In Send Help, there’s a montage sequence that’s set to “Theme” by Moondog, aka Louis Thomas Hardin. I was a little bit embarrassed to be the only one in the theater vibing hard to it. I was already fully on board with the movie at that point, so to hear a familiar track being used so effectively was like overkill. Stop, I’m already too into this.
I was only familiar with it because Carter Burwell used Moondog’s track “Stamping Ground” in the soundtrack for The Big Lebowski, and that prompted a quest to find out everything I could about this fascinating musician.
He seemed eccentric in the best possible way: going around New York City in a cape and horned helmet, writing poems and songs praising the hobo lifestyle, incorporating street noise and waterfront sounds into his recordings. And his music synthesized Native American rhythms, European folk songs and formats, and jazz, into something wholly unique.
I prefer the orchestral arrangements (the above two tracks, plus “Bird’s Lament,” are probably his best known), but it’s really interesting to hear how prolific he was with simple variations and rounds.
I’m completely charmed by the catchy earnestness of his round devoted to “Coffee Beans,” suggesting that Moondog was a man after my own heart.
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