Filling space on my mp3 player?
What was the point of the Rhianna song?
- Thread starter DertyNerdy
- Start date
Eh, you might be taking the song a little *too* literally. The lyrics are about perseverance in the face of hopeless struggle, with the metaphorical sledgehammer being the way that she'll conquer the wall of insurmountable odds, no matter the pain.
She's singing directly to a person with the 2nd person "you," to indicate that she's speaking to the villain, who is just one brick in a wall of challenges. But if the song is considered as part of the 50th anniversary then the challenges in the movie are just one piece in the entire wall that makes up all the struggles that our various heroes have faced -- and overcome. (this is why I think the song would work so well put to a montage of the TOS crew with Shatner, Nichols, Nimoy, etc). But even if it's *not* part of the 50th, the lyrics taken by themselves still imply that whatever challenge she currently faces, she'll beat because she's beaten other challenges before, and will continue to do so.
The song probably wasn't written for the movie. Apparently it was in the works since at least 2014. I interpret the lyrics as being about a breakup. "I can survive a life that's without you." In fact, it sounds to me like it's about a person who was in an abusive relationship, feared that she (?) was trapped and too weak and emotionally dependent to stand up to her partner ("I was sure your words would leave me unconscious"), but then found that she was stronger than she thought and was able to stand up to her partner and break free and live on her own. It's a cry of independence and liberation from someone who's been held down and made to feel weak and frightened.
I'm assuming we're talking about the song inserted in the closing credits. It immediately made me think of how "The Powers that Be" threw out more than half of the close music Wendy Carlos wrote for TRON, in favor of some incomprehensible, utterly irrelevant Journey song.
At least this wasn't any worse than that.
At least this wasn't any worse than that.
Yeah, I looked it up after reading your post. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the song was partly written by Sia.
I don't know who that is, but then, I barely know who Rihanna is, aside from "That singer whose name makes her sound Romulan."
Australian pop star, but I know her primarily from her hair.
And also Amy Sedaris trying to be Sia in Kimmy Schmidt:
It's Rihanna, actually. Like Rihannsu.
I'm not sure the point was to rope in Rihanna fans (that's pretty specific marketing), just to have a contemporary song in the trailer that sets a mood. I don't think any of their marketing was very effective. Having a Vulcan do a Quicken Loans testimonial or a bunch of Starfleet cadets watching an HP demo wasn't exactly the best cross promotion. I'd say a music video on YouTube with 25 million views was probably a better marketing move than either of those. How many of those people actually went to see the movie? Who knows.
Perhaps the plan was to get Trekkies to listen to Rihanna's music more than to get Rihanna fans to watch Star Trek.
#StarTrekBeyond on Instagram the day the song video was released was nothing but girls with her alien symbols face paint. HUNDREDS of them. It was crazy.
#StarTrekBeyond on Instagram the day the song video was released was nothing but girls with her alien symbols face paint. HUNDREDS of them. It was crazy.
Back when I was chasing after novelization rights for Tor, I would often try to convince a studio that a novelization was free advertising that actually made money instead of costing them anything.
"Imagine 250,000 miniature billboards for your movie in airports and book stores across the country. And we'll actually pay you for the privilege of advertising your movie!"
"Imagine 250,000 miniature billboards for your movie in airports and book stores across the country. And we'll actually pay you for the privilege of advertising your movie!"
I kinda liked those ads...
They weren't terrible but they weren't really going to get people excited about the movie. I can't speak for you, but I'm sure many Star Trek fans (myself included) get a kick out of seeing anything Trek related on TV. We're not the ones they needed to market to though.
People irritated by this music video, wait until you get a load of two other trailers I saw at SS.
Nothing says Western like the music in the new Magnificent 7 trailer
Or how about some Hip-hop with your Spanish Inquisition.
I did not expect that!
Nothing says Western like the music in the new Magnificent 7 trailer
Or how about some Hip-hop with your Spanish Inquisition.
I did not expect that!
I am so glad I'm not the only person who has picked up on that similarity.
The orchestral music for Beyond's credits is just a suite of music heard during the film, so it's not like any original music was lost thanks to Rihanna.
They should release it as a single with a cover of "Oh, On The Starship Enterprise" as the B-Side.
I don't like Rihanna's voice, I am not a fan but for me its the bext vocals from her. I enjoyed the song.
Similar threads
- Poll
