Remembering David Lynch, Angelo Badalamenti, and Julee Cruise: The Magical Soundscape of Twin Peaks

The iconic blend of dreamy jazz, ambient nature sounds, and mellow synth — all paired with serene shots of birds, flowing water, and glimpses of a working lumber mill at the start of each Twin Peaks episode — fills me with a sense of tranquility that I find difficult to put into words. The theme song and title sequence act as a cool drink of water for the mind and senses between episodes of David Lynch's surrealist, psychological murder mystery. The song builds in a way that is beautifully inspirational, yet still manages to capture a certain ominous, unreal quality -- surely no town is this peaceful? -- as it reaches a tender, vaguely sad crescendo. Appropriately, in the small town of Twin Peaks, beautiful homecoming queen Laura is found dead and wrapped in plastic, and eccentric FBI Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate the tragedy and bring justice for Laura.

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A Female Varied Thrush from the show's opening sequence [Photo Credits: Steven Miller via Flickr]

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Wikipedia calls the soundtrack of Twin Peaks "jazz ambient dream pop," and I wholly endorse that description. Jazz serves not only as an inspiration for the instrumentation and sound of much of the soundtrack but also as a reflection of the spontaneous, improvisational spirit in which the music was created: a true collaboration between director David Lynch and legendary composer Angelo Badalamenti. To develop the theme, David Lynch sat beside Badalamenti at the keyboard and created immersive word-pictures of ideas and aesthetics from the show (walking in the dark woods among sycamore trees, hearing an owl hooting, seeing a lonely girl named Laura on the outskirts of town), while Angelo played an accompaniment to the images. He would sonically match the tone of what Lynch was describing verbally and adjust based on David's feedback until they had created the perfect sonic encapsulation of Twin Peaks. 

Gordon Cole (played by Lynch) and Shelly (played by Mädchen Amick) in the Double R Diner [Photo Credits: Steven Miller via Flickr]

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The choice of electronic synth music helped to capture the essence of the series, particularly in the theme song, as the clash of unnatural sound, ambient noise, and nature imagery offers a sense of uncanny juxtaposition that clues viewers into the surrealist elements of Lynch's work. Julee Cruise's soft-yet-soaring vocals on songs like "Falling," "The Nightingale," and "Into the Night" lend much of the dreaminess to the show's lyrical tracks and offer a similar sense of contrast with the show's visual identity, as Badalamenti explains:

"In the ruckus of beers flying through the air at The Roadhouse, we have Julee singing a beautiful, slow-tempo song, and it's so outrageous. You would never have that kind of song in a place like that. [...] The songs with Julee serve a two-fold purpose: They contrast the visuals and they set the tone for the show."

[Photo Credits: Steven Miller via Flickr]

As this quote hints, a standout of the soundtrack is not just the unique, genre-blending songs, but the way music is consistently and creatively incorporated within scenes. The show's major musical numbers pour dramatically out of diner jukeboxes, a trio of characters record a song called "Just You" that ironically reflects their awkward dynamic, and stage performances by Cruise at The Roadhouse allow for important moments of emotional catharsis and anchor crucial dream sequences.

"The stars still shine bright/The mountains still high/Yet something is different/Are we falling in love?

Falling

Falling

Are we falling in love?"

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This mixing of music with plot, and the varying levels of awareness characters have of the soundtrack, is explained briefly by Music Bed:

"The term diegetic music (aka source music) describes music that “exists” in a fictional world; the audience understands that the story’s characters can hear it. Non-diegetic (aka incidental music) music is a score or song that only viewers hear, often used for emotional impact or to enhance on-screen moments. 

Lynch’s 1990’s television series Twin Peaks is a shining example of how both diegetic and non-diegetic music can be used to build worlds, twist realities, and subvert viewer expectations."

In one instance of such subversion, a shot of Audrey Horne cuts to a new scene with Laura's former boyfriend, Bobby, and Double R diner-waitress Shelly lounging in a car. The jazzy, slow song, "Audrey's Dance," plays as the camera slowly pans along a river and settles on the parked car. Because this song recurs throughout the series, is introduced before the car appears on screen, and initially elicits no reaction from the characters, the audience naturally assumes the music is non-diegetic: existing outside the characters’ world and unheard by them.

However, Bobby suddenly tells Shelly to "change the station." She complies by adjusting the dial on the car radio, and the soundtrack shifts to the rock-and-roll "Drug Deal Blues." The pair begins to bob their heads to the music, talking about how to commit insurance fraud (long story) and making out. Not only does the self-conscious shift in songs convey the narrative and thematic shift from Audrey's storyline to the young couple's (Bobby had formerly dealt drugs with Shelly's husband), but the transition from presumed non-diegetic to overtly-so music adds to the surreal vibe of the series and the sense that the characters can access omniscient realities in ways which might be uncomfortable or unfamiliar to the viewing audience.

The Red Room [Photo Credits: Steven Miller Via Flickr]

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David Lynch passed away recently, yet his spirit lives on in his works and has had an indelible impact on viewers and listeners like myself. I first encountered Twin Peaks on Netflix in high school. Growing up in suburban Missouri, I had never heard of the show, or David Lynch, but I was intrigued by the plot description of a small-town murder mystery. I had a singular experience binge-watching the show in a weekend; as soon as I finished the series, I was so entranced that the first thing I did was re-watch the entire thing. Losing Lynch, Badalamenti, and Cruise in recent years has been remarkably hard for members of the Twin Peak's cast and community. As Lynch himself said after Badalamenti's death in 2022,

"We were like brothers, I just love Angelo, I just love him. And when he passed over, went to the other side...it really hit me. I'm not going to be able to call Angelo on the phone, I'm not going to be able to hear his voice anymore, I'm not going to be able to work with him. All this music that's in him, it's not going to come out. It's just horrible."

I hope this article offers a moment to reflect on and engage with the tremendous work of these three wonderful artists. I will forever be grateful to them for introducing me and many others to a place both wonderful and strange.

[Photo Credit: Steven Miller via Flickr]

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