All My CDs, pt. 100: Shrek

Shrek - Various Artists

Shrek, the popular animated film deconstructing the classic rescue-romance fairytale narrative and forwarding the revolutionary view that conventional standards of beauty are not the be-all end-all of loveability and worth for young women, was released when I was 13. I was the perfect age to absorb its message - not only because I was one of those not-pretty girls myself, but because I was beginning to grow out of the animated fairytale genre and could really appreciate the satirical humor that liberally spiced each scene, while still getting wrapped up in the plot and its resolution. Despite some disappointing sequels, to this day it remains a favorite for a lot of reasons.

And one of those reasons is the music. Most of the songs are more poppish than my tastes generally run (fitting for a popular movie), but they’re enjoyable to listen to. The one that really motivated me to buy the soundtrack is Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Hallelujah, which later prompted me to seek out the many other covers of that beautiful song, and Wainwright’s music in general (some of which I’ll review in a few weeks). The impact that one track had on my musical education is rather impressive now that I think of it.

Also present is a mixture of pop and rock songs that more or less echo the movie’s sentiments: offbeat love songs like My Beloved Monster, cynical rebellious ones like Stay Home and Bad Reputation, and self-esteem bolstering ones like All Star, which I have a kind of unironic appreciation for despite its overplayed status. But a fair portion are the kind of uncomplicated love songs that already flood the pop scene - Like Wow! and You Belong to Me, for instance - and in my opinion aren’t especially appropriate for the movie’s central themes.

But again, it’s a popular movie, and while it subverts many tropes of the genre the general narrative arc is still there. It’s a popular love story at its core, so maybe the pop love songs are appropriate after all.

Whatever the case, I enjoyed listening to this soundtrack for the first time in several years, and it’s putting me in the mood to watch that movie again. I wonder how well it has aged in the past fourteen years.

Next: Matinee Motel