Evocative Music

The Awesome Songs and Random Thread are to an extent providing a way of sharing music we like with each other, however, they don’t offer up much of a place to actually discuss it. This it what this thread is for - feel free to most some of the songs you find the most evocative here. I know when I listen to music it often stirs vivid images in my mind and it can be quite nice to discuss and share it. So if any of you feel the same, this is the place for you to share and discuss any of the songs you find do that to you.

To start things off, here are two songs I find incredibly evocative. When I listen to them, I imagine driving home at night, alone on the road, no other signs of civilisation except the streetlights whizzing over my head. I’d be intrigued to know what you guys think of them (best listened to with headphones on. Warning: second video may involve a slight excess of pretentiousness in the visuals::





By the way, with these songs, while the two genres are ones I know fairly well, I’ve never really been able to find any other songs that quite capture that same mood and tone. If you do know of any others that do the same, please post them here, as I’ve been looking for them for a while!

 

Hello! In my opinion I like to listen to this a lot from time to time:



It makes me vividly imagine walking down along a river with my lonesome self xD

 

Well I’m gonna be the weird guy on the forum lol because this is my favorite song. It’s a violin song I love classical music. Though I do also love imagine dragons and various other bands.

 

That’s a great song! I can see what you mean about the imagery - I’m taken to a Sunday evening in a secluded harbour somewhere, sitting and looking out to sea as the sun goes down. Maybe something similar to this:



That amazing picture was taken by Island Visions here: https://www.islandvisions.co.uk/ I sense some of these photos might come very handy in reflecting what we imagine. Plus, they’re stunning!

If you like that mood of music @Paradoxical Pacifism, what do you make of this?

There’s nothing weird about liking that - that’s beautiful! While it tends to be more film music that I enjoy, I too am a fan of classical type music, so I won’t be giving you any funny looks for posting any more here!

Here’s a nice example - while I haven’t seen the show itself, you’ve got to admit, this is a pretty outstanding soundtrack:

 

I liked it a lot! Made me imagine walking along the breadth of a harbor's shore with the water's rising and receding waves crashing peacefully. Definitely brings back memories of Boston

What about these?

 

Very cool, although I think it’s a bit too metal for me to be able to “drift away” when listening to it! I’d be intrigued to know what you picture when you listen to these - I’m guessing it’s not peaceful scenes with flowers and chirping birds!

They’re quite nice, although I think the first one of the three you posted is still my favourite

Another of a similar vein. For this one I imagine more of a harbour at night, long past sunset, with all the boats gently rocking in the dark waters:

https://youtu.be/FWsBWLTiEBM

Also, if you like that genre of music, this is another good one from the same album. It’s not quite as relaxing as the other - instead I picture a great journey, or perhaps a race against time. You may even recognise it a bit, as it’s actually a remix of a song from Mission Impossibe 2, although personally I think this version is better:

https://youtu.be/mCwuHVvW7lE

 

That’s fair enough! I guess the power of metal could convey the majesty of nature, although it’s certainly not what I imagine when I listen to it!

The closest I probably come to that is with some of John Barry’s stuff. It’s definitely a very different genre, but his songs have a certain awe inspiring power to them that makes me think of sweeping African plains and such.

 

^ that's a very interesting mixture of synth and metal. I like it a lot. Evocative music doesn't have to convey the innate feelings for nature (though it's very common to do so). Anyway, this makes me think a lot about aggressively pounding onto my keyboard, hacking stuff indiscriminately



This song in particular has an amazingly nerve-cooling religious tone. Makes me ponder a little bit about the deeper meanings of life in general, and the significance of religion. I love it a lot despite my agnosticism.



Another good example of the second too.

 

I completely see what you mean! I can definitely imagine that while listening. Kudos to Morricone - who says you need a full orchestra to make an incredible score!?

While we’re on that subject:

 

That was a great film. Really gets across how it was the US Army who were the real villains of the Wild West, not the Native Americans. Of course there is the tribal conflict as part of the plot, but the majority of the film revolves around Dunbar's realisation at just how ruthless his original side was. Probably the two most poignant parts are

Spoiler: In case you haven't seen it

Where the tribe discovers the buffalo herd massacred by US colonists for their pelts, when they've always been used to taking only those buffalo they needed to feed and clothe their people, and when Two-socks is murdered by the US trappers for fun

 

As for evocative music, here are a few personal favourites.

This one to me just sounds perfect as a theme for the beginning of a civilisation, or indeed the first glimmers of life in general crawling out of the water for the first time:


As most of you know, I love Celtic history, and this piece, from the first live action Asterix film (Asterix and Obelix Take On Caesar) really conjures up the image of a Celtic village celebration or even a Celtic war charge:


Continuing the Celtic theme, here's a more ambient one from the often-maligned Rome II Total War soundtrack - I often imagine myself as a Celtic chieftain looking out from a plateau over his tribe's lands, hidden within the dense forest that covered much of Britain and Gaul at the time, the only sign of his people's villages being wisps of thick grey woodsmoke coming from the fires of their homes:

 

Interesting you should post some video games soundtracks on there - in actual fact some of my absolute favourite pieces of music have come from video games.

First of all, while not exactly an original choice, you cannot talk about the subject without mentioning the soundtrack to Skyrim. It may well be one of the greatest scores around - I challenge you to listen to this piece, in my opinion one of the most beautiful I know, and not be transported away to towering mountains and endless seas.



Next we have something of a hidden gem. You likely haven’t heard of it, but RiME is an absolutely fantastic game I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. It’s not the most demanding when it comes to gameplay, and there’s no online element, but the story and the game itself is just beautiful. I’d even go as far as to say it’s the gaming equivalent of The Shawshank Redemption. Part of what makes it so fantastic is the soundtrack, and even if you don’t play the game itself it’s still amazing to listen to.



Finally, it’s a controversial choice, but while granted some of the music in the game is utterly dreadful, if you able to listen to it out of context some songs from the Minecraft OST are actually quite good. The game, whilst at its core a good one, has probably been ruined by its fan base, and if you happen to live with a member of them you may well be sick to death of this music, in which case feel free to skip it. However, for those who aren’t, there are plenty of songs that are actually pretty good, this one being probably one of the best examples.

https://youtu.be/xLfm2nnCOpc

 

Yeah, i agree. Videogame soundtracks can sometimes boast the best tracks eva.



This particular tune from one of my most favorite games ever, Deus Ex, fits the somber, yet deep tone in the level it plays in. In fact, the quote in my signature comes from this particular part in the game

 

Hmm, I might overdo this a bit:

 

In every case the music takes me back to the movie/series/game and the feelings I have about them.
With The Last of Us I feel some sense of calm for some reason, and always an urge to be with Joel and Ellie again.
With the Assassin's Creed ones I embark on Ezio's journey one more time.
The Life Is Strange music does not take me to a good place, but it certainly takes me somewhere.
The How To Train Your Dragon piece reminds of of how fondly I remember and hold those movies, and reminds me of my two (dead) cats.
The two outliers, that being 'beyond the bounds of joy' and 'sun' just sort of elevates me in some weird way I can't quite put my words on.

Other than that I think some of the tracks posted here are quite nice as well, I might very well ad some to my playlist.