Soundtrack: How to Train Your Dragon

Hey All. Chris has been wanting to get the neglected Soundtrack section of the site up and going again, so I thought I’d get the ball rolling by offering up one of my favorite tracks to one of my most recent favorite soundtracks.

Last year at the Oscars, one category that I was obsessed with over who would win was the category for Best Original Score. I’m a score junkie, and last years nominees made for a genuinely interesting race. Honestly, with the exception of one nominee, any one of them could have won and I would have been satisfied. You had the eventual winner of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ incredible, moody techno score for The Social Network, Hans Zimmer’s already iconic and meme-worthy score for Inception and A.R. Rahmann’s dusty, Sigur Ross infused score for 127 Hours. The only weak nominee was the score for The King’s Speech. While I’m a fan of Alexandre Desplat, the most memorable bit of music in that film was from Beethoven and has been around for centuries. But the one score that I was so happy to see get nominated and was secretly hoping would upset to odds on favorite of Reznor was John Powell’s score for How to Train Your Dragon. As incredible as that film was on it’s own, it wouldn’t be nearly as amazing as it is without John Powell’s music. The score is one of those rare scores that as you listen to it from beginning to end, you can imagine the film playing in your head. From the stirring opening chords of “This is Berk” to the slow crescendo of “Forbidden Friendship”, to the already iconic “First Flight” track to the “Romantic Flight” track which helps to put the “Whole New World” number from Aladdin to shame. But my favorite track from the soundtrack is the one track that’s not in the film at all. It’s a track called “The Vikings Have Their Tea”. And I love it for not only it’s simplicity in it’s celtic sound, but also for the visuals it creates in the mind’s eye. As I hear it, I’m imagining a moonlit ballet between a hulking viking and an equal, if not larger dragon. Two types of beings that one would not picture being graceful. But with this track, they can be.