The famously known American director, Quentin Tarantino, has been a mere DJ with every soundtrack to each and every one of his films, Kill Bill Vol. 1 being yet another amazing story that matches the music which was released on October 10, 2003. The soundtrack to the first volume of this two part film reached #45 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and #1 on the soundtracks chart, which was mostly produced and organized by RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan. The exuberant 2 hour film is accompanied by a wide diversity of music from jazz to R&B, with many old school hits and some of the weirdest songs I have ever heard. If you decide to listen to the full soundtrack, in the link below, it’s like riding a rollercoaster, just like the movie is.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kNmKeymbo7V3m3gDFBAgZjDtcLVtvp2iw – Full Kill Bill Soundtrack
The moral of the story in Tarantino’s film, Kill Bill, is simple: there’s nothing like revenge. Uma Thurman plays The Bride in the movie that awakes from a four year coma, remembering her husbands attempt to murder her on their wedding day. She seeks to find revenge and vengeance among everyone who played a part in her wedding day being ruined, four years of her life, and the unborn baby’s life taken. His carefully put together soundtrack tells a story within the story itself, in which I think there was no better way to set the tone than by opening with Nancy Sinatra’s cover to the song, Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), written by Sonny Bono, released in 1966, which was originally made for Cher, yet Sinatras cover became well-known through the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPh7y_KkyjI – Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra
Tarantino’s story starts with this songs riveting narrative about the protagonist bride, with lyrics lining exactly with the plot line. Her broken heart made a haunting, confused, and painful on the reflection of the lovers betrayal, both in the song and the film.
“Music played, and people sang
Just for me the church bells rang
Now he’s gone, I don’t know why
And till this day sometimes I cry
He didn’t even say “Goodbye”
He didn’t take the time to lie
Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down”
Aside from lyrics alone, the songs guitar is a perfect counterpart to the soft and slow vocals, which in my opinion holds the song together without overwhelming it.
As you can expect from Tarantino, he manages to capture the perfect tone at one moment, then suddenly veer off into something totally unexpected, but still appropriately fitting the scene every time. During one of the strongest action scenes throughout the film, The Bride encounters The Crazy 88, as they spend most of the time fighting in silence. When the rest of The Crazy 88 burst into the scene, the twelfth track on the album named, Crane/White Lightning by Charles Bernstein, chimes in making the scene that much more impactful. The song creates tension mid fight, then suddenly focuses on the the fear The Bride feels towards the end of the fight as the song comes to an end, and she wins. As this piece does not have any lyrics in it whatsoever, it was originally set for a Metallica track yet Quentin really wanted it on his soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EHaiFP1x2Y – Crane/White Lightning by Charles Bernstein
Mitchell, Elvis. “The ‘Kill Bill’ Soundtrack: D.J. Quentin’s Recycled Mix.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Oct. 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/26/movies/film-the-kill-bill-soundtrack-dj-quentin-s-recycled-mix.html.
Taylor, Paul, and Paul TaylorPaul Taylor. “Exploring Soundtracks: Kill Bill Vol. 1.” LemonWire, 27 June 2018, lemonwire.com/2018/06/27/exploring-soundtracks-kill-bill-vol-1/.
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