Faith of the heart has grown on me

[Matthew Raymond]

Oh ye who go about saying unto each: "I always hated 'Faith of the Heart'":
Dost thou know the magnitude of thy sin before the gods?
Yea, verily, thou shalt be ground between two stones.
Shall the angry gods cast thy body into the whirlpool?
Surely, thy eye shall be put out with a sharp stick!
Even unto the ends of the earth shalt thou wander and
unto the land of the dead shalt thou be sent at last.
Surely thou shalt repent of thy cunning.

 

[Prax]

I skip all the intros. It's one thing when you're watching it broadcast, another when it's on Netflix. I don't always skip TOS or ENT because they are so much shorter, but the rest? 2 minute intros?

As much as I like ENT theme song, I recently saw the original version. They're stunning, and a bit emotional.

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[gblews]

The fellow who's been doing the Pacific 201 ship videos also did a video on the Enterprise opening:

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Most ironic part of this video is the narrator complaining about the change in the arrangement of "Faith" in seasons three and four. Though I don't know it for a fact, I strongly suspect, and suspected at the time, that the reason Faith was changed was because of fan complaints about the song throughout seasons one and two -- complaints which the narrator admits to participating in.

I also don't understand why so many people failed to see what the song was supposed to convey from the beginning. The "simplicity" of the song is one of it's most significant components. The song was obviously about the "simple" beginnings of earth's forays into space. The accompanying visuals are quite pointed in conveying this idea. And so much of the beginnings of space travel was about "faith" rather than facts. But, to Trek fans (including this narrator), all they heard was: "it's not a big orchestral blowout, so we don't like it".

The narrator makes it sound like he is part of the group that supports the song's use on ENT (and perhaps he is now), when in fact, and by his own admission, he was one of the vocal fans that denigrated the song when the ENT started, not because of how it was used in the show's opening, but simply because he didn't like the song. As I've pointed out, the knee jerk reaction of so many who complained about the song, was based on the fact that it wasn't the same thing we'd gotten on all of the previous openings.

Like so many other aspects of ENT, the use of "Faith" as an opening theme was groundbreaking in terms of the Trekverse, and quite appropriate, considering the show's prequel nature.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

As much as I like ENT theme song, I recently saw the original version. They're stunning, and a bit emotional.

It's not Archer's theme is a bad song for the opening. I actually quite like it. The problem is that it's entirely orchestral piece (save some rock and roll instrumentals). What put "Faith of the Heart" over the top for me is the lyrics. Without them, you don't have the same emotional impact because a pure instrumental song lacks the context of having faith enough in your dreams to continue struggling until they finally come true. Devoid of that context, what you end up with is just some pretty music over an historical montage. Not terrible, but not nearly as meaningful.

 

[Mach5]

The would be Season V intro:

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[Matthew Raymond]

Still waiting for Starfleet's first Hawaiian captain.

 

[Tuskin38]

I skip all the intros. It's one thing when you're watching it broadcast, another when it's on Netflix. I don't always skip TOS or ENT because they are so much shorter, but the rest? 2 minute intros?

As much as I like ENT theme song, I recently saw the original version. They're stunning, and a bit emotional.

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Back during Season 4, I believe, the official website put up a into that had this music with Archer doing the 'boldly go' speech over top of it. Though the video was just the scene of the NX-01 leaving spacedock in season 1.

 

[Eric Cheung]

[FONT=Roboto]I don't think the idea of Star Trek: Enterprise using a pop song for its opening credits was an inherently bad one. I just think they didn't choose the right one. Though the lyrics were evocative, "Faith of the Heart" was too adult contemporary soft rock. How do you convey Star Trek's optimism without being saccharine? Originally, the producers wanted to use U2's then recent hit "Beautiful Day," but they couldn't afford it. In fact they cut the titles to the song. I wanted to see what that might have looked like. Though I've seen other similar edits with the song, I don't think they got it quite right. I think this works pretty well. I used the music video's audio, which is great because the whoosh sounds sync pretty well with the vehicles in the title sequence.

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I also decided to try They Might Be Giants' "Science is Real," because that band has a way of undercutting their upbeat melodies with just enough quirky edge to make a song fun and happy without being too sickly sweet.

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I made a version with the full version of The Big Bang Theory theme song, because they similarly undercut their upbeat melody with just enough humor. I started where the broadcast version of the theme song ends, but it was blocked.[/FONT]

 

[Matthew Raymond]

@Eric Cheung, I can't say that either of those songs really resonate with me. I'd actually prefer Archer's Theme. These two come off a little too much like "Let's just put a pop song in the credits" as opposed to the song actually having a lyrical theme that reinforces the visuals.

 

[Eric Cheung]

The problem with Archer's Theme is that it's okay for the closing credits, but it kind of makes me drowsy for the beginning of the show. Compare that theme to the TOS or TNG themes and the song doesn't go anywhere. Even the DS9 and VOY themes, which are more atmospheric, still have stronger hooks and just a much more interesting sound.

I think the show needed an original composition, which would probably illustrate the point better, because the problem wasn't that it was a pop song, but that it was adult contemporary soft rock. If anything, I think Archer's Theme and Faith of the Heart actually kind of have that in common.

Other ready-made songs I've considered include Magic Carpet Ride, which would be a nice tie in to First Contact, of which ENT is basically a sequel.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

I'd be on board with using Magic Carpet Ride for the pilot, but I think it'd wear thin as a recurring theme. It's a good tie-in for First Contact, but it lacks meaningful lyrics. While some of the lyrics could be very loosely applied to space exploration, it's pretty clear the song's about getting high. Strength of the soul or magic mushroom trip? Tough choice there...

 

[Prax]

I've grown to despise the TNG theme. Especially if I'm watching the show on a tablet with headphones. dunnn, Dun Dun Dunnn, DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!!!

After getting my ears raped for 5 seconds, I immediately scramble for the fast forward.

 

[Kaelef]

Now that I'm nearly through my ENT re-watch, I have a couple of thoughts about this:

1. The lyrics are obviously fitting
2. An orchestral theme has clear benefits over a pop song:
   1. Few people will *hate* an orchestral theme - even if they don't love it, it's relatively easy to ignore compared to a pop song
   2. An orchestral theme isn't as easily dated as a pop song is.
   3. An orchestral theme can fit many more moods than a pop song can
      1. I never liked FotH, but I could ignore it until the third season. This is when the much darker tone of the show completely clashed with the pop song. Ironically, this is when they changed the song to make it livelier and clash even more.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

Perhaps it would be cool if they took the a few seconds of the original opening and cut into it after a few seconds with a new intro for the third season, like a film strip breaking or a broadcast being jammed/hacked. After the break from the original intro, you go to the darker, more bleak one.

 

[Pure Antiproton]

I just had to read the title of this thread and I can't get the song out of my head. Now I'm stuck with it all day.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

I just had to read the title of this thread and I can't get the song out of my head. Now I'm stuck with it all day.

After all the recent Hurricanes, I had the Bob Dylan song stuck in my head for a long time.

 

[Kor]

Does anyone know if more than one version of "Archer's Theme" was composed? Because as it's played over the end credits, it definitely sounds like end credit music; consistent, not too many ups and downs.

But there could have been a version that would have played better over opening credits. Contrast the opening and closing versions of TNG and DS9 themes, and you'll see what I mean.

Kor

 

[Tuskin38]

Does anyone know if more than one version of "Archer's Theme" was composed? Because as it's played over the end credits, it definitely sounds like end credit music; consistent, not too many ups and downs.

But there could have been a version that would have played better over opening credits. Contrast the opening and closing versions of TNG and DS9 themes, and you'll see what I mean.

Kor

Disc 3 of the 2014 soundtrack lists
"Archer's Theme (Unused Main Title), by Dennis McCarthy (1:24)"

The end credits version is 39 seconds.

 

[tomalak301]

I’ve always liked the theme song. It was different but fit the series pretty well.

 

[cooleddie74]

I've always liked it. And some of the variations of the song performed by other artists are fun to listen to. For a theme song yanked from a Robin Williams film about a doctor who wore a clown's nose it holds up remarkably well as the opening to a series about humanity's exploration of the cosmos.