Synchronicity - Aladdin, Punk in Drublic
I present an example of an album, Nofx's Punk in Drublic (1994), may have been written to the 1992 film, Aladdin.
Check my first post for a brief description of what synchronicity is.
https://steemit.com/video/@bsherrill/speaking-to-the-future-in-tongues
If the album was written to follow the film then that would, of course, mean that it is not synchronicity. Without getting first hand confirmation I can't make a definitive claim for any example. I do believe that this is a really good match, both musically and lyrically.
The album version I used runs 39:55.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfjeII6msZsVsHkYvPOcHTyBtVlcGhoRo
The film starts with the studio's production logo.
https://putlocker.rs/watch/aladdin.8x7n/o3l4n4
Here is a video of examples showing some interesting points and transitions followed by a shot breakdown.
4:34 – 5:26
At around 9:40 in the film and on track 5 from the album a prince approaches the castle as Aladdin looks on from the crowd. He confronts the prince and talks about manners. Lyrics include, “better off this way… say what you’re gonna say… so go ahead and label me an asshole cause I can accept responsibility for what I’ve done but not who I am…”
Then a softer track 6 starts as Aladdin walks away for self-loathing and contemplation.
5:31 – 7:17
At the end of track 6 on the album we find Jasmine's father confronting her about another rejected suitor. Track 7 begins slowly and softly as Jasmine explains her side, and then it kicks into full speed right when Jasmine claims she doesn’t want to be a princess.
7:20 – 9:50 and 9:53 – 10:59
A melancholy Track 17 about overdosing on drugs begins while Jasmine is crying and her father asking questions. It then cuts to Aladdin trapped inside a cave where he is about to find the lamp. The track ends when the genie informs Aladdin about his 3 wishes.
From there the album has silence while the Genie sings a song explaining the rules of the wishes. I continued the video when the ‘secret track’ begins. The Genie then says the rules about what cannot be wished while on the album funny voices are heard saying, “How did the cat get so fat” and “He’s more punk than me”...
11:01 – 11:39
Track 1 of the album is repeated and Jafar and his parrot, Iago, are having a conversation about the princess and how to obtain power. The singing of lyrics and the conversation seem to go back and forth.
The film finishes after the 3rd time through the first track of the album. So it's almost exactly split in two. The first track's lyrics talk about being a bum and sleeping on the floor, which is fitting to Aladdin's background. Having the first track play through a third time creates a buffer supporting the punk message that it's ok to be poor and come from nothing, like Aladdin. Not everyone can be a sultan or a princess.
If one were to try to write music to an established film there are many ways it could be done. Trying to follow along in whole would be one way. The next way would be two split it in two. This is somewhat problematic, because, from a design perspective, perfect symmetry is not as interesting.
Children's entertainment media tends to be less complex in general though. As both an animation and a musical the film has a great amount of flow, and is very rhythmic even in between songs. The film's conflict is resolved during the dead space / talking at the end of the album, which kind of breaks the symmetry.
Both melodically and rhythmically, the album seems to be complimentary to almost all of the music in the film. The one major dissolution is during "A Whole New World" when Nofx's "The Brews" plays. This is actually relevant in a contradictory way because of the ridiculous, simplistic love story. The Nofx song "Lori Meyers" is about promiscuous kids.
So here we have a punk band that uses a lot of colorful language and adult humor and topics. They have strong, outspoken political views expressed in many songs. They are punk so it is anti-establishment, but from a liberal mindset that is also anti-religion.
Animated children's films like this are somewhat universal in that they appeal to a diverse age group. In a vacuum there is nothing nefarious about this single example although it would be possible to implant many types of suggestive material if the film and music studios were working in tandem.
It's possible that this film merely influenced much of what Nofx wanted to sing about.
ahah great similarity