Customer Reviews

Paris, Texas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

One of the immortal scenes: Harry Dean Stanton in the desert, scrambling out of nowhere, a tortured Everyman in search of solace. And then Ry Cooder`s slide guitar notes, modeled on Blind Willie Johnson`s " Dark was the night" - when have so few notes said so much? The music and the film images fit like hand and glove. I do not know whether "Paris, Texas" is a great movie, but I do know that it, for me and a host of others, is one of the most unforgettable movies ever, with images and feelings that refuse to let go, creeping under the skin and staying there. The music underlines this feeling, with not a surplus note, every little vibrato inuitively perfectly suited to the atmosphere conveyed in the movie - love and loss, union and aloneness, and, above all, compassion . If the music doesn`t reach these feelings, the experience may be that of the 1-star reviewer quoted. But to me, this music is one of the most durable selections I have in my 1000-piece collection, one of the few that always brings rewards and new nuances when listened to.

Paris, Texas - directed by Wim Wenders and starring Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, and Dean Stockwell - is a truly astounding movie. More to the point, the Ry Cooder soundtrack is so perfectly suited to the overall gestalt of the film that it becomes a character unto itself. Cooder's haunting, solo slide guitar mirrors the immense, barren Texas landscape in a way that is spellbinding, exquisite, and unforgettable.

That said, this CD is "more hat than man" - as they sometimes say in Texas. Clocking in at an anemic 34:11, it's less than generous. The issue is compounded by the inclusion of 8:34 of dialogue - "I Knew These People." If you've seen the film, you know that this scene is the payday, the moment you've been anticipating for hours. It is one of the most riveting scenes in all film; the interplay between Stanton and Kinski is pure poetry. However, this is only true because everything up to that point has prepared you for it. Without context it is only a well-crafted speech, and including it here feels like superfluous padding.

I recently also purchased the 2-CD set, "Music By - Ry Cooder," which has bits and pieces from the 20 or so movies Cooder has scored in two decades of film work. This is a far beefier and more diverse effort, with many different styles represented. It too is primarily instrumental, very few vocal tracks - although some of the vocal tracks are extraordinary - one doesn't forget the Throat Singers of Tuva quickly! If you had to choose between the two, I'd recommend "Music" - it really has a lot to offer. If you have your heart set on the Paris, Texas soundtrack - caveat emptor - there's less here than meets the eye.

What I found was that by dropping the "I Knew These People" speech, and cherry-picking through the 2-CD "Music By - Ry Cooder" effort I had enough material for an impeccable 80-minute stroll through an "instrumental-only" view of Ry Cooder's genius, a place that is every bit as mesmerizing - and far more hospitable - than the badlands of Texas poor Travis, Harry Dean Stanton, had to endure.

I remember when I first saw this movie my pop-tuned ears heard some of the strangest musical notes that ever caught my ear. Ry Cooder paints a somber mood with his slide guitar, giving the movie another dimension for us to view the tormented soul. Excellent guitar work on this CD. The music has a quiet simplicity to it but is laden with ghostly emotions. He plays that one riff that just echos throughout the CD. The melancholy songs are interrupted by a very different, but beautiful sound of Cancion Mixteca, a traditional Mexican piece about longing for home. Morphing the country blues sounds of Blind Willie Johnson and traditional Mexican guitar he creates a interesting texture of music. The best tracks are Dark was the Night and Cancion Mixteca. Johnson's Dark was the Night ( I went out to buy that CD also) was the muse for creating Paris, Texas.

So the down side of this soundtrack is that it is only 34 minutes and 7 seconds and 26% of that time is filled with I Know These People (track 9) a monologue that goes on for to long...and he ran again... It's a good for the first few listens but if one listens to this CD a lot it becomes quite tiresome. It becomes more palatable when the guitar kicks in halfway through the track. Ry Cooder probable recorded the best soundtrack for a movie that I ever seen.

Ry Cooder's use of the slide guitar and dobro (one of he finest instruments in the solar system) captures the mood of the film like no other soundtrack I have heard! The loneliess and complexities of the character, Travis, can be felt through the musical notes. Harry Dean Stanton's piece on the disc is awesome as it preserves a major scene n the film on record. PARIS, TEXAS is a masterpiece from the master, Wim Wenders. This german maestro of the camera captures the soul of the west better than many American directors could hope for! See the film, get the soundtrack.This s a VERY SPECIAL masterpiece!

Ry Cooder drop-tunes his guitar and creates an incredible piece of film music. The title theme, Dark Was The Night are haunting and beautiful. But the real underrated treasure on this soundtrack is "She's Leaving The Bank." Creative, atmospheric and brilliant.

this is some of the most beautiful, haunting, and simply flat-on-your-face in the dirt honest music I have ever heard. I am an amateur low-budget filmmaker, and I stole a couple of tracks to put behind my little film because it is so rich and effluvient. It makes me cry to listen to parts of this album. I'm not sure what the reviewer above missed in the album, but perhaps she was expecting something else. It is very loose, very sparse, quiet, tinged with desert slide guitar and mexican border breeziness. And Harry Dean Stanton sings - how can you resist that?. It is a very personal musical experience for me, but some just may not get into it. I hate soundtracks, but this one is essential listening for me.

This should be listed under Ry Cooder's other listings so his fans can check this out. I saw the movie by chance, and this soundtrack is what made the movie. Enjoy listening to this while driving to Arizona in 120 weather, with the sweat dripping and the music flowing. It is breaded blues, fried in funk, and smothered in soul. Harry Dean Stanton's lyrics and song places you near the border! Excellent recording, I recommend for all blues and wanna be blues fans.

I think maybe I first heard this music from some documentary or maybe even in my own mind as I made up the notes driving accross the country enroute to Tucson Arizona. I know that Ry Cooder was the first to put the notes to a tape for the movie Paris, Texas but we have all heard them in our mind at one time or another. The slide guitar is the southwest and he made you feel as though you are there as you watch the movie or just hear the soundtrack. This is a must have.

There are two types of soundtracks, and this is the more significant kind. The first type gives you a selection of tracks in no way related but for the taste and selection of a movie maker. I prefer my own compilations usually, but there are some good ones, usually from films no one really saw like Sleep With the Fishes. The other kind are inspired by images and landscapes no longer seen, but felt in the songs that came from them. They open the same spaces within the listener, but these are no longer owned by the movie maker, actors and their characters; some story in a film. It's not about the film at all anymore. It's music that doesn't demand you attention in the three-or-so minute grab of a regular song. This is music that you put in the background as you look to open your soul and create something yourself. And it's only found in this second type of soundtrack. There's the whole genre of New Age music which tries to do the same thing, though rarely achieves it with such deft subtlety. If you liked this one, listen to Monster's Ball, though skip the first five songs.

I listened to this album (LP, at the time) ceaselessly during the summer of 1987. I lived in a sparsely furnished apartment, painted stark white, with my first and only platonic male roommate.
When I woke up, the album went on. The sun shone brightly through our south and east windows. The ominous, pensive sounds generated by Ry Cooder were the perfect accompaniment to my barely post-adolescent A.M. ponderings.
This album makes an unforgettable background to a life. The movie was good, if melodramatic. The monologue on the soundtrack that people are complaining about is the explanation of the whole movie. It is important. We have CD players so we can program the tracks we don't want to hear out of our listening experience. But I recommend letting the monologue track stay. Let it meander through your head. Imagine the scenes and the logic Stanton describes. Then apply the music to the words and you will see why they are equally deserving of space on the disc.