The City of Absurdity Lost Highway funny how secrets travel...
a film by David Lynch
Soundtrack

About the music | Soundtrack CD | Lyrics | Links
back to Lost Highway page

About the Music

David Lynch | Mary Sweeney | Trent Reznor | Barry Adamson
David Lynch

"Half the film is picture, the other half is sound. They've got to work together. I keep saying that there are ten sounds that will be correct and if you get one of them, you're there. But there are thousands that are incorrect, so you just have to keep on letting it talk to you and feel it. It's not an intellectual sort of thing."

"I listened to tons of music and some of it talks to me for this scene or that. I don't really know why, but each piece that ends up in the film supports the scene and makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts."

"I heard the song [This Mortal Coil's "Song to the Siren"] in the 80's and I'm not sure whether it was 85, but I really pretty desperately wanted to use it in Blue Velvet and it was tied up in some sort of legal thing, or it was either that or something involving a lot of money and we couldn't get it. And it broke my heart..."
"I'd been waiting and waiting and there it was [another opportunity to use the song] and its definitely high on my list as one of all time most beautiful songs"

"Marilyn [Manson] is a guy who I think is sitting on a very modern thing and getting bigger every day"

top

Mary Sweeney

"David and Angelo work together in such a way that long before they went to Prague, they had a couple sessions where they sat down and came up with some melodies that Angelo eventually translated to orchestral arrangements. Some of the music, like the end title music by David Bowie, was chosen by David in pre-production. He knew right away that's what he wanted for the end titles. Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor and some of that other stuff came in at the eleventh hour, and we had to figure out a place for them. We actually replaced a song with a song from Smashing Pumpkins."

"Music came in different stages. All through post-production, David listened to music. He listens to music while he thinks about writing. It's really integral to him. He knows when something is completely ready and when it's not. We use temporary music tracks, but the problem with temp tracks is you aren't using what you want in the end. The music will change, and your picture changes in how it's cut, which changes the internal rhythm of a scene and how it feels. We only use temp music as part of the process of selection. Once a song is in there, it's pretty much going to stay, except in that one case."

top

Trent Reznor

"He talked really loudly, like the guy in 'Twin Peaks' who's hard of hearing. He'd say, 'I've got a chase scene, and I'm picturing insects swarming around'. Then he'd scribble on pieces of paper and say, 'This is what I want it to sound like'."

"I went up to his house in LA a couple of times. One of the houses he owns is in 'Lost Highway'. He said, 'Let me show you this', and walked up the side of a hill. He showed me a trail of ants crawling over a piece of rotting meat on a canvas, and told me that was his latest project. That might make him sound like a pretentious cock, but he's not at all. He's like your uncle. I found myself looking at him, going, 'Jesus Christ, David Lynch!'. I've probably seen 'Blue Velvet' about 50 times, y'know?! It was like, 'He's talking to me! He created Frank Booth!'."

top

Barry Adamson

"David Lynch rang me up and said 'Yesterday, I listened to your music for eight hours. I really like what you do and I'd like you to contribute something to my new picture'."
more ...

top


Sountrack

CD | Other Music

top

Soundtrack CD

  1. David Bowie: I'm deranged (edit), 2:38
  2. Trent Reznor: Videodrones; questions, 0:44
  3. Nine Inch Nails: The Perfect Drug, 5:16
  4. A. Badalamenti: Red Bats With Teeth, 2:57
  5. A. Badalamenti: Haunting and Heartbreaking, 2:09
  6. Smashing Pumpkins: Eye, 4:51
  7. A. Badalamenti/D. Lynch: Dub Driving, 3:43
  8. Barry Adamson: Mr. Eddy's Theme 1, 3:32
  9. Lou Reed: This Magic Moment, 3:23
  10. Barry Adamson: Mr. Eddy's Theme 2, 2:14
  11. A. Badalamenti: Fred and Renee Make Love, 2:05
  12. Marilyn Manson: Apple Of Sodom, 4:27
  13. Antonio Carlos Jobim: Insensatez, 2:53
  14. Barry Adamson: Something Wicked This Way Comes (edit). 2:55
  15. Marilyn Manson: I Put A Spell On You, 3:31
  16. A. Badalamenti: Fats Revisited, 2:32
  17. A. Badalamenti: Fred's World, 3:01
  18. Rammstein: Rammstein (edit), 3:26
  19. Barry Adamson: Hollywood Sunset, 2:01
  20. Rammstein : Heirate Mich (edit), 3:03
  21. A. Badalamenti: Police, 1:39
  22. Trent Reznor: Driver Down, 5:18
  23. David Bowie: I'm Deranged (reprise), 3:48

Producer: Trent Reznor
Executive Producer: David Lynch

order the soundtrack on audio CD from amazon.com for $12.99.

top

Other Music

This Mortal Coil's "Song to the siren" is not included on the soundtrack because according to Lynch:

"Ivo, the producer, was happy for it to be in the film, but its something very emotional to Ivo and he didn't want to exploit it any further."

The song is available on This Mortal Coil's beautiful "It'll End In Tears" album. You can order the album here for $12.99

The edited songs are available in full length versions on the following albums:

  • David Bowie: "I'm deranged" on the "Outside" album.
  • Barry Adamson: "Something wicked this way comes" on the "Oedipus Schmoedipus" album.
  • Rammstein: "Heirate mich" and "Rammstein" on the "Herzeleid" album.

David Lynch used on the set the following songs:

Shooting of the "Ten Pins Bowling Alley" sequences:

Pixies: "Ana" (now replaced by Smashing Pumpkins: "Eye")
Nine Inch Nails: "Gave up"

Shooting of the "Death Row" sequences:

Rammstein: "Herzeleid" album
Henry Rollins (who plays Prison Guard Henry) reported that David Lynch blasted the album through two heavy loudspeakers not only while he was shooting, but also during the pauses (see Rammstein page).

order Rammstein CDs from CDnow

back to index

top


Lyrics | Barry Adamson about his work with David Lynch | Lynch & Rammstein

back top


Lost Highway main page | David Lynch main page
© Mike Hartmann
mhartman@iig.uni-freiburg.de