Posted by The one between Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch is an artistic affinity that has something almost magical, and Twin Peaks it’s probably the best example, one of the most mentioned examples of how powerful the music can be as image accompaniment.
The video below got viral once again recently, together with the release of Twin Peaks’ third season. It’s an emotional recall of how Love Theme, one of the soundtrack’s main songs, was born. Badalamenti sits at the piano, closes his eyes and seems to live again that moment, revealing the strong harmony between him and Lynch, as they were improvising together at the studio.
“David would sit here and I’d say: ‘What do you see, David? Just talk to me.’ And then he said: ‘OK, Angelo. We’re in a dark woods now. There is a soft wind blowing through the sycamore trees. There is the moon, and some animal sounds in the background. Just take me into that beautiful darkness’. And I started playing.”
The video recalls all the indications David Lynch gave to Badalamenti, verbally explaining the mood he wanted, guiding him in the evolution of the song. He told him about the presence of Laura Palmer in that woods, and he pushed Badalamenti through the climax of the song and the return to normality.
It doesn’t happen every day to get in touch so closely with the birth of such a popular composition., through the words of the authors. But the video has also a couple of other qualities: it shows how close the two artists were at that time and it gives a clear idea of David Lynch’s visionary mind. When, in the end, we head Lynch’s words through Badalementi’s mouth, we are able to imagine the magic of that moment:
“Angelo, that’s Twin Peaks. Don’t do a thing, don’t change a single note. I see Twin Peaks.”
