When I was younger, my sisters and I would always spend time at my grandpa’s house. Almost every time we were there, we’d end up watching Disney’s Pocahontas not once, not twice, but three times. I was obsessed with it at that time in my childhood. We didn’t own the movie in my own home, so visits at grandpa’s house were the only opportunities I had to watch it. My grandpa thought I was crazy for asking him to repeatedly rewind the tape and play it all over again. But he had the kindest heart I have ever known and would do anything for his grandchildren. So, he granted my request and let me and my sisters watch the movie to my heart’s content.
There was one song from the film that I had always considered to be the best part of the whole show. The score “Farewell” by Alan Menken stuck out to me and has stayed close to my heart ever since. While this song is played at the most heartbreaking scene of the movie, the meaning it adds to the film is amazing. The pacing of the music goes perfectly with the scene in the movie. Each moment of tenderness, sorrow and fear is seen in the movie, but also heard in the music. I used to be upset with the fact that the movie ended with Pocahontas and John Smith saying goodbye to one another. But the more I watched this end scene, the more I realized it needed to happen. Life does not always have a happy ending, and while saying goodbye is never easy, sometimes it just has to happen.
Movie scores are not usually my first choice of music when I put my earbuds in and open Spotify on my phone. I generally use music as an escape from life, and I like to hear tunes that will give me energy and confidence for the day. Most of the time I listen to popular music that I can sing and dance along to. But somehow, I think the fact that “Farewell” is an instrumental song makes it more meaningful to me. Words can add meaning and context to songs, but they can also get in the way of the feelings and emotions that I hear from the music alone. People like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars or Meghan Trainor all come up with catchy tunes and the words to go along with it to make a story. However, those songs can’t always be personally felt by audiences because they are describing specific situations. I can listen to the stories that these artists sing about, but then I’m not looking directly at my own story. This is how music can be my escape from my life. But if I turn to a totally different kind of music then it can bring my own personal story to life.
Instrumental music allows the listener to interpret completely for themselves what the music means and can get varying opinions. If I can just sit back and listen to music from instruments alone, I am able to connect my thoughts and emotions in ways I never even thought possible. It makes the listening experience much more personal to me. With other music genres, it’s easy for me to put a label on the way they make me feel and how I interact with them. Pop music gets me pumped for the day and makes me want to dance while I save Christian music for Sundays because it connects me with my faith. But the thing about instrumental music, especially a movie score, there is no one way to describe the feeling I have while listening to it. It is always so dynamic, and the interpretation is left up to the one listening to it. There are a variety of ways that I take in and understand instrumental music and thus can lead to different results.
“Farewell” has not only had an impact on my life but shown me how powerful music can be. Generally, I think back to the scenes from the actual film and imagine in my mind what is taking place while listening to the song. I have an entire playlist dedicated to scores from my favorite movies. There is just something very satisfying about being able to play the images from the film in my mind with the help of listening to the music. Even though I’m not literally watching the movie, I almost feel like I am just because the recognizable tunes take me to the film in my mind. A change in the tempo of the music allows me to determine a scene from the movie is shifting. Or when the volume rises and gets more intense, I can immediately tell that conflict in the film is arriving. Music has so much capability to take over our thoughts and imagination, which I have experienced through instrumental songs.
There are other times where my mind slips into thoughts and memories from my personal past and places them accordingly with the music. When I hear woodwind instruments in “Farewell” coming together to create light and uplifting tones, I think back to happy memories and reflect on my past. Or when the brass enters sounding loud and majestic, I think back to moments of victory and overcoming adversity. When the strings play at a faster tempo, I can feel my blood racing and am able to more easily remember moments of intensity. But as the tempo slows down and notes of the strings are drawn out at a slower pace, the entire mood changes in an instant. I am then able to picture moments in my mind that are more peaceful and reflective. The power that music holds is incredible because we can experience so many different feelings within a few minutes. People tend to interpret music in ways that make it personal to them, and “Farewell” has touched my heart in more ways than one.
This past summer, I had to make a farewell of my own to my very special grandpa. Now every time that I listen to the score, I think of him. I remember all the wonderful memories that were made spending time with him. “Farewell” stirs in my heart feelings of love and mourning. Now more than ever, this song has a personal connection to my life.
Just the musical elements alone make the song a memorable piece when it comes to my grandpa. The score immediately begins with a bassoon and horn which starts the mood off with a slight fear of what’s to come in the near future. The seriousness of the situation in the music makes me realize that this song is not just for pleasure but has a message to deliver within it. The flute and clarinet enter next where I sense a contemplative mood that looks back on the past before addressing the issue at hand. But we can’t live in the past forever, and it was hard for me to come to the realization that a person who had been such a wonderful part of my life would no longer be around.
Once the realization came through, the tears were sure to follow. The strings add a sense of sorrow that I haven’t yet heard with any other group of instruments. The wailing tone that comes out of the violins expresses the pain and mournfulness that I feel deep down in my own heart every time I think about the fact that my grandpa is not here anymore. Anytime that I go by his house, I know that he won’t be there to put the Pocahontas tape in the VHS player or to rewind and replay it multiple times. But even as I consider this, I know that I can find comfort through music. Before I had listened to the score to remind me of the film. Now I listen to it to remind me of my grandpa. There is a connection between my heart and the music from “Farewell.” I have trouble talking about how I feel knowing that he is gone forever, but I can connect more easily to the human emotions that are so closely resembled through the sound of the music.
Towards the end of the piece, a large bell clangs, which symbolizes that time is running out and the end is near. When I hear that bell, I think of the last time that I saw my grandpa alive. He was very sick, lying in a hospital bed. I knew that he wasn’t going to live for very much longer and seeing him at his weakest point in life was hard. Just as Pocahontas had to watch John Smith leave after an injury, I looked at my grandpa and knew that goodbye was near. That bell is like a warning for me. It is a reminder of the fact that life does not last forever.
After the time element is introduced into the music, the strings come in once again and they make the piece sound as if someone is running against time. This musical sense of motion goes along perfectly with the film where Pocahontas is racing through the forest. She keeps running, hoping that she can say a final goodbye before it’s too late. There is a great weight of fear that one feels knowing the word “goodbye” is the only answer in a situation. The sudden urgency in the music brings to light the realization for me that time is precious. The moments we have with one another now are short compared to years that we might have to spend without each other in the future.
Percussion comes into the mix after the running, emphasizing the fact that things are speeding up. I can feel my heart racing while listening to this part, even if I am not physically moving at all. As I listen to the music, I realize more and more that the beating of drums resembles the beating of my own heart. It speeds up and slows down depending on the emotions that I am feeling. As the goodbye gets nearer and nearer, the beating continually accelerates until it is at a point where I know it can’t go any faster. Life can only wait for so long. It is now or never.
During the final moments of the piece is when all the musical elements start to combine and signify the ending. Trumpets rise above all the sounds, and cymbals clash together signifying a glorious ending. Then a choir of voices enters the song, and I imagine those voices being the angels in heaven welcoming my grandpa as he ends his life journey. The full and rich voices heard along with the instruments create an understanding of the ending, but also that of a beginning. There is a sense of hope as all the instruments and voices rise together and create a spectacular ending. The film may have ended with John Smith sailing off into the sunset, but they were left with questions about what happened to him and where he would end up. I feel like those questions apply to anyone as they must face the realization of a forever goodbye.
“Farewell” captures the many emotions that I feel when thoughts of my grandpa cross my mind. The timeline of the song with all its different elements allows me to express my feelings without having to say a single word. Through this song, I’m able to relive happy memories with him. I can mourn his loss and gain a sense of hope that he is in a better place. No other song has had this effect on me in my entire life. “Farewell” not only enabled me to hold onto a piece of my grandpa forever, but also helped me to confront the feelings I had kept inside after his death. After having this experience with the song, I can move on from this. I will always have difficulty thinking about my grandpa now that he is not here anymore. But after listening to the score and being reminded of all my emotions, I truly know just how powerful music can be.