Princess Mononoke Soundtrack

I've been following this film for the past two years. The moment that I heard that the soundtrack was going to be released state-side, I was out the door. For three weeks, I searched every store I could. Nothing. I did get the new Simpsons CD, though.

Then, on November 12th, Best Buy had its grand opening. I found some 39 copies of the Pokemon soundtrack... actually, there were more, I only stopped count at 39. Anyway, as hope was turning to stone, I saw a single something. There, in the bottom row, was a single copy of the Princess Mononoke soundtrack. I need not say that I clutched it to my heart.

This CD has 32 tracks... 32 long symphonic tracks. The tracks fall into two categories. There are the haunting serene tracks, dealing the the main themes and motifs. Then, there are the disturbing violent battle tracks, sounding more at home in an incarnation of Resident Evil than a Hayao Miyazaki film. (There is also a third small category. There are but two songs here. They are the Tatara work song, a rich Japanese work chant, and a version of the Mononoke theme sung with English lyrics.)

The majority of Princess Mononoke's music is either placid or thundering. There is a reason for this. It can be said no better than through Miyazakais' own words...

"We are not trying to solve the global problems. There can not be a happy ending to the fight between the Raging Gods and humans. However, even in the middle of hatred and killings, there are things worth living for. A wonderful meeting, or a beautiful thing can exist."

In the middle of black and white, we find grey.

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Peter Tatara
11.25.1999

http://www.klink.net/~tatara/DFFQI.html