Star Wars Movie Soundtrack - Album 5 of 10

Album Title: Star Wars
Artist: Movie Soundtrack

Album 5 of 10 in the 10 Album Challenge

Thoughts

Star Wars, the original movie, with no "A New Hope" subtitle, came out in 1977 and I saw that film, in the Decorah movie theater, 22 and 3/4 times.

That, right there, is probably enough justification for this album to be on my list.

But this whole challenge is about how these albums influenced my taste in, and appreciation for, music.  So, for this particular album, its inclusion in my list is about more than the fact that it's the album from one of my favorite films of all time.

I do not know film history.  I do know my history with film.  After seeing Star Wars a few times, I realized that one of the aspects of George Lucas' genius in making this epic space opera (it's not a sci-fi film, but let's not fight about that) was how absolutely perfect the music is for the story.  That, of course, is also a tribute to the genius of John Williams, too, but I give credit to both Lucas and Williams, because Lucas clearly recognized the impact a good score would have.  Bravo!

And because of Star Wars and its music, a couple things happened to me, where music is concerned.

First, I realized I could really enjoy music that had no lyrics.  That is, in a lifetime where almost all music I heard was "pop" music, accented a bit by the music I sang in choir.  I did appreciate a couple of pieces of "classical" music, but only a couple.  John Williams' score had pieces I could just listen to and smile, or sigh, or (almost) cheer.  I figured there must be more music like that, and so I opened myself up to the idea of looking for more instrumental music.

Second, I began paying attention to the music in films, and then eventually, I started listening to film scores -- other than the "musicals" I talked about in Album 3.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Man from Snowy River, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and on and on until, for example, I was obsessed with the soundtrack from Lord of the Rings movies for years.  Inception and Interstellar would not have been nearly as successful without their scores.  Period.

So, this one belongs on my list.  I'm so glad Shawn tagged me in his first post on this topic.  I love thinking about the music in my life.  And revisiting this particular album has brought up a joy I can really use during this time of isolation.