TUE., JANUARY 08, 2008
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The Music of Juno
by J. Edward Keyes
Juno, the first film by screenwriter Diablo Cody, is already well on its way to becoming one of this winter's most beloved films. It's the story of Juno MacGuff, a preternaturally smart teenager whose first, awkward experiment with sex results in an accidental pregnancy. Juno is filled with people who think fast and talk faster, who are all in a little over their heads but who refuse to consider defeat. There's Paulie Bleeker, the accidental father who's trying to play it cool even as his concern mounts. There's Mark and Vanessa Loring, the adoptive parents whose lives are not as perfect as they initially seem. And there's Juno herself, who's mostly just anxious to get the whole experience over with. ("Can't we just kick it old school?" she asks the Lorings. "I can just put it in a basket and send it your way. You know, like Moses and the reeds.")
But there's another character in the movie, one that's just as important as any of the principals: its soundtrack. The music of Juno — most of it by Kimya Dawson — establishes the movie's tone and casts light on the inner lives of each of the movie's singular personalities.
**Please note: Some very slight spoilers ahead!**
Barry Louis Polisar, "All I Want is You"
This song opens the movie, the song that accompanies the cartoon Juno as she walks down the streets of her town, jug of Sunny D in her hand, troubled look on her face. It sets the mood almost immediately: playful, sweet, yearning, childlike and grown-up all at once. It also sets up early one of the movie's Big Ideas: the search for companionship. Polisar runs through a list of famous pairs: flowers and bees, trees and leaves, kisses and hugs. No matter the age or the gender or the geography, it's a yearning everyone can understand.
Kimya Dawson, "Tire Swing"
At the suggestion of star Ellen Page, most of the music in Juno comes courtesy of Seattle resident Kimya Dawson. Page clearly knew her character: Dawson's knack for combining the winsome with the witty is a perfect mirror of Juno MacGuff's wry worldview. "Tire Swing" pops up multiple times in Juno, and like the Polisar song it's mostly a long list: "Joey never met a bike that he didn't want to ride/ and I never met a Toby that I didn't like/ Scotty liked all of the books that I recommended/ even if he didn't, I wouldn't be offended." Throughout the movie, Dawson's music serves as a kind of Greek chorus, commenting on the action as it unfolds.
Also Used: "My Rollercoaster," "Loose Lips," "Sleep" & "So Nice, So Smart"
Mott the Hoople, "All the Young Dudes"
OK, so this is a live version of the classic Mott song, but would any list of Juno music be complete without including the song that's playing at such a pivotal moment? It's a canny choice, one that seems to reflect both Juno's sudden tumble into adulthood and Mark Loring's stubborn resistance of the same. There's an undercurrent of uncertainty in the song, too; although its chorus arcs up triumphantly, its lyrics speak of teen suicides and strung out drug addicts and "juvenile delinquent wrecks." Like Juno herself, its bold exterior masks an undeniable trace of fear.
Belle & Sebastian, "Expectations"
Everything in Juno's life is upended when Belle & Sebastian's "Expectations" arrives. The protagonist in this song is also — to quote Juno herself — dealing with things way beyond her maturity level. It's a hushed-but-frantic number, the sound of someone who is desperately trying to hold everything together.
Also Used: "Piazza, New York Catcher"
The Moldy Peaches, "Anyone Else But You"
If Juno has a theme song, this is it. "Anyone Else But You," a duet between Kimya Dawson and her Moldy Peaches partner Adam Green, is a pie-eyed love song that seems custom-designed for the slow dance at an indie rock prom. It's not unrealistic or naïve, either. "Here is the church and here is the steeple," sings Dawson, "we sure are cute for two ugly people." The message is clear: it doesn't matter if the singers aren't beautiful — they're beautiful to each other. The sentiment fits the films two leads so well it should be subtitled "(The Ballad of Juno and Bleek)."
Cat Power, "Sea of Love"
Chan Marshall's haunting take on the Phil Phillips classic is what's playing when the movie arrives at its resolution. We don't want to give anything away, but the scene is quietly affecting, and Chan Marshall's cover was the perfect choice.
But there's another character in the movie, one that's just as important as any of the principals: its soundtrack. The music of Juno — most of it by Kimya Dawson — establishes the movie's tone and casts light on the inner lives of each of the movie's singular personalities.
Barry Louis Polisar, "All I Want is You"
This song opens the movie, the song that accompanies the cartoon Juno as she walks down the streets of her town, jug of Sunny D in her hand, troubled look on her face. It sets the mood almost immediately: playful, sweet, yearning, childlike and grown-up all at once. It also sets up early one of the movie's Big Ideas: the search for companionship. Polisar runs through a list of famous pairs: flowers and bees, trees and leaves, kisses and hugs. No matter the age or the gender or the geography, it's a yearning everyone can understand.
Kimya Dawson, "Tire Swing"
At the suggestion of star Ellen Page, most of the music in Juno comes courtesy of Seattle resident Kimya Dawson. Page clearly knew her character: Dawson's knack for combining the winsome with the witty is a perfect mirror of Juno MacGuff's wry worldview. "Tire Swing" pops up multiple times in Juno, and like the Polisar song it's mostly a long list: "Joey never met a bike that he didn't want to ride/ and I never met a Toby that I didn't like/ Scotty liked all of the books that I recommended/ even if he didn't, I wouldn't be offended." Throughout the movie, Dawson's music serves as a kind of Greek chorus, commenting on the action as it unfolds.
Also Used: "My Rollercoaster," "Loose Lips," "Sleep" & "So Nice, So Smart"
Mott the Hoople, "All the Young Dudes"
OK, so this is a live version of the classic Mott song, but would any list of Juno music be complete without including the song that's playing at such a pivotal moment? It's a canny choice, one that seems to reflect both Juno's sudden tumble into adulthood and Mark Loring's stubborn resistance of the same. There's an undercurrent of uncertainty in the song, too; although its chorus arcs up triumphantly, its lyrics speak of teen suicides and strung out drug addicts and "juvenile delinquent wrecks." Like Juno herself, its bold exterior masks an undeniable trace of fear.
Belle & Sebastian, "Expectations"
Everything in Juno's life is upended when Belle & Sebastian's "Expectations" arrives. The protagonist in this song is also — to quote Juno herself — dealing with things way beyond her maturity level. It's a hushed-but-frantic number, the sound of someone who is desperately trying to hold everything together.
Also Used: "Piazza, New York Catcher"
The Moldy Peaches, "Anyone Else But You"
If Juno has a theme song, this is it. "Anyone Else But You," a duet between Kimya Dawson and her Moldy Peaches partner Adam Green, is a pie-eyed love song that seems custom-designed for the slow dance at an indie rock prom. It's not unrealistic or naïve, either. "Here is the church and here is the steeple," sings Dawson, "we sure are cute for two ugly people." The message is clear: it doesn't matter if the singers aren't beautiful — they're beautiful to each other. The sentiment fits the films two leads so well it should be subtitled "(The Ballad of Juno and Bleek)."
Cat Power, "Sea of Love"
Chan Marshall's haunting take on the Phil Phillips classic is what's playing when the movie arrives at its resolution. We don't want to give anything away, but the scene is quietly affecting, and Chan Marshall's cover was the perfect choice.
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