Midnight Media Cafe - Benson, Arizona
Saturday, February 7th, 2009 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serai.
Benson, Arizona - John Yager
From the science fiction film, Dark Star
Way back in the Stone Age (the 1970's to you yung'uns), USC film student John Carpenter made a little masterpiece called Dark Star. A crazy sci-fi comedy based on a very real idea (that space travel is FUCKING BORING), the film has just about the production values that you'd expect from a student film. Despite that, it really is a brilliant movie, engaging a number of concepts and scenarios that are actually quite complex. The aforementioned tedium is one (2001, to which DS is an homage, is the only other film I can think of that deals with it), potential relations between humans and alien life, the problems of living in close quarters for so very long, and most fascinating (and hilarious) of all, the unexpected ramifications of artificial intelligence.
The theme song to the film is the sweet and haunting Benson, Arizona. I fell in love with this song from the moment I first heard it. It is wistful and sad, and yet wonderful to sing. The contrast between the lyrics (which deal with space travel and relativity) and the style (country-western) creates something very poignant and moving.
So here's a vid of the tune, from the DVD version of this wonderful film.
Benson, Arizona
by John Carpenter (vocals by John Yager)
A million suns shine down
But I see only one
When I think I'm over you
I find I've just begun
The years move faster than the days
There's no warmth in the light
How I miss those desert skies
Your cool touch in the night
CHORUS:
Benson, Arizona, blew warm wind through your hair
My body flies the galaxy, my heart longs to be there
Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky
But they seemed so much kinder when we watched them, you and I
Now the years pull us apart
I'm young and now you're old
But you're still in my heart
And the memory won't grow cold
I dream of times and spaces
I left far behind
Where we spent our last few days
Benson's on my mind
I wonder if Carl ever heard this song. He would have loved it, I think.
Benson, Arizona - John Yager
From the science fiction film, Dark Star
Way back in the Stone Age (the 1970's to you yung'uns), USC film student John Carpenter made a little masterpiece called Dark Star. A crazy sci-fi comedy based on a very real idea (that space travel is FUCKING BORING), the film has just about the production values that you'd expect from a student film. Despite that, it really is a brilliant movie, engaging a number of concepts and scenarios that are actually quite complex. The aforementioned tedium is one (2001, to which DS is an homage, is the only other film I can think of that deals with it), potential relations between humans and alien life, the problems of living in close quarters for so very long, and most fascinating (and hilarious) of all, the unexpected ramifications of artificial intelligence.
The theme song to the film is the sweet and haunting Benson, Arizona. I fell in love with this song from the moment I first heard it. It is wistful and sad, and yet wonderful to sing. The contrast between the lyrics (which deal with space travel and relativity) and the style (country-western) creates something very poignant and moving.
So here's a vid of the tune, from the DVD version of this wonderful film.
Benson, Arizona
by John Carpenter (vocals by John Yager)
A million suns shine down
But I see only one
When I think I'm over you
I find I've just begun
The years move faster than the days
There's no warmth in the light
How I miss those desert skies
Your cool touch in the night
CHORUS:
Benson, Arizona, blew warm wind through your hair
My body flies the galaxy, my heart longs to be there
Benson, Arizona, the same stars in the sky
But they seemed so much kinder when we watched them, you and I
Now the years pull us apart
I'm young and now you're old
But you're still in my heart
And the memory won't grow cold
I dream of times and spaces
I left far behind
Where we spent our last few days
Benson's on my mind
I wonder if Carl ever heard this song. He would have loved it, I think.
