On the 24th April 1998, ‘The Big Labowski’ arrived in UK cinemas. It is the story of the Jeffrey ‘The Due’ Lebowski who is attacked in his home instead of similarly named character with much greater financial means and a trophy wife (who would seem to be the cause of the problems). Through a series of adventures, an amazing cast of characters, catch praises, white Russians and a perfect soundtrack, the film was the Coen Brother’s attempt at developing a story that was inspired by the works of Raymond Chandler. If you have not seen the film, it is well worth a watch.
The music was used by the film makers to represent the characters. For example, a Latino character called Jesus is introduced with the Gypsy Kings cover of ‘Hotel California’. The song is sung moistly in Spanish and when it plays as Jesus bowls, you only see the visuals as well as the music. When the character of Maude Labowski (daughter of the other Labowski) is first seen, the music playing is ‘Walking Song’ by avant-guarde vocalist Meredith Monk. This fits with the character as Maude is an avant-guard artist. They go a step further with the group of German Nihilists. There are references to the actual band Kraftwerk in connection with the Nihilists, including using a parody of the Man Machine album and naming their band Autobahn. A more in-depth article can be read here on this subject http://dudespaper.com/dude-university/i-am-the-walrus-musical-representation-in-the-big-lebowski/.
In honour of this wonderful film and the music contained within it, I have decided to put together a 25th Anniversary Soundtrack album. This is not quite a complete soundtrack as there are snippets of songs throughout that are not included here, mostly because it is hard to work out what some of them are. There is the possibility that it would have made this set a little on the long side. Disc 1 is the same as the soundtrack album that was released back in 1998 with Disc 2 being filled with an additional set of songs not included before.
Disc 1
- The Man In Me – Bob Dylan
- Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles – Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
- My Mood Swings – Elvis Costello
- Ataypura – Yma Sumac
- Traffic Boom – Piccioni
- I Got I Bad & That Ain’t Good – Nina Simone
- Theme/Stamping Ground – Moondog
- Just Dropped In (Top See What Condition My Condition Was In) – Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
- Walking Song – Meredith Monk
- Gluck Das Mit Verbleib – Llona Steingruber, Anton Dermota & The Austrian State Radio Orchestra
- Lujon – Henry Mancini
- Hotel California – The Gypsy Kings
- Technopop – Carter Burwell
- Dead Flowers – Townes Van Zandt
Disc 2
- Branded Theme Song – Dominic Frontiere & Alan Alch
- Mucha Muchacha – Esquivel
- Dick On The Case – Carter Burwell
- I Hate You – The Monks
- Tumbling Tumbleweeds – Sons Of The Pioneers
- Behave Yourself – Booker & The MG’s
- Run Through The Jungle – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Standing On The Corner – Dean Martin
- Pictures At An Exhibition – Mussorgsky
- Oye Como Va – Santana
- Piacere Sequence – Teo Usuelli
- Peaceful Easy Feeling – The Eagles
- Lookin’ Out My Back Door – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Tammy – Debbie Reynolds
- We Venerate Thy Cross – The Rustavi Choir
- Requiem In D Minor (Introitus & Lacrimosa) – The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir
- Viva Las Vegas – Shawn Covin