Soundtrack September Selection #4: WALK HARD (2007)

Soundtrack September Selection #4 comes from Angie & Chantale at Cinema Obsessed. They picked a sublime soundtrack indeed:

WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY

"Oh man, did this movie surprise us. As much faith as we have in Judd Apatow and John C. Reilly, they just don't make spoofs like they used to. We're SO done with these "Not Another 'blank' Movies." They just throw in every pop-culture reference they can think of, and have entirely lost the true meaning of spoofing. I mean honestly, what does Amy Winehouse have to do with a Disaster movie? Ridiculous.

Back to the film at hand. Walk Hard had a brilliant soundtrack, full of original songs that fit the decades they are emulating PERFECTLY. Many critics praised the soundtrack, saying the songs were not only funny, catchy and well-written, but perfectly reflected the genres and times of the film.

The soundtrack was nominated for both a Grammy and Golden Globe Award and was nominated and won the Sierra Award for Best Song in a Motion Picture from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society. (Wikipedia)

Some of the influences (in story AND in music) of Dewey Cox are:

Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Donovan, John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, but mainly Johnny Cash.

Reilly was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance. Not only was it comedic triumph, but he played guitar and sang his own songs.

The film was actually a flop, earning less at the box office than the film's budget, but received critical acclaim later, especially for the brilliant soundtrack.

Here you see Dewey's early music in the 50s (as a 14 year-old. Yes. Hilarious). His utterly offensive and blasphemous Take My Hand. As Dewey's unsupportive father tells him, "You know who's got hands? The DEVIL! And he uses 'em for holdin' things!"




Below we get a taste of Dewey's 70s Bob Dylan phase, when he's wacked out on drugs and writing very "deep" songs.

Lyrics:

Mailboxes drip like lampposts in the twisted birth canal of the coliseum
Rim job fairy teapots mask the temper tantrum
O' say can you see 'em
Stuffed cabbage is the darling of the Laundromat
'N the sorority mascot sat with the lumberjack
Pressing passing stinging half synthetic fabrication of his-- Time
The mouse with the overbite explained how the rabbits were ensnared
'N the skinny scanty sylph trashed the apothecary diplomat
Inside the three-eyed monkey within inches of his toaster oven liiife...




Not to be missed is the title track, Walk Hard, and the lovely Let's Duet, a wonderful piece of harmonious, hilarious innuendo."

For more Sublime Soundtracks, visit cinemaobsessed.com.

More later...