Artist:Youth in a Roman Field Hometown: Queens, New York City, New York Song: “Might As Well Have Gone To The Movies” Album:Get Caught Trying (Extended Edition) Release Date: November 10, 2023 Label: Better Company Records
In Their Words: “This song – and the phrase – illustrate my takeaway after what felt like another let-down of a relationship; a ‘wise-mind,’ more poetic interpretation of ‘well, damn, that didn’t work out either.’ The lyrics center the conflict between fantasy and reality, confronting the parts of my romantic nature that lend themselves to delusion and magical thinking. ‘Going to the movies’ represents the alternative life and relationship I had envisioned for myself, and has come to represent the alternative world many of us find ourselves in, looking for answers or easier narratives than actually exist. I also meant it literally, as in: ‘I could’ve seen this coming, shoulda just gone to the movies and saved myself all this heartache.’ It ultimately accepts the disappointments of unrequited romantic love, which paves the way to accept ourselves despite mistakes we’ve made or cycles we’ve repeated.” – Claire Wellin, Youth in a Roman Field
Track Credits:
Performed by Youth in a Roman Field: Claire Wellin – vocals Tiffany Topol – vocals Cassidy Stirtz – vocals Scott Stangland – guitar Jamie Mohamdein – upright bass
Photo Credit: Saw Photography Video Credit:Directed by Claire Wellin, Tiffany Topol, Cassidy Stirtz, Scott Stangland, and Jamie Mohamdein. Edited by Scott Stangland and Tiffany Topol.
Adults who have happened to spend any amount of time watching children’s TV and cartoons – say Winnie the Pooh, or Looney Tunes, or The Amazing World of Gumball – know that plenty of jokes and gags aren’t written for the kids tuning in at all. Certainly the same fact is true of many soundtracks and scores. Originally intended for younger audiences, these nine songs from popular cartoons supersede their animated film origins. Some have gone on to become modern classics, others popular karaoke anthems, Americana covers, and even a drag queen number or two. No matter the context, each of these songs stands on their own.
Bonnie Raitt: “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again,” Home On the Range
A ragtag group of livestock must save their family farm, “Patch of Heaven,” from a thieving-cowboy-would-be-rancher-and-real-estate-magnate. Along their journey, quite a few problems arise for the cows and crew, and right when you realize all hope is lost, Bonnie Raitt’s voice comes wafting on the Western wind. A nearly perfect, succinct package at 2:30 long, “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” deserves a spot in the modern country canon. Instead, it’s nearly hidden away on this 2004 Disney release.
Linda Ronstadt: “Somewhere Out There,” An American Tail
Immigrant mice find themselves journeying to America in this 1986 Steven Spielberg-produced classic cartoon, which was so popular a sequel was released in 1991. (Hear a track from its soundtrack later in this list.) The main character Fievel’s sister, Tonya, has designs on starhood, singing “Somewhere Out There” exquisitely and mournfully — and apparently poorly by mouse standards. But her family uses the tomatoes flung at her for dinner. Linda Ronstadt reprises the track on the soundtrack, belting the epic arrangement as only she can.
Randy Newman: “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” Toy Story
Randy Newman’s soundtrack offerings for all of the Toy Story movies epitomize the central concept of this list: Songs that are just good, whether they’re from an animated film or not. Other soundtracks from the franchise feature Riders in the Sky, Sarah McLachlan, Judas Priest, and Chris Stapleton. All are fantastic, but “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” is certainly the piece de resistance.
Shelby Flint: “Someone’s Waiting for You,” The Rescuers
A haunting, morose, nightmarish — and hilariously entertaining — tale of an orphan kidnapped by treasure hunters, The Rescuers follows two mice from the Rescue Aid Society as they join an albatross to attempt… well, a rescue. “Someone’s Waiting for You” captures the melancholy of loneliness and isolation so well, with a tinge of solemn hope. The classic Disney animation style and southern bayou setting are simply gorgeous and the Golden Age of Hollywood orchestration is decadently nostalgic.
Helen Reddy & Sean Marshall: “It’s Not Easy,” Pete’s Dragon
A groundbreaking film for its time, 1977’s Pete’s Dragon combined live action and animation — so we’re sneaking it onto this list on that technicality. Another song from the film, “Candle on the Water,” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, but “It’s Not Easy” might be the movie’s best. Helen Reddy, who passed away in September of 2020, had multiple Top 10 hits in adult contemporary and pop. Her performance — on this song and throughout the film — certainly sell it.
Bryan Adams: “Get Off of My Back,” Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron was one of the first feature-length animated films to effectively and seamlessly combine traditional animation with more modern, computer-generated 3D animation. It’s a hugely popular film, but somehow still grossly underrated, and Bryan Adams’ deliciously early 2000s soundtrack is still impeccable. Several songs could’ve made the cut for this list, but we’ve gone with the high-energy, joyfully defiant “Get Off of My Back.”
Lea Salonga: “Reflection,” Mulan
A ballad and anthem that’s something of a queer rite of passage for Disney millennials: “If I were truly to be myself/ I would break my family’s heart….” This rendition of “Reflection” is a rare instance of the score version being better than the credits version. (No shade to Christina Aguilera.) Lea Salonga so relatably embodies Mulan’s longing to live her truth. Just try not to sob-shout along.
Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey: “When You Believe,” The Prince of Egypt
All epic cartoon powerhouse ballad duets must be second to this one, a smash hit from Dreamworks Picture’s The Prince of Egypt. How blessed are we to have Whitney and Mariah trading runs on this loosely Bible-themed melodrama-via-song? If you didn’t start out at the beginning of the song as a believer in miracles, by the end you will. “When You Believe” reached number 13 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and was released by Carey on her Number 1’s compilation album.
Linda Ronstadt: “Dreams to Dream,” An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
We simply had to include Linda Ronstadt — and the An American Tail franchise — twice. “Dreams to Dream,” another credits reprise by Ronstadt, nearly blows the doors off “Somewhere Out There” with its soaring modulations and Ronstadt pulling out all of the stops. How one voice, one woman, could out-power an entire orchestra and rock band combined defies reason. Except, with Linda, that level of energy, charisma, and raw presence is the norm rather than the exception. Try to listen through to this song just once. It almost begs being played on repeat.
Twenty years ago, in 2001, the music of O Brother, Where Art Thou? captivated America and, suddenly, bluegrass appealed to pretty much everybody. We could all sing at least a few words of “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow,” though admittedly not sound as good as Dan Tyminski or the Soggy Bottom Boys. Roots music heroes Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch added more positive press to their résumés, and before it was all over, the generation-spanning collection won multiple industry accolades, inspired a national tour, and even led to the first-ever Grammy Award for Dr. Ralph Stanley.
The song choices were largely well-known to dedicated bluegrass listeners, but even so, chestnuts like “I’ll Fly Away” don’t routinely end up on albums that sell eight million copies. Legends like Norman Blake and The Fairfield Four shared the spotlight with rising talent such as Chris Thomas King and The Peasall Sisters. Two decades later, The Whites still perform their version of “Keep on the Sunny Side” on the Grand Ole Opry at nearly every appearance, and to be sure, the audience smiles and applauds to hear it again.
This month, we’ll look at the legacy of that landmark album as an inspiration to a new generation of acoustic musicians, along with an interview with family members of John Hartford, whose name is back on the Grammy ballot this year for the collaborative album, The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol 1. We’ll also have a special edition of our Roots On Screen feature about the film. Plus, check out a special IBMA Awards show performance of “Down In the River To Pray” and an archive edition of The Breakdown. And to finish out the month, we asked a crew of young bluegrass and Americana stars what the film means to them. While you’re at it, put down the Dapper Dan and turn up the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack below.
Artist: Rising Appalachia Hometown: Atlanta, GA. The dirty South. Latest Album:ALIVE Personal Nicknames (or Rejected Band Names): The band considered the Grassy RootHeads, Squalor, RISE, but Rising Appalachia was the name of our first album and it stuck as the band name 12 years ago. Leah: L-Dogg, Snake Eyes, Leo, Leah the Lip, Sito, Wakes Talking, chief meteorologist Chloe: Chlo-Bo, Bo, Boskers, Trisket Biscuit, The Dark Queen, Sito, Pumkin, Pum Pum
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What song do you wish you had written?
Leah: “When Doves Cry” by Prince.
Chloe: “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen (Doesn’t everyone wish they wrote that damn song?!)
Who would be in your dream songwriter round?
Leah: Gillian Welch, Outkast, Bob Dylan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ani Difranco, Robert Johnson, the Buena Vista Social Club, Lila Downs, Bonnie Rait, Prince.
Chloe: Ani Difranco, Hosier. Nahko. Mos Def. Erykah Badu. Bob Marley. Joni Mitchell.
If you could only listen to one artist’s discography for the rest of your life, whose would you choose?
Leah: Bruce Molsky. Makes me feel home.
Chloe: Ohhhhhhh. That’s a hard one! Probably Bob Marley.
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How often do you do laundry?
Leah: What a weird question. Um , whenever the duty is called for. Depends on the show night.
Chloe: All the time. Randomly on the road and we string it all up to dry in the back of the bus, which gets pretty intimate and funny.
What was the last movie that you really loved?
Leah: I almost NEVER watch movies. But I watched an amazing South American film on the plane the other day called Vengo Olviendo that was a beautifully filmed, slow and delicate story about the complexity of human migration. It was excellent.
Chloe: I loved the movie LION that just came out about the boy who got lost in India and found his way back home via Google Maps. Crazy wild true story. Reminded me that technology can be a good thing (I can get a little anti).
If you could re-live one year of your life, which would it be and why?
Leah: Hmmm, I would probably go back to my early 20s, when I was traveling out of a backpack across Latin America learning to play banjo and studying folk music from all over the place. It was such a free and inspired time in my life. Not nearly as weighted as this whole “professional musician” thing.
Chloe: Year 7. Lucky number, lucky age, the mind is so open and spongey at that time. I’d go hang with my grandparents some more and pick their brains … especially my father’s mother who was a poet.
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What’s your go-to comfort food?
Chloe: Thai food all day every day.
Kombucha — love it or hate it?
Leah and Chloe: LOVE ! Although once we got sponsored by a kombucha company and things got a little too fermenty in the van. It has to be handled in the right dosages.
Which Whiskey is your favorite — Scotch, Tennessee, Myers, Shivers, or Gentry?
Tennessee, though I’d take tequila over whiskey any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Mustard or mayo?
Mayo
Photo credit: Jason Gonulsen
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