Fritz Lang's Metropolis syncs up well with The United States of America

Hey guys. I know I said I wasnt going to post anymore, and I dont intend to (Im sure some of you be like: Roll Eyes

), but it just so happens I finished up another pet project Ive been fiddling with off and on the past few weeks. I had always intended to post it here since I thought some of you might like it, and I figured Id keep to that decision even after realizing Id rather not spend time here anymore. I posted a few shoddy attempts a year or two ago in an alternate youtube account, but this time I think Ive got something going. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ1lQdz8Fvo I call it "The American Metropolitan Circus" a conglomeration of Metropolis and The American Metaphysical Circus, the first track of the album and title of Joseph Byrd's followup with the Field Hippies.

See, I discovered that the two worked well together about two years ago when I wanted to watch a copy of Metropolis Id rented from the school library but remembered hating the background score. Maybe thats blasphemous or not proper to say. It just didnt seem to fit the movie particularly well. I just remember it as very overbearing, stock kinda music that didnt age well or add any character to the otherwise timeless picture. I was also going thru a hardcore USA craze at the time, and realized how similar the themes and mood of both works were. So I said f*** it and had the album play as ambiance to the screen. I was really surprised how well it worked out. Sadly I never expected the two to sync up, so I didnt record the start and repeat points. Also at this time, I used just the album as originally released so I had to repeat it twice to fit the movie with time left to spare. I recall the first playthrough as near flawless, the second as very good and the third as a total misfire. But still, I knew I was unto something.

Since then I downloaded the new 2010 restoration of the film and got the 2004 reissue of the USA with 10 bonus tracks. I knew those new tracks would be the key to not just boringly repeating the album 3 times which wouldnt fit after awhile. The challenge was if the completed movie with 30 extra minutes would still sync up, if I could remember how it happened originally or find a better way to do it, and how to use the bonus tracks if at all. After noodling with it on and off in my spare time, this is what Ive come up with. I decided not to f*** with the order of the original album tracks, both out of respect and because itd be a headache to then play around with. Plus, itd be dishonest to then claim the two sync up. That said, I used the bonus tracks because I needed more diversity in the playlist, and since those were never officially released, and JB never signed off on the order on the reissue, I figured those were fair game to play with. Still, I wanted to have some kind of rules, so I only repeated each track--original and bonus--once. Even with this, there was some extra time to fill up, so I had to pull tracks from the aforementioned sequel album by JB and the Field Hippies. I realize its kinda hypocritical to refuse to mess with an albums ordering and then pull in tracks from another album, but this was never my original intent and it had to be done. The tracks from T.A.M.C. are: Invisible Man, Nightmare Train and Kaylani/You Cant Ever Come Down. The only one repeated from these is Nightmare Train. I also used every track including those 3 once before going into reruns. This allowed me to start the second playing of the USA where it originally occurred on my trial run of this: as Maria's likeness is transferred to the Machine Man in Rotwang's lab.

Now, I fully acknowledge there are places where this doesnt work. The second airing of Cloud Song is a good example. But I think for the vast majority of the time, it does. There are numerous instances where the song lyrics describe perfectly whats happening on-screen, the tones line up well, and it actually kind of forms musical motifs similar to a real film score. Like Tailor Man playing when Maria recognizes Freder as the Mediator, and when he acts the part out at the end. In addition, Hard Coming Love plays as Freder first sees and falls in love with Maria, and again when he hallucinates her dancing suggestively for example. I believe these two sync up far better than the famous Dark Side of the Rainbow, which combines Wizard of Oz and Dark Side of the Moon tho, if I may say so.

I totally understand people who are put off by this, see the whole project as disrespectful, whatever. But you always have the original score. For those of us who want something new...here you go. I personally think it enhances both works. It gives mostly well-fitting visualizations to my all-time favorite (completed) album, and the different but related music accentuates how timeless the moral of the story is. You could say it dates it to the 60s, but I think it just calls attention to the fact that people have been criticizing our Capitalist, segregated society for a hundred years now. The counter-culture was born of the same sentiments which inspired the film, and the USA in particular says the same thing in a different medium. The film was just as relevant in 1968, and today with the rising wage gap, entrenched Consumerist Culture and Corporate dominance in politics as it was in 1927.

I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think in the comments. If you have any ideas for better sync points, or better orders for the bonus tracks or something, let me know or post it yourself--Id love to see.

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