Trends are so strange. Who would have thought that a decade after its 1993 release that the Hot Topic generation would be eating up Tim Burton’s classic film The Nightmare Before Christmas? Yes unbelievably his creative characters such as Skellington Jack, The Rag-doll Sally and of course the infamous Boogieman all helped contribute to this film’s success. But putting Burton aside, his sideman and partner in crime if you will Danny Elfman clearly deserves some of the spotlight. I am not sure about this completely, but for just about every Tim Burton film I have seen has had the music portion in the hands of Mr. Elfman. Simply put, he is a brilliant man. This movie would be a hit regardless, but without Danny I can safely say there is no way this movie would have endured all the success it did. Which brings up the main point of the soundtrack, here is something truly special. The creation of sound has everything music should, atmosphere, strong melodies, distinguishable characters and of course detailed lyrics full of imagery. This folks is a soundtrack for the ages.
Starting at the introduction, fans of the movie will immediately notice a little more is added to the opening track. The description is a bit longer by the narrator, but it provides the perfect lead in for the first actual song. So let’s take a journey, meet some new people, and have our jaws drop in fright.
This Is Halloween provides quite the creepy and mysterious atmosphere. Its moderate intro provides the perfect amount of suspense as the vocals and characters come into play. The listener is introduced to the characters of Halloween Town, from the one’s hiding under your bed and stairs to the witches, to the shadow under the moon. Between the distinctive voices, the overall tone in the stringed instruments, and the wonderful fluidity of the music, one can stare at a perfectly blank white wall and imagine it all coming to life. Slowly but surely the characters introduce themselves before a chanting outro is upon us with a variety of vocal patterns and harmonies. Quite the epic opening is presented, yet it is only the appetizer of the deliciousness Danny Elfman has cooked up and created. The next few tracks are darkly dominated in theme, as the music maintains a hold onto its creepy and mystifying tone. The first experience of upbeat energy comes out during Jack’s discovery of Christmas Town in
What’s This?. It’s intro hints at a bit of a mood change and soon after is proven to be true. Things are upbeat, joyful, and one cannot help humming along with the melody. The cymbal accents along with a quick paced string sections are constructed to perfection, as a seemingly flawless section is laid down for the rapid vocal patterns to come out over. The lyrics show contrast to Jack’s previous experiences in Halloween Town compared to what he has recently come across,
What’s this? What’s this? There’s something very wrong! What’s this? There’s people singing songs. What’s this? The streets are lined with little creatures laughing everybody seems so happy have I possibly gone daffy? What’s this?! His discovery sure is one to remember, and of course he just could not keep it to himself.
Listen everyone! begins the special
Town Meeting Song as Jack reveals the new world he has come across. A vast amount of emotions are present here and done rather well. It is very difficult to piece together transitions this drastic which do not sound forced or rushed. Jack’s quest for knowledge and passion for learning and teaching comes out as he begins to discuss what he has learned. The stubborn members of Halloween Town cannot grasp the idea of the joyful occasion. As a result they often interject with their own ideas of how to turn the typically cheerful holiday into a massacre. When this occurs, the music shifts from its happy almost curious state, into a much darker and slightly ambiguous mood. This dominates most of the song, and with good reason. As previously stated, these tricky transitions have been performed and timed to absolute perfection. Lyrics are very imagery driven, as nothing is left unclear or vague. There is
bright colored paper, an oversized sock, and small toys. The ruler of Christmas Town is not left in the dark either, as he is described as a
fearsome king with a deep mighty voice…like a lobster, huge and red… carting bulging sacks with his big great arms, and on a dark, cold night, under full moonlight, he flies into a fog like a vulture in the sky. There are some brief lines in between that were left out there, but the listener has their senses pulled out to the extreme with the massive amounts of imagery and detail in play here. An introduction to Santa Claus is quite a trip when Danny Elfman is involved! Up next is another epic piece of music, as
Jack and Sally Montage mixes relaxing and calm sections with feelings of determination before ending with a sinister ambiance. The first sections of the track are very calm, yet one can imagine Jack’s character pacing intently around; confused, puzzled, but determined to crack the code and discover the formula for Christmas. About halfway through the song a section comes through, a little bit brighter, providing a crescendo. It offers a beam hope, as though suggesting Jack to pursue the intended goal. After a prominently calm section, that same beam comes out again, this time lasting a little longer. As the listener becomes sucked into this joyful sound, Elfman flips the switch, shutting off the lights if you will and leaving one in pitch black darkness. The change is done just flawless once again, as a new mood with a menacing nature is revealed.
Accomplices of Oggie Boogie come into play as Jack’s goal cannot be complete without operation
Kidnap The Sandy Claus. The argument between the three little fellows sure will squeak out some laughs, as they plot their predictions for what fate awaits a soon to be captured Santa. As one might guess, the music itself is laced with an overall gloomy tone, but when the main subject is about torturing children’s favorite holiday figure, it is hard to create a pleasant frame of mind. If there is one song where lyrics seem a bit more obviously in the spotlight than music, this is it. After the three each sing a main line or two, they eventually each branch off into ideas of their own nasty ways of accomplishing their deed. During the individual vocal passages the distant sounding music adds a lot of depth towards the creepy environment. Soon afterwards, the moment we have all been waiting for occurs; I present the myth, the legend, the Boogie Man!
Oogie Boogie’s Song has a lot of aspects one would not expect the Boogie Man to pull off. Considering his tongue is a snake, his vocal tone remains very nice throughout. Piano makes a great entrance throughout plenty of track. The keys work very well throughout the verse and the brass accents do sound wonderfully written and placed, providing some nice variety over the piano. Of course while Oogie’s voice and the music he sings over sounds great, the lyrics do not have quite the pleasant effect. Not that they are poorly written, but more so of the subjects he touches on,
Well if I’m feeling sexy, and got nothing much to do, I might just cook a special patch of snake and spider stew, and don’t you know the one thing that would make it work so nice, a rolly polly Santa Claus to add a little spice. Not exactly the song you should play in front of the young ones before they fall asleep, but nevertheless this song contains some superb vocal melodies and well constructed piano sections.
Well what better way to follow up the wicked portion of the soundtrack than with the touching, heartrending, and emotional
Sally’s Song. If there was a ballad on the soundtrack this is it. The Rag-doll expresses her feelings of both love and worry towards Jack as he is off of his adventure, racing through the sky. Her feelings that potential tragedy will occur set a bit of a depressing mood for the song, as opposed to the standard dark, gloomy tone found in plenty other songs. This one definitely separates itself apart from the other tracks as it expresses and pulls out so new emotions. While the female vocalist could be a little stronger, it does not deduct a whole lot from the song. The leisurely played string melodies are very stunning here, as well as the flute. While a short song, it is a good one as it has contains some new features and feelings. These feelings will eventually resume after Jack’s fall from the sky and what temporary high life he was living. Blame, guilt, and sorrow are all revealed as Jack confesses his wrongdoing in
Poor Jack. The atmosphere is slightly dark, but more so just depressing as Jack spills out his regret. He realizes how wrong it was to steal the holiday, yet he feels as though his intentions were viewed with blurred vision as he was only attempting to bring forth something great. Not only talking the talk, he soon walks the walk as he goes off
To The Rescue. Despite the bit of a slow opening, there is a definite sense of urgency during first section. The rapid pace stringed instruments along with the horns contribute greatly to this. Eventually as things come to a slower pace, there is a really groovy almost jazz reminiscent melody before things cut into a dramatic state. The pace quickens once again as one can picture the battle going on between Jack and Oogie. Atmosphere wise things sound very energetic, as listeners can imagine the two and their intense confrontation. Eventually things sound very desperate and the horns resemble Oogie crying out for help as he is slowly shredded apart. Once more one cannot help but to be impressed by how quickly yet smoothly Elfman is capable of changing moods and shifting the atmosphere.
After the rescue mission, Jack gladly returns to his beloved Halloween Town and is greeted with a very warm welcome.
Final/Reprise opens with a jubilant sound as Jack is greeted by his friends. After the brief sounds of joy, the music quickly shifts cutting back into
What’s This. Residents of Halloween Town are greeted with their first snow storm, and much to their delight. As they continue to be thrilled and intrigued by the snow, Jack and Sally spend some bonding time, eventually joining arms atop a hill. The two harmonize a beautiful love song about how they are meant to be together. It really is a highlight just because of how beautiful and touching the piece is. One can imagine the camera as it slowly begins to fad out, marking the most famous scene from the movie (see the CD/Movie cover). And if that was not a happy enough ending, the narrator once again graces us with his presence discussing how Christmas was saved and how holidays were never the same again. As the
End Title song comes out one is sitting in a paralyzed state, in total awe of the incredible music and story they were just presented with. The closing song is soothing, yet still maintains a bit of a frightening tone, providing a wonderful ending for a truly special collection of pieces.
With
The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack, the team of Burton and Elfman showed audiences everywhere the power and brains they both possess. While Burton created the characters, Elfman made them come to life, which is no easy task in itself. By simply listening to the soundtrack, emotions and visions will race through ones head. The beautiful pieces of music are perfectly arranged, and contain some of the smoothest transitions one will ever hear. It is no easy task to switch moods and completely change the atmosphere of something in the blink of an eye, but Danny Elfman does it flawlessly on a number of occasions. His lyrics are fully of imagery, and leave no piece of detail out. You can grasp a truly wonderful story here without sitting in front of a television for an hour and a half. Brilliant, breathtaking, and beautiful only begin to sum up the words to describe the masterpiece soundtrack from 1993’s classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. This truly is a soundtrack to remember and cherish.
Final Rating: 5/5
