John Williams' Obi-Wan Kenobi theme - "I just want to write Benny a theme"

[Disco Stu 15,475]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

 

"To Benny! To Benny! (For Tatooine)"

 

An hour later, I'm haunted by the thought that "(For Alderaan)" would have been a better joke.

[Jurassic Shark 9,744]

#missedopportunity

[Tom 3,692]

18 minutes ago, Stu said:

 

An hour later, I'm haunted by the thought that "(For Alderaan)" would have been a better joke.

I would say that you need a better audience for an Alderaan joke, but, you know, they are all dead.  

[Marian Schedenig 6,466]

"They're All Deraan (Ben's Theme)"

[igger6 771]

7 hours ago, Falstaft said:

 

 

Curious what y'all have in mind? There's this section of Battle of Endor 1 that resembles the Droid Motif, but accompanies Ewoks running from Stormtroopers, not R2 or Threepio:

 

 

 

I had never actually looked up what's onscreen when that bit plays, but if it isn't droids, I'm going to either A.) assume it was somehow tracked or microedited from a shot that did involve R2 or 3PO at one time, or B.) concede that it's a coincidence, the theme is in fact limited to TESB, and we've just deepened the sad depths of the Tragedy of Droid-Motifus the Wise, a melody so powerful he could influence the MIDI-chlorians to create life—until his composer murdered him in his sleep after just one movie.

[Tallguy 1,821]

Yep, that's a coincidence. Reinforced by the fact that the first scene with the droids is accompanied by a very droid-y sounding version on Jabba's theme.

[GerateWohl 2,822]

Would it be too misleading, If the new theme were called "Ben's Solo"?

 

 

[Not Mr. Big 4,210]

 

It's about time...

[fommes 133]

On 25/04/2022 at 10:35 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

"They're All Deraan (Ben's Theme)"

"Deraan" in this sentence in Flemish dialect ("eraan" in Dutch) means they're all finished/dead.

[Quintus 5,394]

 

 

 

 

Ahh shiiit, ya got me - I haven't even parried. 

 

Now put your fuckin' hands in the air. 

[ocelot 478]

So the reason Williams was asked to come back was because the woman composing couldn't come up with any good theme that Kathleen Kennedy liked? And that the score will comprise of what she writes and what Bill Ross will do with the theme and none will have anything to do with the others work? Seriously? Fire her! Get Bill Ross to do it all then!

[Chen G. 3,161]

9 minutes ago, ocelot said:

because the woman composing couldn't come up with any good theme that Kathleen Kennedy liked

 

I doubt Kathleen Kennedy concerns herself with the themes...

 

Plus, this all looks like decision-making that will have happened before anyone had the chance to sketch any musical material: it was probably in the conceptual stage.

[HunterTech 738]

Also, isn't the main point of the article that Williams specifically wanted to write the theme for the show? Maybe we ought to actually read the info presented before we get too assumption heavy.

[ocelot 478]

1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

 

I doubt Kathleen Kennedy concerns herself with the themes...

 

Plus, this all looks like decision-making that will have happened before anyone had the chance to sketch any musical material: it was probably in the conceptual stage.

No I swear...

[HunterTech 738]

If you got your information from Mike Zeroh or an associate of his, then I'm positive you've been bamboozled.

[Bespin 6,993]

I hope they told Johnny the theme was for Benny Kenobi, not Benny Hill.

[Fabulin 3,442]

21 minutes ago, Bespin said:

I hope they told Johnny the theme was for Benny Kenobi, not Benny Hill.

It's not Benny Hill, it's Benny High Ground

[Jay 31,998]

4 hours ago, ocelot said:

So the reason Williams was asked to come back was because the woman composing couldn't come up with any good theme that Kathleen Kennedy liked? And that the score will comprise of what she writes and what Bill Ross will do with the theme and none will have anything to do with the others work? Seriously? Fire her! Get Bill Ross to do it all then!

 

Where are you getting William Ross's involvement from? 

[Richard Penna 2,631]

More to the point, where have any of those assertions come from? The '?' at the end of the first sentence suggests it's in reaction to some other piece of information.

[Manakin Skywalker 3,867]

I think he's just being sarcastic/making a joke. At least I hope so...

[stravinsky 196]

On 25/04/2022 at 3:26 AM, Jay said:

I just remembered I once made a post where I pointed out all the Droid Theme spots

 

In Lando's Palace I hear another tiny moment (maybe just an allusion) of the Droid Motif at 00:58 - 01:05 as Threepio's curiosity gets the better of him. It's definitely a snippet of "Droid" music. Fascinating. 

[Tom 3,692]

I know it is probably just PR exaggeration, but Holt's comments are how different the theme is have me intrigued. 

[BB-8 1,919]

[BB-8 1,919]

On 24/04/2022 at 4:40 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

 

 

 

[Tom 3,692]

1 hour ago, BB-8 said:

 

So Benny's theme was composed in 1977 after all.  

[BB-8 1,919]

14 hours ago, Tom said:

So Benny's theme was composed in 1977 after all.  

And the intro could in fact be by Johnny "Curley" Williams in a kind of Cinderella Liberty / Stepmom style with a touch of Amistad and Nixon.

[BB-8 1,919]

[BB-8 1,919]

Benny is not a man you can say 'no' to.

[Marian Schedenig 6,466]

My browser however does say "no" (or rather, "not found") to your image.

[BB-8 1,919]

14 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

My browser however does say "no" (or rather, "not found") to your image.

It just vanished.

[ocelot 478]

On 28/4/2022 at 2:29 AM, HunterTech said:

If you got your information from Mike Zeroh or an associate of his, then I'm positive you've been bamboozled.

Who? I got my info from inside sources, doesn't mean it is all 100%, I take everything with a grain of salt, but everything I have gotten before or told before has been factual in the end.

[igger6 771]

So? So? Will they release it on May the 4th?

[Tom 3,692]

3 minutes ago, igger6 said:

So? So? Will they release it on May the 4th?

We will have an answer to that question in one year and a day.  

[j39m 58]

I've just had a cynical thought. I snapped to attention when the news broke that JW was providing a Han theme for Solo, and that greatly increased my enthusiasm for both the OST and the expanded release. This of course came on the heels of the whole ordeal of Rogue One, which coincidentally underwent its own expansion shortly after...

 

I find myself similarly fidgety about waiting for what JW and Natalie Holt are doing here, and I'm going into the show with a markedly higher willingness to open my wallet for the score release — something that was nearly totally absent for Mandalorian.

 

Well, JW's Kenobi theme follows on the heels of Göransson largely doing his own thing for the smash hit that was Mandalorian. If Kenobi does comparably well (lined up against Mandalorian), and if I were in the accounting department at Lucasfilm / Disney, I'd be trying to measure these like A/B tests for the "Williams premium" in the lineage of a score. I.E. I'd want to send a pitch deck up the chain saying, "All else equal, when JW pens the theme, sales go up X%."

 

If this gets us more Williams Star Wars themes (that he doesn't mind doing), I'm all for it, but I wonder what it means for the future of this body of music.

[Chen G. 3,161]

3 hours ago, j39m said:

I'm all for it, but I wonder what it means for the future of this body of music.

 

I've been wondering that, too. Its very nice - more than nice, downright unprecedented - to see a composer get the chance to build a connected body of musical material spanning fifty years and encompassing not just nine films and, but also several concert pieces, a theme park and now a TV show.

 

But at what point does getting John Williams to write new themes gets reduced to a routine? At what point does it start to cheapen (rather than contribute to) this great work? One wonders, one wonders..

[eitam 344]

I'm not wondering and I'm taking what I can get 

[BB-8 1,919]

21 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

My browser however does say "no" (or rather, "not found") to your image.

It's back in for May 4th.

[mrbellamy 5,693]

3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

I've been wondering that, too. Its very nice - more than nice, downright unprecedented - to see a composer get the chance to build a connected body of musical material spanning fifty years and encompassing not just nine films and, but also several concert pieces, a theme park and now a TV show.

 

But at what point does getting John Williams to write new themes gets reduced to a routine? At what point does it start to cheapen (rather than contribute to) this great work? One wonders, one wonders..

 

I think this is a short term question and we should be so lucky to still be here in 5 years annoyed that John Williams is going "This Jabba the Hutt show really afforded me the great good fortune of writing the old slug his first theme. I just want to write a theme for Jabby!"

[BB-8 1,919]

22 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

 

I think this is a short term question and we should be so lucky to still be here in 5 years annoyed that John Williams is going "This Jabba the Hutt show really afforded me the great good fortune of writing the old slug his first theme. I just want to write a theme for Jabby!"

[BB-8 1,919]

 

Is this version the official concert arrangement or some other arrangement? Can't recall this on any Williams record.

[Manakin Skywalker 3,867]

7 hours ago, BB-8 said:

 

Is this version the official concert arrangement or some other arrangement? Can't recall this on any Williams record.

 

This is the official concert suite. It's only on concert albums, it was omitted from the official ROTJ album in '83 (aside from part of the ending being repurposed during the second half of "Han Solo Returns" and the full original recording remains unreleased to this day.

[Andy 2,526]

^Yep. That's it.  You can find it on these

 

Gerhardt's ROTJ

Varujan Kojian's Trilogy

Skywalker Symphony

 

 

[GerateWohl 2,822]

14 minutes ago, Andy said:

^Yep. That's it.  You can find it on these

 

Gerhardt's ROTJ

Varujan Kojian's Trilogy

Skywalker Symphony

And on Pops out of this World from The Boston Pops.

[Andy 2,526]

(Ahem)

 

Obi-Di, Obi-Da, Obi-Waaaan Brah!

La La La La Obi-Wan

 

In a couple of years
They have built a homestead in the stars
With a couple of droids running in the yard
Of  Beru and Owen Lars 

 

Jabba has some spices in the market-place

Snootles is the singer in the band

Pig nose Guy says "Hey Boy I don't like your face"

And Then he and Walrus Man both lose a hand.

 

Obi-Di, Obi-Da, Obi-Waaaan Brah!

La La La La Obi-Wan

 

And if you want some fun

Sing Obi-Di-La-Wan!

 

[BB-8 1,919]

Help!

 

I need somebody
(Help) not just anybody
(Help) you know I need someone, help

 

So much younger than today
(I never need) I never needed anybody's help in any way
(Now) but now these days are gone (these days are gone)
I'm not so self assured
(And now I find) now I find I've changed my mind
And sent to you this droid

 

Help me if you can, dear Obi Wan
And I do appreciate you meeting Han
Help me get these plans to Alderaan
Won't you please, please help me...

[Michael G. 384]

Much more tempo rubato, especially towards the end. Also, the ending is again not the original, but the revision that we heard on Celebration as well.

[Michael G. 384]

I know there's no point to this, but I'll post it anyway.... (01:12)

[mrbellamy 5,693]

You know, as a rule, I try not to look too deep into the 4D chess of John Williams' musical mythmaking and usually just chalk these things up to some sort of enlightened coincidence, but this one is particularly convenient lol. Two Bens. 

[Tom 3,692]

4 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

You know, as a rule, I try not to look too deep into the 4D chess of John Williams' musical mythmaking and usually just chalk these things up to some sort of enlightened coincidence, but this one is particularly convenient lol. Two Bens. 

"Wait a minute.  I think I already wrote Benny a theme.  Ah yes, here it is."

"Mr. Williams, that is a different Ben."

"I said I already wrote Benny a theme, and here it is."  

[artguy360 1,723]

On 01/10/2022 at 2:42 PM, Michael Grigorowitsch said:

I know there's no point to this, but I'll post it anyway.... (01:12)

The similarities are striking.