This week we are strong with the force, and we’re celebrating one of the most storied franchises ever: Star Wars
Standard Daniel here, and it may be a stretch of the imagination, but we at Standard Beagle are fans of light saber battles, the sounds of blasters, and everything Star Wars related (well, most everything). I grew up watching the original trilogy on VHS and collecting the toys (action figures), and I’ll watch almost anything our Disney overlords put out.
Now, the success of the original trilogy and subsequent empire can be attributed to many factors, but an undeniable component would be the amazing soundtrack from John Williams. His compositions took the films to unknown heights, and most of us have emotional ties to them. So for this week’s playlist, we’re going to have a mix of songs; some that are lyrically inspired by the canon (some only having single lines) and then other songs that are inspired by the soundtrack.
Whenever I can put blink-182 on a playlist, I will. ‘A New Hope’ is off their 1997 record, Dude Ranch, and speaks to a desire to date the Princess Leia’s of our lives, that strong fierce independent beautiful type. ‘Do It’ by Beastie Boys and Biz Markie has the iconic line, “Like gravy to potatoes, Luke to Darth Vader(s), I’m a souped-up sucker and I’ll see you all later.”
The true meaning to these lines may be argued over for generations, but I believe it spoke to balance, much like the balance in the force. For every Luke there has to be a Darth Vader, and for all potatoes there must be gravy. Nas speaks to how much Star Wars has seeped into our common vernacular, how we relate the everyday struggle to the galactic struggle, on a bonus track from his seminal 1994 release Illmatic.
And then we get into music inspired by John Williams, and they mostly fall into two unrelated categories for whatever reason: metal and chill lofi. There are groups like Galactic Empire who do metal covers of the soundtrack, and producers like Closed on Sundays who do relaxing renditions to study to. There’s also an amazing disco cover/homage by Meco, that came out in 1977 right at the height of the Star Wars craze. There’s something here for everyone, whether they are a rebel, a wookie, or some other type of character.
And of course I had to add ‘Seagulls!(Stop It Now)’ by Bad Lip Reading. If you haven’t seen the video, here it is. Watch this and laugh. Laughing is good for the soul, so therefore this is good for your soul.
I hope you enjoy these songs, and maybe learned something new. I’ll talk with you guys next week! By the way, if you were wondering, my favorite film is either Rouge One or the Last Jedi.
