Elizabethtown has a strong connection to music
For “Elizabethtown,” Crowe chose a soundtrack of authentic American modern roots music, and a mix he calls “The Great American Radio Station.”
Like all of Cameron Crowe's films, “Elizabethtown” has a strong connection to music. “It often starts with music when I write a script,” Crowe says. “I have a notebook I keep that's packed with songs that I want to be a part of the movie I'm working on. At a certain point, the notebook of songs becomes twice as big as the script - I'll have 50 songs for one scene. But the best part of the job is when you get into the editing room, you bust out the iTunes, and you find out that the one that you thought of in the dark quiet of the night is right.” For “Elizabethtown,” Crowe chose a soundtrack of authentic American modern roots music, and a mix he calls “The Great American Radio Station.”
Paula Wagner notes that Crowe's mastery of music makes him a unique director. “A filmmaker with an encyclopedic knowledge of the music of his times, Cameron has a unique ability to match music to images in an unforgettable way,” she says. “He chooses music that perfectly reflects the heart of the moment, as he writes about love and loss, heartache and redemption.”
But music is also an integral part of Crowe's on-set directing process; he uses music as a resource throughout filming. Prior to the start of nearly every scene, the director cues up a song that he feels evokes the emotion of the moment or that might inspire the actor or actors to see the scene or their part more clearly.
The director was pleased by the fact that his lead actors came prepared for this technique. “Kirsten and Orlando love music and soak it up,” says Crowe. “They came packing iPods filled with great stuff. Often our rehearsals started late because we were playing each other songs.” “He plays a lot of music on set - which makes sense, because that is the way he writes,” says Bloom. “He's got the music in his head… there is a rhythm to it all.”
The process began during the casting meetings. Crowe played a song he had been listening to while writing the part of Claire: “It'll All Work Out,” by Tom Petty, a track from one of the rock star's more obscure albums, “Let Me Up (I've Had Enough).”
“We played that at the first meeting with Kirsten and it was perfect,” says Crowe. The song became Claire's theme in the final film. “I just got so emotional - it was such a beautiful song,” says Dunst. “It is so nice to have somebody who feels the same way about music as I feel.”
Another song that takes on an important role in the film is Elton John's “My Father's Gun,” a song off the performer's highly regarded album “Tumbleweed Connection.” The song plays as Drew sees his father's body for the first time and reprises during Drew's road trip at the end of the film. “Elton John's album `Tumbleweed Connection' is an important album to anyone who hears it,” says Crowe, “and `My Father's Gun' is one of the real showcase songs on the album. The whole album is, in many ways, Elton's own take on America and family and roots. It's HIS `Elizabethtown.' So the DNA was there to begin with. I'm honored he let me use `My Father's Gun.' It's one of my favorite songs, and like Kirsten's character, it's a song that starts out quiet and a little sad and turns into a celebration of life.”
The musical heart of the film is the homemade CD compilation that Claire gives to Drew to accompany his road trip with his father's remains. A long sequence featuring many songs from several musical genres, the sequence literally underscores both the emotion of the scenes and Crowe's wide-ranging musical taste and expertise.
In addition to the song score, several moments feature original music written by Crowe's wife, Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart. Wilson has participated in a musical capacity, as composer, songwriter and/or singer, on all of Crowe's films. The pair also worked together writing songs for the fictional band Stillwater in “Almost Famous.” “Nancy wrote all the incidental music for `Elizabethtown' - she's the full-time musician in the family,” says Crowe.
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