"To truly understand the signature weirdness of a David Lynch movie, you need to pay attention to the music. So many movie directors treat a soundtrack as an accessory to a film, something that simply supports or enhances a performance or dialogue, or a shortcut to creating a mood. But Lynch understood that the sound of a movie was as important, and at times more so, than the images onscreen."
"More than that, beyond the viewing audience, he knew the impact a song could have on the characters in his films, who moved through his stories transfixed and haunted by musical performances to which they themselves were witnesses. A song sync in a David Lynch movie was never, ever a shortcut to any easy feeling or vibe it was a long, dark layover from which you'd emerge into a completely different movie than you thought you were watching, unnerved and a little thrilled."
"Often, music brought Lynch's films to a screeching halt, as it did for the gangsters of Blue Velvet during a lip-sync of Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," or in Mulholland Drive, when Rita and Betty are devastated by a performance at Club Silencio. Sometimes, as when Twin Peaks' Audrey Horne danced absent-mindedly in the Double R Diner to her personal theme, you could tell that his characters were as moved by music as he was, in their own quirky, mysterious way."
David Lynch places music at the core of cinematic meaning, using sound to transform mood and narrative. Musical moments often halt or redirect scenes, producing disorientation and emotional intensity for characters and viewers. Songs in Lynch films function as events that characters witness and react to, revealing inner states and altering story trajectories. Memorable examples include lip-syncs and performances in Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Twin Peaks, and the unsettling lullaby in Eraserhead. Lynch's approach foregrounds scoring and song placement, creating layered meanings that continue to be analyzed and contrasted with more conventional, over-curated soundtracks.
Read at www.npr.org
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