Luke Skywalker Can't Read

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Authors: Ryan Britt
duh-dunt-dah-dunt-dah theme was later reworked as the opening for
Star Trek: The Next Generation
, and other than maybe the Alexander Courage ah-awww-ah-ah-ah-at-aww theme from the classic TV series, this is still the piece of music most associated with all of Star Trek. I’d also argue that
other
than the main theme to
Star Wars
, Jerry Goldsmith’s “Life Is a Dream” is the
second
most recognizable sci-fi/fantasy theme song of all time. *
    Sometime after 1992, I scored another greatest-hits album—this one all John Williams—containing selections not only from
Star Wars
but also from
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
and, excellently,
E.T.
In talking about big sci-fi fantasy scores, it’s impossible to not try and figure out the whole John Williams dominance. As an adult, I worry there’s an easy and often-trod cynical and acerbic route on this: John Williams music is used by Lucas and Spielberg
instead
of real writing and character development, and when you take it away, some of the more famous movie moments he’s scored start to fall flat. As a sci-fi blogger I’ve seen this a million times: somebody posts a video of the last scene of
E.T.
or the last scene of
Star Wars
without the John Williams music and it’s always presented like this big “gotcha” moment when you realize the music was just manipulating you into liking something that was stupid. But as a little kid, it’s simply not true. The music isn’t instead of the plot, or some kind of cheap trick. No. It’s more like aningredient, a spice, that certainly works on its own. There are elements of Star Wars that would be silly if isolated without the context, like watching Mark Hamill get hit with random pieces of Styrofoam by stagehands. But the score isn’t like that; it might be part of the postproduction process, but it’s also able to exist in its own dimension, removed from the visual narrative.
    The Star Wars music sort of speaks for itself, but the most stirring of the John Williams themes for little me was
E.T.
I’ve got a massive soft spot for this particular movie, since my parents took me to see it at a drive-in when I was all of one year old and still in a car seat. I’m not saying I actually remember that particular screening, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve devoted much of my professional career to science fiction stuff after the first movie I ever really “saw” was about a little kid hanging out with a friendly space alien. My mother also frequently claims that she wanted to name me Elliott after the character in the film, which is obviously one of those sweet mom lies that make no sense, since the movie obviously came out after I was born. Still, if you see a thirtysomething dude cruising around Brooklyn in a red Elliott hoodie humming to himself, there is a real chance it’s me. *
    What makes the
E.T.
music so great for a little kid is this naw-naa-nana-nanu-na-nooow sweeping, stringy fanfare that plays when the kids are riding on their bicycles and E.T. conjures up his handy bike-flying spell. My strongest, best childhood memories of listening to symphonic scores either while doing something shitty like mowing the lawn or, heroically, whileriding a bicycle. When this song hit, I always, always, without fail imagined my bicycle flying. I could have been Elliott, but
E.T.
includes all the other kids, too. My other tapes,
Star Trek: The Astral Symphony
or
Great Sci-Fi TV Hits: Featuring Buck Rogers
, may have allowed me to picture my bike as shuttlecraft, or Earth Defense starfighter, but with the
E.T.
theme, the bicycle was just the bicycle. Williams’s
E.T.
score is by no means his best, and I’d even go so far as to say it’s his most generic, which is also why it’s great. If you remember the themes from less-than-stellar ’80s sci-fi movies, like
The Last Starfighter
(composed by Craig Safan) or
Masters

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