The Wicker Man (soundtrack)
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''The Wicker Man'' is the soundtrack to the 1973 film of the same name. Composed, arranged and recorded by Paul Giovanni and
Magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...
, it contains folk songs performed by characters in the film (including some by members of the cast). For example, Lesley Mackie, who plays the character of Daisy in the film, sings the opening song, and various others in the CD Soundtrack.


Background and content

The songs were arranged to hint at a pre-Christian pagan European culture and vary between traditional songs, original Giovanni compositions and even nursery rhyme in "
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest printed version of which dates from around 1744. The words have not changed very much in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody ''Ah! vous dir ...
". Musicians forming the folk band in the film included Michael Cole (Bassoon and concertina) and Ian Cutler (Violin). This mix of songs contributes to the film's atmosphere, contrasting rabble-rousing songs that depict the island's community like "The Landlord's Daughter" and the child-sung "Maypole" with the sinister "Fire Leap" and the erotic "
Willow's Song "Willow's Song" is a ballad by American composer Paul Giovanni for the 1973 film ''The Wicker Man'' It is the best-known song from the film, and it is sometimes referred to as "The Wicker Man Song", although the film contains many other songs. T ...
" before culminating in the islanders' rendition of the
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...
" Sumer Is Icumen In". The opening music and "Corn Rigs" are arrangements of the
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
ballads "The Highland Widow's Lament" and "Rigs O' Barley", respectively. The instrumental parts of the score are based on traditional Scottish, Irish, and English tunes such as "Miri it is" the oldest surviving middle English song fragment, the "Struan Robertson's Rant" strathspey (plays while Sgt. Howie searches the ship for Rowan), the "Tenpenny Bit" jig (Plays while Lord Summerisle and MacGregor prepare for the festivities), and "Drowsy Maggie" reel (plays while Sgt. Howie searches a house for Rowan). "Chop Chop" is based on the nursery rhyme " Oranges and Lemons". "Procession" is an arrangement of the tune of the
Child Ballad The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...
" Fause Foodrage".The tune of this song is falsely attributed to
Willie o Winsbury Willie O Winsbury is Child Ballad 100 (Roud 64). The song, of which there are many variants, is a traditional Scottish ballad that dates from at least 1775, and is known under several other names, including "Johnnie Barbour" and "Lord Thomas of Win ...
since the 60s as stated o
this thread on Mudcat
 The psychedelic guitar solo which plays while Sgt. Howie is looking for Rowan, on the track "Searching for Rowan," is based on the melody of the Jacobite song "
Hey, Johnnie Cope, are Ye Waking Yet? "Hey, Johnnie Cope, are Ye Wauking Yet?", also "Hey Johnnie Cope, are you awake yet?", "Heigh! Johnnie Cowp, are ye wauken yet?", or simply "Johnny Cope" is a Scottish folk song that also features in bagpipe recitals. Background The song commemor ...
". Although some of the music is Scottish, and the film is set in the
Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebri ...
, no traditional
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
numbers are featured.


Release

The soundtrack was unavailable until a 1998 release on
Trunk Records Trunk Records is a British independent record label, which specialises mainly in lost film scores, unreleased TV music, library music, old advertising jingles, art, sexploitation and kitsch releases. It was founded in 1995 by Jonny Trunk, and ...
of a mono album dubbed from the music and effects tapes at Pinewood, from the shorter original cut of the film (hence missing the song "Gently Johnny"). It was not until 2002 that Silva Screen Records released a stereo version using cues from the tape held by Gary Carpenter, mixed with recordings from the first
Trunk Records Trunk Records is a British independent record label, which specialises mainly in lost film scores, unreleased TV music, library music, old advertising jingles, art, sexploitation and kitsch releases. It was founded in 1995 by Jonny Trunk, and ...
release. This release includes "Gently Johnny" and the missing lines from "
Willow's Song "Willow's Song" is a ballad by American composer Paul Giovanni for the 1973 film ''The Wicker Man'' It is the best-known song from the film, and it is sometimes referred to as "The Wicker Man Song", although the film contains many other songs. T ...
". A sheet music album of the soundtrack is also available, published by Summerisle Songs. Titled "The Wicker Man Complete Piano Songbook" the book features all the songs and music from the film, arranged for piano, voice and guitar.


Reception

Jason Nickey, reviewing the album for ''
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
'' picked "Gently Johnny", "Maypole" and "Willow's Song" as highlights. "Paul Giovanni, together with Magnet," he writes, "uses flutes, lyres, harmonicas, and guitars in a mixture of original and traditional material to create a mysterious and sinister world that comes to life apart from the film." Chris Jones wrote for ''
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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'' that just as the "cult" film "has now been rightly placed in the pantheon of great celluloid ..its soundtrack deserves the same accolades." He notes that the "lilting (how come folk is always lilting?) melodies of numbers like ''Corn Rigs'', ''Gently Johnny'' and ''Willow's Song'' are stuffed with a vaguely sinister eroticism, reflecting Woodward's unease as he scratches the tranquil surface of the island community to discover its sinister secret." "Maybe it takes a foreigner to get to the dark heart of much of our indigenous music," he concludes, "but it's a darkness suffused with beauty. Coupled to the original incidental music ..this is a vital document of a time when the UK could still produce classic cinema. It's also a really fine album." TightPurpleShirt reviewed the 1998 version of the album for ''
Head Heritage Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...
'' and called it an "incredible soundtrack", despite criticizing the exclusion of "Gently Johnny". He notes that the tracks "cover everything from traditional folk music, performed by MAGNET ..Some very, very surreal sound effect sequences and some mildly
psyche Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
icguitar work Tere is also a track called Hum which if extended across a whole CD could be marketed by any number of
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groups as their best album to date. The whole things a head fuk icfrom start to finish and its glorious."


Legacy


Influence

In 2013, ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...
'' ranked the soundtrack 11th on their list of "40 Movie Soundtracks That Changed Alternative Music", writing: "The soundtrack from American songwriter Paul Giovanni reveled in the British folk idiom that bands like Pentangle had revitalized, weaving together standards as well as "Baa Baa Black Sheep," no doubt influencing
freak-folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Char ...
ers like Devendra Banhart and
Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Northern California, Newsom was classically trained on the harp in her youth and began her musical career as a keyboardist in the San Francis ...
. Yet for all its pastoral sounds, there was an uncanny eeriness lurking at the edges, a childlike innocence mixed with malice, anticipating the aesthetics of both
Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (musician), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin ( ...
and
Broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...
." In 2004 indie/folk/electronia experimenter
Momus Momus (; Ancient Greek: Μῶμος ''Momos'') in Greek mythology was the personification of satire and mockery, two stories about whom figure among Aesop's Fables. During the Renaissance, several literary works used him as a mouthpiece for their ...
and French singer Anne Laplantine collaborated on an album of songs Summerisle Momus / Nick Currie said the project acknowledged "a tip of the hat there to The Wicker Man's Lord Summerisle" without being about the film or some kind of concept album, rather it featured an imagined folk-pop born of the tradition imagined by Magnet, as an alternative Scots culture let loose in global electronica like so many other folk musics, as such "The Wicker Man stands in relation to
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Summerisle", the film forming a "parallel world" for which he felt a great nostalgia, "‘Summerisle’ indulges a different nostalgia, the yearning of the wandering Scot for his homeland. A nation, a home, a golden age: these are inevitably fictions, so why not make them far-fetched and utopian fictions instead of limited, fact-smitten ones?".


Covers

Some of the songs (most notably "
Willow's Song "Willow's Song" is a ballad by American composer Paul Giovanni for the 1973 film ''The Wicker Man'' It is the best-known song from the film, and it is sometimes referred to as "The Wicker Man Song", although the film contains many other songs. T ...
") have been covered by contemporary artists, such as the
Nature and Organisation Nature and Organisation is the creative musical works of British musician Michael Cashmore. The music of Nature and Organisation is characterized by a mix of acoustic, classical and folk structures met with abrasive electronic instrumentation. Ov ...
,
Mediæval Bæbes The Mediæval Bæbes are a British musical ensemble founded in 1996 by Dorothy Carter and Katharine Blake. It included some of Blake's colleagues from the band Miranda Sex Garden, as well as other friends who shared her love of medieval music. ...
,
Doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
, Faith and the Muse,
Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves ...
and the
Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, '' Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an article ...
.


Tributes

A live performance of the soundtrack at the 30th annual Brosella Folk Festival in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, on 8 July 2006, underlined the cult status of the film and its music. The organizers were looking for something to mark three decades of the festival and as such, for the final act of the evening, they assembled "The Wicker Band". This ensemble included many eminent performers from the thriving Flemish folk-rock scene, as well as the singer
Jacqui McShee Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee (born 25 December 1943) is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz-influenced folk rock band. Biography McShee was born in Catford, South London. Her musical career began as a soloist in ...
, founding member and continual reviver of the 1960s folk-jazz band Pentangle, and fellow ex-Pentangle member
Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...
. The band performed music from the film, plus a few selected songs from the folk and singer-songwriter repertoire that seemed to fit the mood before, shortly after midnight, the director's cut of the film was shown on a giant screen.


Track listing

;1998 Track listing ;2002 Track listing


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wicker Man, The Folk albums by American artists Folk albums by Scottish artists Horror film soundtracks 1998 soundtrack albums Folk soundtracks Trunk Records soundtracks Silva Screen Records soundtracks