Checkitoutyo!
While composer Bear McCreary‘s latest blog entry is almost entirely about his insanely odd cover version of Bob Dylan‘s All Along the Watchtower — which was featured in Battlestar Galactica‘s season finale episodes Crossroads, Part I & II — if you scroll alllllllllll the way down in the last paragraph, you’ll see him mention that the Season 3 soundtrack could see a mid-August release to coincide with that season’s DVD.
He also talks about how he’ll score the Battlestar Galactica special extended episode planned for later this year. (It was recently announced that the 2-hour episode, which will air first on the SciFi Channel and immediately thereafter be released on DVD, will feature the entire cast, but might not be related to the current storyline.)
But I was actually reading McCreary’s entry to try and understand why the hell they picked All Along the Watchtower as the backdrop and apparent impetus for the season-ending *Revelation* (I’ll keep the spoilers out of this one).
McCreary went into details about his conversation with BSG executive producer Ronald D. Moore regarding the song’s eclectic arrangement:
The idea was not that Bob Dylan necessarily exists in the characters’ universe, but that an artist on one of the colonies may have recorded a song with the exact same melody and lyrics. Perhaps this unknown performer and Dylan pulled inspiration from a common, ethereal source…
Moore told him to “make no musical references to any Earthly versions, Hendrix, Dylan, or any others.” And that the arrangement needed to sound “like a pop song that belonged in the Galactica universe, not our own.”
But other than finding out that Steve Bartek and John Avila, both members of 80s techno-pop legend Oingo Boingo, played on the track (Frakin’ Swweeet!), and that he had a harmonium imported from Delhi for the track — which he confirms will be on the BSG Season 3 soundtrack due out in August — I’m no closer to the why that I crave so badly.
Checkitoutyo!
That quote from McCreary about his convo with RDM is indeed VERY interesting…that’s a substantial clue, of sorts, but of course I don’t know what it means at this point.
Argh, 9 fracking months!
Comment by Matthew — March 27, 2007 @ 1:58 pm
The Dylan song obviously originated on earth in the 60s, and the four new cylons recognize it “from their childhood”.
To me 2+2= the cyclons owe their origin to earth. Either they were designed there, or they originated from an earthling scientist who listened to Dylan covers when he was architecting them.
That’s my theory, but here’s the truth: Galactica has jumped the shark. Moore is making this stuff up as he goes and it has lost all coherance and credibility as a dramatic series. Once the best show on TV, Galactica has devolved into pulp with a speed not seen since the second season of Twin Peaks.
As a recent tvsquad contributor noted; “the fifth cylon is obviously Henry Winkler”
boxlight
Comment by boxlight — March 27, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
Absolutely fantastic job; it could not have been better.
-It’s too bad Ron had the characters actually speak the words though.
Comment by Jason — March 27, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
If you listen to the U2 version of Watchtower, Bono refers to Revelations 7:2 toward the end.
“And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Makes a little more sense given that there were four of them, seemingly hand-picked to destroy Galactica from within. Is Starbuck the other “angel?”
Comment by Brian — March 27, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
“All Along the Watchtower” draws its lyrics from a master of lyrical content. Dylan was reading the Bible heavily when he wrote the song and it references archetypes found throughout inspired writings including jokers, thieves, watchtowers, princes, beasts (the wildcat), riders, servants, fate, truth, lies, women, businessmen, ploughmen, wine, earth, life, hours, wind, and a lot more.
These archetypes are all rolled into a poem that can be read with equal profoundness either forwards *and backwards*. So the choice of song seemed very logical to me since it delves deeply into the heart of the BSG that Moore has created.
I also had no complaint with his adding lines of the dialog into the action as the characters focus on the song. It reminded me of the way you squint to focus on words on a page that is _almost_ in focus. As the words came clear to them the song becomes clear to us.
I didn’t care for his trippy music that accompanied it. I kept feeling like I wanted to hum along (is the viewer the Fifth Cylon in this scenario? Interesting idea.) but I couldn’t get with the tune they were using…it never gelled as “All Along the Watchtower” for me until I heard the words…and even then it wasn’t the familiar AATW that my mind craved.
Comment by C. David Dent — March 27, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
I think using the lines from ‘all along the watchtower’ was the new BSG JUMPING THE SHARK big time.
Comment by The Fonz — March 27, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Hey Brian, you may be on to something…..Perhaps it’s not Bob Dylan’s version of the song that we should be looking for clues in…….All Bear says is the “Perhaps this unknown performer and Dylan pulled inspiration from a common, ethereal source…”…. Yeah, well, perhaps the Cylons and U2 do instead….”
I did read that the selection of that song in particular was very important. There’s gotta be a clue in there somehere
Comment by empt — March 27, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
I have a theory that the 5 previously unknown Cylons (that may or may not be those people + Starbuck) are the glowing white “Angels” from the original series.
For some reason they are “protectors” or “guardians” or perhaps even guides or “observors” of humanity, and therefore their dissassociation from the other cylon models.
I’d expect a last minute save by some mysterious glowing ships or some other related event
Comment by Radimus — March 27, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
…
Comment by Trevor — March 27, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
LOVE. That. Song. I think it’s appropriate. A song that had survived since the olden days. Fit in with the fact that they’re finding Earth again.
As for the theory on the 4, Funny how it went along the line of what Radimus said just now.
I have not seen the original BSG (growing up outside the US and all), but the first thought crossed my mine with the 4 was that they may be the chosen ones, the Guardians of some kind. i.e. Like a secret society, a group of people passed the knowledge about the path to Earth down to the next generation in secrets, buried that in people’s memories only to be triggered on when they get close enough to Earth. Hence, Starbuck growing up “special”. Chief’s parents were historians. Etc.
Just a thought. :)
Comment by oakley — March 28, 2007 @ 10:37 am
at the end of Revelation, the camera pulls back through space(like in the movie “Contact”), then to Earth.
Maybe, the cylons are XX light years from Earth and are picking up broadcasted 60’s music. Maybe, they were to be triggered when they got a certain distance from Earth (by “All along the Watchtower”). In other words, If the BSG universe is happening in our time, they are about 40 to 50 light years from Earth.
What do you think?
Comment by cyberrod — March 28, 2007 @ 11:21 am
OOPs,
I meant the season finally “”Crossroads 2”.
Comment by cyberrod — March 28, 2007 @ 11:35 am
The thing Bear wrote on his blog about the song not being from Earth is likely crap Ronald D. Moore fed him to prevent soilers from leaking.
Comment by Eyeless — April 1, 2007 @ 10:00 pm
Ya, but they would have to be about 65 lightyears from earth cus light travels real fast, but think about it, if they were 50 ly away, then they would be, on my ships most massive jumps, a footstep away from it, cus about 50ly would be the highest i think BSG could jump at once. any further that that is suicide, moving way to fast way too quick, there would be an anti-matter trail the size of 10 suns left in its trail, suck everything in, and destroy earth. this is all scientific guessing though, the mathematical equation add up better that way, btw, ending song by Bear McCreary was very awesome. They should get that one out too, like as a 2008 ver. of Bob Dylans. NICE USE OF FUTURISTIC INSTRUMENTS, TODAY BEAR!!
Comment by Admiral Adama — August 7, 2007 @ 4:23 am