Soundtracks are usually best listened to after having watched the movie that they are used on. Listening to the soundtrack to the movie The Skin I Live In is a very prime example as to why it’s a good idea to watch the movie before listening. Reason is I’m not getting the full impact of some of the songs being played. Here are a set of songs being played with instruments, with around 3 songs out of the 20 having lyrics, I wasn’t getting the emotions that the songs seem to be trying to give me.
I could hear in the songs a lot of emotion, moments of pain, times of sadness, some intense areas, there’s even love and happiness being played in the songs but with no reference as to what is making these moments what they are I just had to listen with no reference point. The songs are played very well, well enough that I do hear all the emotions in the songs and they have made some of the songs pretty intense and sad, but they also get a little slow. What few songs that have lyrics to liven up the songs are in another language, one that I don’t speak so didn’t understand what was being said, made the song more interesting but still with not knowing what was being said I couldn’t form any connection to the songs.
That loss of connection is what kept me from enjoying this soundtrack as much as I would have if I had seen the movie. Each song is played beautifully, well, and with emotion being put into the songs. Hearing the instruments like the cello and the violin being played with such skill had me impressed with the talent of the musicians but I still couldn’t fully get into liking the song. If I had watched the movie without the music being played the scenes wouldn’t have been so dramatic, sad, or intense and this is the same with the music, not knowing the driving reason for the sound makes me miss out on what is the heart of the song. Though the songs are played really well, they have some beautiful melodies to them, and talent that is easily heard, I missed out on getting the full experience of the songs.