An Unforgettable Movie Soundtrack: Gummo (1997)

 

via Gifer

    I think any Harmony Korine die-hard fan can understand to an extent that of course Harmony Korine had a lot of supervision on what music was to go where and when in this film. I've been scratching my head since 8th grade trying to understand why Harmony decided to use Almeda Riddle's 'I Love My Little Rooster' field recording for the opening credits, but it was in fact somehow a great fit over the footage of Bunny Boy on the overpass and adds to the surrealistic vibe of this movie.

    Now, I don't know about anyone else out there but the first time I ever watched this movie I was fourteen, and I disliked it and I really thought the soundtrack was rather horrific. But something kept drawing me back to it, so I really just kept watching it over again and slowly starting to like it. It would be a few years after it became my favorite movie that I took a liking to a lot of the songs in the movie. In my household growing up, that extreme metal growling music was just always 'satanic' and 'not good to listen to'. Which is why I really wanted to listen to it more and more, it put a weird look on everyone's face at the family function when you pull up and your speakers are blasting Malevolent Creation's 'You Will Die' at full volume. (That song isn't in Gummo or associated, it's just an example. You get the point).

via Rotten Tomatoes

    Of course, a lot of the times the soundtrack for this film is brought up and talked about, everyone mentions Burzum's 'Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Saule Der Singularitat'... I guess that's the name of it? Anyway, it's a staple in this film, meaning it's played more than just once.. or more than twice even. And even though Burzum is known in a lot of areas as a 'true' black metal legend, because he is, that song that I named above that I totally know how to say isn't even one of his metal songs; it's one of his ambient pieces and just the small bit at the beginning is played through out the movie. Another thing I should add that is another fan favorite besides my own is that the first audio heard in the movie is the incredibly strange song(?) 'Mom and Dad's Pussy' by Destroy All Monsters. Never gets old honestly.

    So speaking of metal, a song that plays twice in the film that I actually listen to often to this day is 'Give The Human Devil His Due' by Brazilian black metal band Mystifier. Unlike a lot of the bands that appear on this soundtrack, Mystifier is still an active band as of 2022! The band just released a split album with Lucifer's Child back in March, 2022, and it was exceptionally fire. An interesting one to me that I don't believe is actually in the film at all is 'Gummo Love Theme' by the powerviolence band Spazz which I think was strictly recorded for the soundtrack release. I wish I could find out more about this song but I have yet to find anything, either way it's not exactly my type of sound but anything Gummo related gets automatic respect from me.

    There's also no doubt that one of the best songs in the movie is 'Dragonaut' by the stoner metal band Sleep that plays as Tummler and Solomon ride their bikes down a street. I also enjoy an extremely short lo-fi guitar instrumental by Sleep called 'Some Grass' which appears in the movie too for a short bit. The movie is such a collage art piece, it's insane. Pieces of random audio/songs; pictures, super 8 and 35mm film. There's truly a lot of variety to this film in general, but the variety is ignored because every scene just so happens to either be in a disgusting area or includes a very odd character talking or narrating about something not related to the film itself.

    Besides some light 50's/60's stuff like Roy Orbison's 'Crying' and Buddy Holly's 'Everyday', another banger song that plays in the movie at the beginning of the end credits (after Jesus Loves Me) that I like and listen to occasionally is called 'Schuld Uns'res Knoch'rigen Faltpferd' by Bethlehem. Bethlehem are an extreme metal band from Germany that rock incredibly fucking hard and yes are still active. Bethlehem also have a piece of another one of their songs in the movie that plays as Tummler and Solomon walk through the woods with their bikes. And before you thought that this couldn't possibly be anymore jumbled, it's still shocking to hear Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' play as Solomon works out in the basement. 
    Now the guy that did the music for this film, meaning the actual film's music supervisor/music producer is Randall Poster, someone I know little about besides that he's worked on films like the Scorsese directed 'Wolf of Wall Street' as of recent. I also know that he's assembled (with Korine of course probably) one of my favorite movie soundtracks. This film was quite literally for the longest time one of the only movies I had seen that had a black/extreme metal soundtrack, and I really admired that a lot. Just enough to write about it.
- Rhett Rhodes