Twin Peaks

The music and the plot

Contents

The world of Twin Peaks 2

Relevant compositional tools 3
The structure of the theme 6
The usage of the theme in the pilot 8
Diegetic? 9
Conclusion 10
Bibliography 10

The World of Twin Peaks

 “I don’t know what comes first, the drama or the music”1

The statement is taken from an interview with Julee Cruise, the singer who

performed most of the vocal music for the series. It is a statement that

shows the multiplicity of possible interpretations, not only because we can

interpret the music based on what we see, but we can interpret the music

based on what we think, in this case know, what is going to happen in the

narrative of the series. What I would like to study in this paper is the

following: does the music of Twin Peaks convey something about the

narrative before the storyline is revealed? My methodology here is to cite

some relevant literature on scoring practices in Hollywood and apply these

principles to the music in the series, as well as looking at the usage of the

music in specific scenes. Due to the limitations of this paper I have chosen

to focus on one episode, the pilot episode. I find this most convenient

because it set the standard for all the other episodes.2 Lynch admits in

interviews that he never expected to end up producing any more than a

pilot episode. Despite this, I have chosen to base aspects of my

interpretation within a context of the entire storyline, primarily just to

provide a wider foundation which in turn could yield a richer

interpretation. Another self-imposed limitation for this paper is that I shall

only focus on “Laura Palmer’s theme” as it is titled on the soundtrack.3

One could of course claim that the plot was written along the way and that

the music in the pilot cannot be read as a part of a coherent body of

meaning forming the entire series. I choose to discard such arguments

simply because they do not allow for as rich interpretations. Besides, the
2
history of music and the interpretation of it, is littered with fortunate

accidents that have given unexpected and successful results.

Twin Peaks is a very alien place. On the surface it may seem like a small

town where nothing happens. In the unravelling of the plot it is revealed

that the town has its demons (both natural and supernatural) as well more

secular issues of morality, both in the sense of greed and sexuality. Even

in the pilot, the town is presented with a certain dark mystique, shots of

trees moving in the wind and the music play an important role in creating

this mood. Characters making ominous statements talking about

something “dark” or “evil” in the woods reinforce this. The character of

Laura Palmer is not only very significant when it comes to the plot, she

mirrors Twin Peaks in the sense that she too, seems very familiar. On the

surface she appears as a wholesome American youth, she is blonde and a

cheerleader (of course) and she is dating the quarterback of the school

team. The shock of her murder and the reaction of the other characters to

this, also function as to give her an aura of kindness, everybody seems to

like her. This kindness is demonstrated in the plot by the fact that she

helped in teaching Johhny, who is handicapped and she arranged the

“Meals on Wheels” programme that provided food to people who, for

different reasons, could not venture out of their homes. However, in the

wake of the murder of Laura her dark secrets are revealed, her cocaine

abuse, her adultery and her prostitution. Eventually her secret life leads to

her death.

Relevant compositional tools

3
Kalinak compares music, and perhaps even more so, film music to

language, primarily for two reasons: firstly music, is based on systems that

seem logical, they can be understood, if not as concrete meanings then at

least one can hear when the composer uses these system, especially if the

composer chooses to discard these rules. Secondly, these systems can be

seen as culture specific, film music relies on a set of techniques, or clichés,

that have a specific semiotic meaning in the context of films. This can be

attributed to the cultural rules of the music (music theory) and simply on

human psychology. Tremolo strings to indicate suspense for instance, is

probably a convention learned from seeing other films, the use of stingers

for instance (sudden, accentuated chords) is an example of the

psychology.

Some of the most important tools for the composer are undoubtedly the

use of harmonies, rhythm and timbre (instrumentation). Clearly there are

other factors, but I have chosen to focus on some of the techniques that

are most relevant in this case. The harmonic aspect focuses around

consonant and dissonant notes. The consonant tones are stable in the

sense that they sound complete, they follow the diatonic scales (as can

dissonant notes), but they also give us a sense of music that follows the

“rules”, in this case: of western music theory. Once the music becomes

dissonant it can work as a signifier that something is wrong, unsettled or

foreign. Some dissonant chords can be seen or heard as something that is

unresolved. Musically it is unresolved because it does not necessarily

follow the diatonic system. The use of for instance chromaticism could be

an example of this, where one does not necessarily get a clear feel for

4
what chords are used. In “Settling the Score”, Kalinak uses the score of

Vertigo as an example of this and she states that: “the specifics of the

preceding analysis are far less important to remember than the main

point: “Herrmann has created a harmony to disturb tonality”4, and she

goes on to say that: “there is something quite unsettling about listening to

Vertigo, and at least part of that something is its harmonic structure.” As I

will attempt to show later, this kind of thinking can be transferred to

Laura’s theme.

Kalinak states that the harmonic structure only is “…part of that

something is the harmonic structure...” what she is in fact alluding is a set

of other techniques, and I will attempt to describe the most relevant of

these techniques for the theme at hand. Rhythm is probably easier to

trace back to psychological processes, but even though they may not be

established by conventions to the same extent as harmony. They are at

least, maintained or elaborated by them. Regular rhythms can:”…be

lulling and even hypnotic because of the familiarity created through their

repetition….”5. The use of rhythm in Laura’s theme could be seen along

these lines. The first section does not give a clear sense of a metric

rhythm. Whereas section two give a much clearer rhythm, both in the

arpeggiated piano chords, and in the actual melody, which in turn

supports the idea of section 2, being something more familiar and acting

in a juxtaposed way to the more alien sounding first section.

The instrumentation and general timbre could also be seen as juxtaposing

in a similar way. Section one is made up by synths, which could be seen as

alien. They are not “real instruments” in the sense that they can be used

5
to distort and create entirely new different sounds. This is the strength of

the instrument, it cannot necessarily be recognized as a synth because of

a specific timbre, it can be recognized by many timbres that are

sometimes based on actual instruments and sometimes are deliberate

distortions of familiar sound that becomes new sounds. This is in a way

similar to what the supernatural aspects of Twin Peaks are, they are

distortions of our reality, with exaggerations without the constraints of

reality. In they same way as a synth does necessarily have the constraints

of a physical world that the acoustic instruments have, they, one can for

example maintain the piano sustain indefinitely because there is no

physical attack. The main point here however is that when section two

starts with a piano, the music draws on a much more familiar and tangible

instrumentation, representing a more “realistic instrument” and a much

more tangible timbre than the more abstract synth. In her book Hearing

Film, Ahahid Kassabian talks about the, in her words “hyperclassical”,

films Star Wars and Indiana Jones. She argues that these films limit the

possibilities of interpretations because they resort to what she calls “…the

tightest musical meaning system available…”6, implying the classical

music system. The piano could in a sense be seen as doing something

along these lines. Reeling us back into the kindness and familiarity that

Laura Palmer represents.

The structure of the theme

The theme itself is clearly divided into 3 sections, with section one and

three being the same part repeated. The first section is dark and ominous,

with a fairly dissonant ostinato, which is achieved in part through using

6
harmony, timbre and rhythm in the ways described above. This

“unsettling” establishes a mood that is, if not scary, it could certainly

represent something evil or dark, possibly in the woods. The density in the

music itself could be seen as being structurally similar to the very dense

forest. I would argue that Laura Palmer’s theme actually starts after the

first section. The piano seems to cut through the dense ostinato, playing a

simple, beautiful(diatonic) melody played with a clear rhythm that is

repeated until it reaches a climax. The reason I make the case for this

being the actual theme is that the first time we hear it is the first time we

see Laura Palmer’s face. Her body is turned around, revealing her face.

Eventually the section one returns and seems to drown the theme,

returning to the more eerie mood that preceded it.

I would argue that the structure of the theme says something about the

narrative of the Twin Peaks storyline, as well as something about the world

of Twin Peaks. Before we go further with this we must look at the usage of

section 1. It does in fact appear without being “relieved” by Laura’s

theme. It appears at a handful of other occasions as well: when Ronette is

found walking back into town she is followed by the same music but she

has no theme that relieves her from the synths of the first section. This

could mean two things: that she is given less importance musically and in

the narrative, which is true given the fact that she only appears in a few

scenes. And the fact that she is in a sense not freed from the horrible

experiences she has had. She is left in a kind of mental prison, she is not

dead, she is not free but remains at the mercy of the killer, living in fear.

The ominous synth however, acts as a marker signifying the link between

7
Ronette on the one hand, Laura and the killer. The second scene in which

the music appears without Laura’ s theme is at the crime scene. This,

again, acts as a signifier in that the killer has a clear musical reference.

Annette Davison states that: “music can also assist in further engaging the

viewer by encouraging a symbolic identification with a space within the

fictional world of the diegesis, such as that occupied by a particular

character.”7 It does not seem like too much of a stretch to apply the same

principles to the killer and what he represents. This in turn, opens for the

music being what the demon represents in the Twin Peaks world. He is the

embodiment of the darkness in the woods, the supernatural that

surrounds the town, the white and the black lodge. This is something the

town has in a sense come to terms with, the Bookhouse boys accept that

they have to live with this. The way the first section is found in the

beginning and the end of the theme could therefore represent the

darkness that always has, and always will be a part of the woods. One

cannot escape it, only try to live with it. The entire theme with all three

sections could thus be read as a musical spoiler for entire plot. Musically

the darkness drowns the good, this happens in the last episode of the

series, when Cooper returns he is the vessel for Bob the demon. The bad

actually wins. In the narrative as well as in the music.

The usage of the theme in the pilot

I aim to demonstrate that the theme is used as a leitmotif, Kalinak defines

the leitmotif as such: “the leitmotif or leading theme is a musical phrase,

8
either as complex as a melody or as simple as a few notes, which, through

repetition becomes identified with a character, situation, or idea.”8 In order

to prove that the theme is indeed connected to a character, situation and

to a certain extent, to an idea we must look at the scenes and contexts

where the theme is used. The theme itself appears almost whenever Laura

is presented, talked about or represented in another way. Except when

Leland is in the morgue with Laura’s body. This is significant in two ways:

firstly the lack of music could reinforce the fact that Laura is dead. The

music is not present simply because it is not Laura that is lying there, she

is somewhere else, it is just a dead body, a shell. Laura is alive musically

when people talk about her or mourn her, not in the actual body in the

morgue. Leland does however mourn in this scene he where cries, but he

is in fact the killer, maybe he is not mourning? It could be Bob who is

present in Leland’s body at this time. Regardless if it is Bob or Leland who

is there in the scene, it does make the scene stand out when compared to

the other scenes of mourning Laura. Something is “off” about the scene.

Already in the pilot one can see musical hints as to who the killer could be.

When the synth theme is presented for the first time, is straight after the

introduction, our first meeting with the world of Twin Peaks is through the

music. The first scene Laura’s theme is revealed is when her identity is

revealed as they turn the body. When Leland is told that his daughter is

killed, which is the second time Laura’s theme appears, it appears as

usual, by the synth pad preceding it. When the Laura’s theme is drowned

out by the synth again, there is a close up of the phone Laura’s mother

has dropped to the floor. The significance of this could be that the phone

in a sense is a direct link to Laura’s killer, Leland who is on the other side
9
of the phone connection. Laura’s theme appears again when her death is

announced by the principal, it appears just as he requests a moment of

silence in remembrance of Laura. Here the music embodies again the

mourning /the memory of Laura, and therefore Laura herself The next use

of the theme is when James and Donna meet in the forest and talk about

Laura, and end up kissing.

There are other forces of evil in Twin Peaks as well, Leo Johnson is an

example of another villain in the plot, however, he does not have any

connection to the Laura’s theme, he has his own music. It is not used so

much as leitmotif but it does signify that Leo is not directly involved with

the murder of Laura Palmer. Thus he represents the more natural troubles

of the town with drugs, arson and blackmail. This also shows through the

music, by him not being associated with Laura’s theme.

Diegetic?

On the surface the music does not seem diegetic, however there are a

couple of scenes that could complicate this. When James and Donna meet

next to the lockers at school, there is an extra who appears shortly after,

in the background, he seems to be dancing in time with the jazz music we

are hearing. The next scene we see Audrey Horne sitting in the classroom,

sitting with her legs crossed, one leg appears to be moving to the beat of

the music. Could these characters be hearing the music somehow? Twin

Peaks is not a “realistic” world, it is a place of supernatural mystery, and

complicated intrigues that seem too complicated to be possible in the real

world. That the characters are hearing music seems as probable as the

black/white lodges and the demons of the series.

10
Conclusion

I would argue that much of the music takes on meta diegetic function, it

may not be directly diegetic in the conventional sense, but it does

however contribute, by alluding to the storyline and the world of Twin

Peaks. The supernatural elements and the “dreamy” world of the series

reinforce this. There are also hints that some of the characters may see or

hear more than what we think they do, Cooper’s dreams for example. The

music of Twin Peaks reinforces the narrative in several ways. Not only

does it reflect the storyline it also reflects something about the world of

Twin Peaks. It underlines the general mood with the trees swaying in the

wing and the ominous dark presence. Concretely, it reveals the killer

through leitmotif techniques. Thus the entire theme of Laura is in fact not

one but several leitmotifs, Laura and the supernatural that surrounds Twin

Peaks, represented by the Bob. This is achieved, at least in part also by

using the techniques of rhythm, harmony, timbre and instrumentation I

have mentioned.

Bibliography
Badalamenti, A. (Komponist). (1990). Laura Palmer's Theme. [A.
Badalamenti, Artist] På Twin Peaks - Music From The TV Series [CD].
Norway: Warner Bros /Warner.

Davison, A. (2007). Demystified, remystified, and seduced by sirens:

listening to David Lynch's films. I J. Richardson, & S. Hawkins (Red.),
Essays on Sound and Vision. Finland: Helsinki University Press.

Frost, M., Lynch, D. (Forfattere), & Lynch, D. (Regissør). Twin Peaks -

Definitive Gold Box Collection [Film]. U.S.A.: Paramount Home
Entertainment.

11
Kalinak, K. (1992). Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood
Film. Wisonsin, U.S.A.: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Kassabian, A. (2001). Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in

Contemporary Hollywood Film Music. London: Routledge.

12
1 Bonus material, disc 1[]

2 Bonus material, disc 1[]

3 [, 1990]

4 Kalinak, 1992, page 7

5 Kalinak, 1992, page 9

6 Kassabian, 2001, page 89

7 Davidson, 2007 page 125

8 Kalinak, 1992, page 63