BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
Rating: 
Original Review: John Williams' Oscar-nominated Born on the Fourth of July is one of the rare occurrences where his music is grossly under-represented on the resulting CD. The first half soundtrack to Oliver Stone's bitter and disturbing take on the horrors of the Vietnam war is cluttered with period songs from the likes of Van Morrison, The Temptations, Don McLean and Frankie Avalon. However, once Williams' score kicks in at Track 9, one of the most inspiring and uplifting in the great Williams canon takes hold. Beginning with a sombre, heartfelt trumpet solo by Boston Pops' Tim Morrison in 'Prologue', the whole 25 minutes of score included on this album are simply sensational.
The music represents the changes that took place during the decade the movie was set in - beginning with the sweeping, elegiac main theme in 'The Early Days, Massapequa, 1957', which seems to evoke images of an America heading out of the fifties and looking forward with optimism to the future, it slowly becomes more distressing and tragedy-laden as the score wears on, from the agonising, deafening, atonal screeching of 'The Shooting of Wilson' to the, terrible sounds of war in 'Cua Viet River, Vietnam, 1968' - mock-triumphant strings combined with anguished, ghostly synthesised vocal whispering which undoubtedly represent the souls of the soldiers cut down in their prime in the horrific surroundings of South East Asia.
However, the final end credits cue - titled 'Born on the Fourth of July' - is possibly one of the most beautiful and uplifting finales Williams has ever written. Again featuring the sounds of Tim Morrison's beautiful trumpet and a gorgeous, lyrical rendition of the Massapequa theme, it's as though the score has come full circle, and again America can look forward with a brighter future after experiencing one of the most tumultuous and terrible episodes in their history.
Track Listing:
- A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (written by Bob Dylan, performed by Edie Brickell and New Bohemians) (4:58)
- Born on the Bayou (written by John Fogerty, performed by The Broken Homes) (4:54)
- Brown Eyed Girl (written and performed by Van Morrison ) (3:07)
- American Pie (written and performed by Don McLean) (8:32)
- My Girl (written by W. Robinson and R. White, performed by The Temptations) (2:43)
- Soldier Boy (written by L. Dixon and F. Green, performed by The Shirelles) (2:39)
- Venus (written by E. Marshall, performed by Frankie Avalon) (2:21)
- Moon River (written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, performed by Henry Mancini and his Orchestra) (2:41)
- Prologue (1:22)
- The Early Days, Massapequa, 1957 (4:57)
- The Shooting of Wilson (5:07)
- Cua Viet River, Vietnam, 1968 (5:02)
- Homecoming (2:38)
- Born on the Fourth of July (5:44)
Running Time: 56 minutes 45 seconds
MCA Records (1989)
Music composed and conducted by John Williams. Trumpet solos performed by Tim Morrison. Recorded and mixed by Armin Steiner. Edited by Ken Wannberg. Album produced by John Williams.
Cinemusic Online
Filmtracks
Movie Wave
Score!
Soundtrack Express
Tracksounds
Home Page | Reviews A-M | Reviews N-Z | Composers | Links
Movie Music U.K is designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton (c) 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of the University of Sheffield. All photos, multimedia and album artwork used on Movie Music U.K. are for non-profit making promotional purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.