It’s understandable why many would regard a movie soundtrack as a difficult disc to approach with any level of seriousness. When in all actuality, a properly crafted soundtrack can be as much of an exploration as the film itself on which it was based. So what’s the trick to avoiding the pitfalls that lead one to arrange something irregular sounding, or something that seems to have been assembled purely for commercial purposes? Those that appear to have a handle on this dicey enterprise of an exercise are experts in one of two major notions. The first is quite simply that certain soundtrack arrangers are Simon & Garfunkel-like experts in composing their own music (ala “The Graduate”, or such as with what Nick Cave accomplishes on soundtracks for films like “The Proposition”, or “The Outlaw Jesse James”, both extremely fine pieces of work). Ironically, the “rock-stars” of soundtrack composers are considered something akin to the skills of Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarantino; both of whom subscribe to notion #2 and seem especially adept at pulling out songs from the ether of musical existence and arranging them into truly interesting composition. Perhaps the trick is to look at such a project as the modern-day mix-tape (you do remember those, don’t you?).
Upon examining the track-list, and listening to it’s corresponding collection of tunes, it’s clear that this disc subscribes to method #2 of soundtrack arrangement. There are multiple tracks from a variety of bands of different sounds and eras of music, each offering their own contribution to the relationship of the films protagonists Tom Hansen and Summer Finn” The first track is a spoken word prologue uttered by an omniscient narrator that quickly sets the scene for the listener, before promptly exiting; never to be heard from again. These kinds of entries on a disc are often overlooked by listeners, which is unfortunate because when properly done, they can be key in expressing some of the vision behind said collection. Tarantino seems to understand this quite well, such as when he started off the soundtrack for “Pulp Fiction” with the dialogue exchanged between the characters portrayed by Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer from the film’s initial scene in the diner, a nerve-centre of activity in the film. In it there was a flurry of love, intense energy & activity, and quick wit; all of which continued on into the rest of this 1994 masterpiece. This technique as it is employed in “(500) Days of Summer” serves to familiarize the listener with the knowledge that the film’s male protagonist doesn’t believe in a healthy long-term relationship, facilitated in part by a habit of listening to old British pop music such as The Smiths (therefore offering a logical explanation for why two of the band’s tracks are on this disc, as well as bands like “Doves”). So when he does begin hooking up with Zooey Deschanel’s character, the contrast between his initial beliefs of love against those of his newly formed ones in this relationship of his serve to enhance the definition and importance of each.
After dealing with the initial Smiths-like emotional despondency, listeners are ushered into something slightly more upbeat as things gear up with a peppering of cautious excitement. Now, as most of us are already quite familiar with, there’s an exhilarating rush of excitement and intense liveliness that always accompanies the initial startup phase of a relationship. This seems reflected quite well with the Doves track “Bad Kids” and Regina Spektor’s quirky sass in “Us”; where things show signs of settling into something more consistent. It almost gives off a vibe that each party in this social pair can have a basic understanding of where they stand with the other, that things aren’t too in the moment, and that there’s a momentum that could actually carry things somewhere if they let it.
This soundtrack almost seems consciously mindful of it’s involvement with this unique take on the traditional “boy meets girl” story as it moves on to the binary pairing of Regina Spektor’s “Hero” and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bookends”. Both are laced with a sad disappointment that could have easily arisen from regret of having done something that’s almost certainly irrevocable. This dive in sentiment is rescued quite impressively with one of Wolfmother’s strongest tracks “Vagabond”, which seems to have a phoenix-like affect of resurrection, lifting up the listener from the previously-mentioned despondency. This dip/rescue pairing makes for an interesting tonal break in things, as if our protagonists took a break to assess where they were going, thus allowing them a more clearer outlook on things.
Finally, Zooey Deschanel’s quickie reunion of her musical outfit She & Him for the purposes of recording a brand new song “Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” exclusively for this film is a nice touch, it’s very fine music for an epilogue to a powerful relationship.
How does one approach a film that subscribes to the romantic comedy genre, knowing that the relationship featured is already pre-programmed for failure? Perhaps the answer to that is in this soundtrack, which seems to paint this impressionistic road-map of emotion as it explores the anatomy of this relationship; starting off in a relatively healthy fashion, but ultimately going belly-up in its quest for longevity. At the very least, this musical accompaniment to “(500) Days of Summer” makes for a great reassurance as it offers up proof that that there are still those out there that invest such serious thought and effort into the arrangement of this mix-tape-like soundtrack.
(8.5/10)
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