal Love” and it’s not as good as the title suggests, as it is more of a ballad than anything else. The music in this piece is more complex than the previous one but it doesn’t quite work and I do wish it would have been more like the first track. I think the song could have used a little more development and it would have been fine to just leave the piece as it is. The next song is “Kiss Away the Shadow,” which comes out around four minutes long and sounds kind of dark, which is a good thing for the soundtrack, but I just think it sounds too repetitive. The song starts with the use of flute but after that there’s just a lot of guitar and it ends up sounding like more of a jam than a song. It’s a shame that the opening did not actually end up being the opening as it would have helped the song to sound more cohesive and unified. The next song is “I Am, He Laughs,” and it’s not as good as the title suggests but it’s decent. There are some pretty heavy drums in the piece and there’s also a lot of synths and bells, but there are no really catchy elements to it, which I think is a mistake. This song is better on the second disc where it appears in the middle of the movie and fits in better there. The reason why the song wasn’t used in the film is because it was included in a scene that was cut from the final version of the film, but I will talk about that later. Next up is “Chase This,” which starts out in a pretty interesting way and starts with piano and what sounds like a synthesizer. It’s strange that it sounds more like a 90s song than anything else, though. The tune is kind of catchy and it sounds good enough, but it’s not a very interesting song. The next song is “The Death of the Starman” and I have no idea why they decided to call it that, since I think it doesn’t really fit the theme of the film. The only thing I can think of is that they named it after the character of the starman, who is the only character in the movie that I would not consider to be a real person. The way the song sounds reminds me more of the time in the 90s, which is okay, but I wish they would have used something better. The next song is “The End of the Road,” which features some guitar and what sounds like some kind of keyboard. The song reminds me of a lot of other pieces that are less good but it could have been worse. This is followed by “My Dream,” which is the final song of the first disc and it has a pretty nice atmosphere about it, though I wouldn’t consider it to be the best song on the album. The song is a pretty good song and there are a couple of cool parts that sound like they are based on real guitar work, but it gets kind of boring at times, with it being too long. The second disc starts with “The Bells,” a song that comes out at around 5 minutes long. It has a pretty simple melody and it’s definitely the weak