The Road This piece, by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, is the theme from the 2009 film “The Road”; based on the Cormac McCarthy novel (by the same name).  The story details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period […]

Spanish Ladies “Spanish Ladies” is a traditional British naval song, dating back, by some estimates, to the 1620’s. The song is considered a sea shanty; work songs sung by merchant sailors. I first heard this tune as a kid when Quint (played by actor Robert […]

Fargo The FX anthology series Fargo, is a dark comedy crime drama inspired by the 1996 Coen brothers film of the same name. The series is set in various locations in the American Midwest, and each season tells a new crime story with a new […]

Tazarine Tazarine is a song by Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla, from his 2006 Academy award winning soundtrack for Babel. Babel was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The multi-narrative drama features interwoven stories taking place in Morocco, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. The song is […]

Salvatore Salvatore is from Lana Del Rey’s 2015 album, Honeymoon. The melancholy pop ballad has a very “Italian” quality to it. The song worked out beautifully for guitar, and was a recommendation from one of my YouTube Listeners. It is Lana’s Del Rey’s usual crooning […]

Silver Joy Silver Joy was a perfect choice for The Holdovers. This song was used through the film as a motif. The simple E minor to F progression has a tenderness to it, without being too overly sentimental. When I heard the “Cat Stevens-like” tune […]

When Ginny Kissed Harry This is a beautiful piece of music by British composer, Nicholas Hooper, whose highest-profile scores were two Harry Potter films: Order of the Phoenix and the Half-Blood Prince. When Ginny Kissed Harry, turned out beautifully for a single guitar — as the […]

Edelweiss Edelweiss is a 1959 piece from the musical, The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps. The song was written for the Broadway production of The Sound of Music, for the character, Captain Georg […]

O come, O come, Emmanuel “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is a seasonal Christian hymn (and carol). The text was originally written in Latin (Veni, veni, Emmanuel) and the hymn has its origins over 1,200 years ago when monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in […]

The Apology Song The Apology Song (Si Puedes Perdonar) was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla for the 2014 animated film ‘The Book of Life’. It’s a beautiful ballad about the power of forgiveness and redemption. The song is sung by Diego Luna, who voices the character […]

Simple Harp Variation No. 1 Simple Harp Variation No.1 is a beautiful and minimalist piece of music by British composer, Martin Phipps. This motif is from the Netflix drama-series, ‘The Crown’ which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. […]

American Sniper Ennio Morricone’s “The Funeral” was used as the closing theme in Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film American Sniper. The song was originally composed for the 1965 spaghetti western, The Return of Ringo. It’s a melancholic piece of music that perfectly captured the final scenes […]