Why the Soundtrack to Shrek is Actually Genius

shrek is a masterpiece of musical storytelling there I set it this film and really by extension the rest of the film series not you but the rest of the Shrek film series is a fantastic case study for what film music can do this is not a joke this is not a meme I get it you see a video about Shrek and you're like oh god the classic music snob is gonna try and be funny and make Meany outdated Shrek jokes and just come off as a cringy version of Squidward having an existential crisis but I'm serious the music is Shrek is an absolute fantastic expression of what film scoring can accomplish I just I can't emphasize this enough I'm not kidding Shrek is one of the most amazing film scores I've ever come across but in order to explain it I kind of got to go over how it got here so since starting this whole YouTube thing and spending literally all my time either looking up thinking about or talking about film scores or at the very least something related to film scoring I've just been swarmed by people asking me what my opinions are about pop music and not like oh could you do a pop music review of my favorite tune but more specifically like what are my thoughts on when a film uses pop music either as an addition to or as an outright replacement for a film's original score and the truth is I've made multiple videos on it and I haven't been particularly kind to pop music in general it's honestly been really difficult for me to just talk about pop music in general let alone in a narrative sense without coming off as a neckbeard especially when it comes to discussing the more subtle nuances of how I feel about inserting pop music as a film scoring technique but then a film came out a film so remarkable that it brought everyone together it sparked a rare discussion where everyone big and small young and old all agreed about how that film had impacted our short time on this blue ttle Blue Marble and that film was Suicide Squad to be clear because we live in dark times this film sucks but don't take my word for it take it from this guy who is also very clearly gone to grad school I mean just look at him I think the chugging cough syrup gives it away this is Dan Olsen who operates owns and is free to command his will over the YouTube channel folding ideas and one of his pioneering videos is a 35 issue minute extravaganza on how exactly Suicide Squad sucks so much now I've used this clip from this video before because it's one of my favorite little clips on the entirety of YouTube and it's when he talks about the musical choices in Suicide Squad and I haven't even addressed the soundtrack yet this trailer style peppy montage relies heavily on pop music in the bluntest way possible it's a prison in Louisiana House of the Rising Sun by the animals harley isn't your plaything you don't own me by Leslie Gore Amanda Waller is bad and she's going to introduce a bunch of Devils sympathy for the devil Harley's a super freak so let's just play super freak an Aussie who does dirty deeds dirty deeds done dirt cheap now just to be clear what he's saying is that the usage of pop music in this film is incredibly superficial so much so that you could reduce the usage of said pop music to merely just the title and understand completely exactly how and why the producers used that specific piece of music in that specific scene but hold on a minute how is that any different from Shrek when he's in his swamp and he's treating himself to a hashtag self-care day we hear all-star buy Smash Mouth he's treating himself he's an all-star we get bad reputation by Joan Jett when Shrek's wrestling with the Knights he literally doesn't care what anyone thinks about him we get I'm on my way by the Proclaimers when Shrek and Donkey go off on their journey right here we get a song called my beloved monster that's a little on the nose don't you think we get Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah when everyone's sad even ends with donkey singing Neil Diamond's I'm a believer because well now he believes in love or something it doesn't end there this whole pattern continues on to the second film it opens with accidentally in love by Counting Crows which like I think is the best summary of the first film we get Funkytown when the group arrives at far far away probably because this place is so different to what Shrek is familiar with a song literally titled I need some sleep plays when Shrek is lying awake and can't sleep ever fallen in love plays when Shrek is stealing a potion from the factory he's doing something crazy because well have you ever fallen in love changes plays after Shrek and Donkey you guessed it change then the fairy godmother literally screams holding out for a hero into a microphone as Shrek is storming the castle which is a moment I've heard a lot of fans talk about being the most epic moment in the whole trilogy that's right trilogy so put a pin in this scene we'll come back to it but this film ends with Puss in Boots and donkey singing livin la vida loca which means living a crazy life which if that isn't a great summary of Shrek then I don't know what is so I think you get the point this perfectly valid and poignant criticism against Suicide Squad and it's obnoxious inclusion of pop music can also be said for what happened to Shrek but before we go there let's hit the brakes and back up for a minute why does shrek have all this pop music in it in the first place now plenty of films have included pop music in their score so hearing pop tunes in this movie wasn't exactly revolutionary you can look at a film like The Graduate which included a lot of works from Simon and Garfunkel or you can go back further and talk about I'll Casablanca used as time goes by you've got to get technical about it you could say the same thing for the Beatles Yellow Submarine or the wall by Pink Floyd if you want to get really philosophical about it you could talk about how the jazz singer the first ever film with synchronized sound basically just use popular music of the day I think anyone can think of a film that heavily relies on the use of pop music and the silver screen isn't really the only place you're gonna find this kind of stuff a jukebox musical is a musical that instead of using original music uses pop music instead so you can look at something like Mamma Mia which used songs from ABBA so this whole idea of relying on pop music isn't anything new but why does Shrek rely so heavily on those pieces of pop music well I think it comes down to the anti Disney message contained within Shrek so in case you're unaware there was some drama in the Disney executive world if you want more detail on this you can look up one of the dozens of other video essays on Shrek out there no seriously there are a lot of people talking about these films from the fan remakes even a Marxist reading on the first film Shrek Shrek really impacted people um anyway so the way the story goes is that Jeffrey Katzenberg and Mike Eisner we're at Disney they didn't like each other something happens I don't know I don't care then Katzenberg leaves Disney to go start DreamWorks something something Shrek and when you look at Shrek through an analytical lens it's basically one massive multi-layered criticism of the Disney Renaissance in the 1990s which again everyone has pointed out so there are a dozen and a half ways to read this maybe it's about Disney copywriting public domain stories and characters maybe Farquaad is an Eisner standing maybe it's a critique on the hyper commercialization of the Disney brand which is why even though everything about Duloc is coded to be a mock Disneyland when the town is empty it sounds like a department store to client no matter how you read it shrek is very anti Disney and it appears that the narrative itself is meant to be a nuanced criticism of the validity impertinence of the quote unquote traditional fairy tale and how it pertains to happiness to be clear I think Shrek as a narrative is stronger than all the Disney Renaissance films combined like it's almost been two decades and Disney still can't figure out how to make a self rescuing princess to the caliber of Fiona there but to that end seeing that this is the anti Disney film it stands to reason that the inclusion of these pieces of pop music served to criticise and undermine the more theatrical or even staged musical nature of the Disney Renaissance films if you want more info on that I actually have a video that you can check out that talks just about that so instead of having the character singing I want song or a villain song or whatever the hell this thing is that a Yago sings they just have pop music Shrek has no I want song in the opening of the film he wants for nothing he's perfectly content he's an all-star and to that end the pop music serves as a subversive commentary on the necessity of musical theater numbers that question the digests of the film unlike Pixar that also did not have musical numbers Shrek draws attention to it with similarly vocal music that does not exist in the universe of the film but here's the thing if we just stop here and just sit at this level then there's really not that much of a difference in how both Suicide Squad and Shrek use pop music we can identify how and why what pieces of music were chosen to fit within a specific scene based almost explicitly on the context of the scene and the title of the piece of music and if you've seen a lot of my content then you'll know that I'm not super jazzed about just plugging in something from the producers Spotify playlist because they think that's what sounds good or because they think it fits so at the moment it almost looks like the inclusion of pop music strips Shrek of the emotional impact that the music and have except that that isn't the case like hang on this scene makes me feel things it's good not bad but why is it not bad well let's compare these two scenes pay attention to this scene where Shrek dropkicks this night [Music] we're listening to Joan Jets bad reputation now compare that to the scene where Shrek and Donkey are running away from the dragon after Shrek frees Fiona [Music] now aside from having a wonderful reference to the DST ray right here [Music] this is original score by Harry gregson-williams and John Powell who up to this point had already worked together on films like ants and chicken run and like what I said with guardians of the galaxy seven and a half centuries ago this film is not explicitly pop music it has original score as well as even the most casual Shrek fan will tell you this film has a hypnotically mesmerizing main theme it reappears constantly referencing the love between Shrek and Fiona the main story a princess locked in a tower and beset by a dragon is rescued by a brave knight and then they share the narrative sense of what makes up Shrek [Music] and so naturally it comes back in the second film as well best for you baby you should do the same she's finally found the prince of her dreams but look at me [Music] now where were we oh I remember so taking another step back what's the difference between this scene and this scene well the cage match between Shrek and the guards that's mostly played for a joke right it really isn't that significant in the story moving forward beyond demonstrating to Farquaad that Shrek might be the best chance he has it getting his hands on Fiona in the most literal sense but this scene where Shrek rescues Fiona is where these two meet it's essential in establishing the foundation for the relationship it's a significant moment in the film it isn't Shrek farting in a swamp it isn't donkey peeing out a fire pit it isn't some other montage moment this scene really matters and the film does not trust pop music to be able to carry the most emotional moments of the story we get the main theme as Shrek approaches Fiona the genesis of their relationship we get it diegetic Lee when Fiona's trying to be a princess and ends up killing a bird she's singing our main theme in essence revealing her true nature in more ways than one and we get it when she's transforming admitting to herself what she really is it's the light motif that carries the significance of this story's moral and that is in essence why everyone says that the ending district 2 sounds so amazing everyone just thinks that this song sounds amazing but it isn't just this song listen let me see if I can refresh your memory on where that melody comes from [Music] [Applause] what we're actually getting here is exactly what we got during this scene in spider-verse if you want to know more about the spider-verse feel free to check out my other video below what I have a lot of video sue me but we're getting a mixture of holding out for a hero and some of the original hero theme that we heard from the first film because again shrek is coming to rescue fiona that's what makes this moment so intense that's what makes it feel so epic but what does that just mean that all the pop music isn't as good as the original score is this the part where I get to be all condescending and pretentious and tell you that I told you so and that pop music just sucks them on the reviews on the film well know none of this would work if it wasn't for the inclusion of the pop music and we know that because of donkey there's something about donkey that's very special throughout the entire story donkey is always incredibly sincere he doesn't care about the external pressures on him he doesn't need that outside influence he's totally comfortable being exactly who he is compare that to someone like Fiona or the king who have to literally hide who they are from the public and keep their true identity as a secret or even look at someone like Shrek who even though he seems content in the opening of the first film really just wants people to understand that he isn't what people immediately think of him people take one look at me and go ah he'll run a big stupid ugly ogre they judge me before they even know me but there's something else important about donkey he's an exceptional character in a film that seeks to undermine the Disney formula donkey is the only character that constantly and diegetic Lee or in other words within the context of the film sings and makes music the most sincere the most self actualized character in the story is also the most musical this creates a parallel between the origin of the various pieces of music that we hear throughout the film the pieces of pop music come to represent external pressures on the character that inhibit their ability to freely express themselves while the Original Score reveals their true identities yes we see Shrek perfectly content in his swamp but through the magic of already knowing the story we the audience know that shrek is lonely and isn't completely happy with his existence he'd like a friend all while we here all star we know that in part he's playing along with society's expectations of what an agar is we hear bad reputation when Shrek's fighting the Knights but that's not who he is he likes chilling in his swamp he doesn't want the glory of the center stage it's a facade neither of these characters intrinsically want to be going on a journey to get a princess from a castle they have to via external pressures even its love montage where we hear my beloved monster as much as these two characters are coming together there's a falsity to it the Fiona that Shrek is falling in love with has a performative element to it that emulates a false persona in part this development is fueled by Fiona's internalization of society telling her that she can't be an ogre you can actually see this pattern reach its conclusion at the end of the first film when we hear I'm a believer it begins with the original recording but then gets picked up by donkey this transition from non-diegetic original recording to a diegetic performance by donkey musically emulates the conclusion of the story the main characters are now accepted by society as they are not as they have to be through societal pressures we transition from a montage a style pop tune insert to the most sincere musical expression by donkey all while finally having musical support by the other characters mirroring how the outcasts have finally found their place which all compounds the main theme of the film it's that the path to true happiness is one of self-actualization that will most likely to physis ayatul norms in one way or another who cares if you aren't doing it the way people want you to if it makes you happy then that's what's important and when we see those genuine moments of confidence and sincerity in these characters identities that's when we hear the main theme as great as it is to like these pieces of pop music they're constructed to be the most popular not necessarily the most specific as much as these pieces might sound fantastic the necessity to appeal to such a massive audience mirrors the needs for the characters in Shrek to navigate the external pressures and conform to societal expectations but if the moral of the story is that you have to be yourself in order to be happy no matter what anyone else says then really that means that Shrek would need something more personal and sincere to represent his story like his own unique theme that's what makes the final conflict of the fairy godmother so musically in thematically intense the external societal pressure what Shrek and Fiona should do are represented in a pop tune that the fairy godmother the villain is diegetic Li singing in direct conflict with the originally scored hero's theme that represents Shrek's desire to not abandon Fiona for a life of conformity and this musical representation of the triumph of self-expression over societal expectations resonated with people so well that in an ironic twist the music that DreamWorks used to represent a film that would mock Disney inadvertently became their version of Jiminy Cricket singing when you wish upon a star but that's what makes this moment so epic that's why the usage of pop music doesn't suck in Shrek and it does in Suicide Squad it's because here it served a purpose here it was just awful and that's why we remember the main theme - Shrek regardless of how many times we hear Smash Mouth that's why the music and Shrek is so groundbreaking and that's why the soundtrack to Shrek is genius thanks for watching I like to thank my patrons making these videos possible the very special thank you to Adam Jensen L Cole Kowski claritin-d Jana Ananda Emmett husband Hayden Elsa Jordan Adams Karen Rosa now Kate Jane Mayer and John - Taryn pray lock Rafael Martinez solace and Who am I I'd also like to thank everybody who's ever requested that I talk about pop music in a movie especially for requesting strike - if I just saw here be sure to check out my other videos like comment subscribe if you really want to follow me on Twitter and twitch so you can have a musical questions answered live or you just come hang out while we play video games and if you really like what I'm doing they considered supporting channel on patreon but that's all I got for now thanks for watching

Channel: Sideways

Views: 2,888,904

Rating: 4.9460702 out of 5

Keywords: Shrek, Shrek 2, Fiona, Donkey, Far Far Away, Swamp, Allstar, Smash, Mouth, Smash Mouth, Dreamworks, Dies Irae, Sideways, Music, Music Theory, Film Score, Film Music, Pop Music, Dragon, Eddie Murphey, Mike Myers, Katzenberg, Eisner, Disney, Renaissance

Id: Q7YCTJxfcA4

Length: 17min 42sec (1062 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 26 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/shmeebz]

this was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be going in. guess I need to watch Shrek again damn

[u/bjx67]

I’ve always watched Shrek for the music. Because of it we played Hallelujah at our wedding, otherwise I would’ve never have known the song. It shows in Trolls too, the creators picked the best songs.