Hear Me Out: Thom Yorke’s best song was written for the ‘Twilight: New Moon’ soundtrack
Whether you love it or hate it, the Twilight saga has given film history soundtracks packed with some of the best rock, indie and alternative tunes that the mid-aughts had to offer.
The first film’s soundtrack has become enmeshed with the film itself to the point where you cannot hear Muse’s ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ without thinking of the infamous baseball scene. Linkin Park (who, according to the books, our protagonist, Bella Swan, is canonically a massive fan of) supplies what is perhaps the greatest outro music with ‘Leave Out All the Rest’.
Of course, Paramore’s ‘Decode’ and ‘I Caught Myself’, both written by Hayley Williams for the film, have become synonymous with Twilight’s personal brand of autumnal, rain-soaked, blue-tinted nostalgia, as has Blue Foundation’s ‘Eyes on Fire’ with its anthemic call of, “Whoa-hoa-hoa-hoa-hoa”. Music was intrinsically linked to Twilight, from its inception, with author Stephenie Meyer inspired by My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way when first conceptualising Edward Cullen, evident in their vampiric parallels.
The franchise’s second film, 2009’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon, arguably has the best soundtrack of all five films. With the immediate phenomenon of the series, music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas leaned into Meyer’s penchant for 2000s rock and alternative, maintaining its roots as she curated a soundtrack that encapsulates the emotional turmoil that much of New Moon is centred around.
Recognisable names such as Death Cab for Cutie, a duet by Bon Iver and St Vincent and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are included, as well as a now-iconic feature of Lykke Li’s ‘Possibility’ playing as a dejected and heartbroken Bella sits facing outside her bedroom window; the camera rotates around her unmoving figure as months pass by in a blur.
As with much of the Twilight franchise, the songs featured across each film have often become meme fodder, mimicking the campiness of the actors and the (admittedly) melodramatic storylines. Yet, the soundtracks are some of the finest examples of music working perfectly in tandem to outline a film’s narrative, also showing the ability for a soundtrack to capture a subculture’s given era. Meyer seeped her personal love of rock ‘n’ roll into her characters and therefore their story arcs, and the soundtracks reflect her inspirations timelessly.
One of the best scenes in New Moon is soundtracked by Thom Yorke’s ‘Hearing Damage’, an unlikely crossover on the surface, but the Radiohead singer’s influence on the Twilight series is evident in its most sullen moments. Yorke, with his vulnerable songwriting that tells his darkest moments, becomes the perfect person to craft a song for a film that holds a similar resonance.
Written especially for the New Moon soundtrack, ‘Hearing Damage’ is packed with moody synthesisers and echoing dissonance, playing as the film’s primary vampire antagonist, Victoria, is being chased through the woods of Forks, Washington, by local law enforcement and Jacob Black, of the Quileute tribe of wolves. She runs to the edge of the seaside cliffs where, without a second thought, she effortlessly dives off, narrowly escaping as ‘Hearing Damage’s’ synths float across the screen as Victoria does.
Yorke sings of voices circling inside his head, warning against their dangers, droning, “They wanna push you off the path” in a near-whisper, “With their low-frequency wiring”. Sonically, ‘Hearing Damage’ builds with a drum pattern that signals an impending danger, an ideal match for the apprehension that pervades the film, while the lyrics exemplify the poignant storytelling of New Moon (hidden within its vampire-versus-werewolf love triangle): the pain of a first heartbreak, and the subsequent depression and isolation that becomes all-consuming, like the sensation of drowning in one’s own sorrow.
In a haunting register, the frontman proclaims, “But you can do no wrong / In my eyes, in my eyes”, uttering the disbelief of being wronged and the refusal to believe the truth. Ironically enough, his lyrics tap into the chaos of a teenage girl’s mind, mirroring Bella’s contradictory thoughts in the aftermath of her breakup and abandonment.
“A drunken salesman, your hearing damage (you can do no wrong),” he sings, likening Bella’s willful ignorance to inebriation, “Your mind is restless, they say you’re getting better / But you don’t feel any better,” he empathises, “Your speakers are blowing, your ears are wrecking… You wish you felt better”, amplifying the tension unfolding, shown in both Bella’s further mental decline and in Victoria’s vengeful pursuit of her. His voice fades in and out of consciousness in a gothic haze, a signal of an eventual giving in to the darker underside of the story.
Concealed in New Moon’s dominant Romeo and Juliet-esque tale is a moving depiction of a young woman’s fragile state that, however dramatic, holds resonance. Thanks to its impassioned story, Yorke gifted us with one of his most moving songs. Had it not been part of a Twilight soundtrack, ‘Hearing Damage’ would possibly be more acclaimed for its production and lyricism, but the true Twilight fandom knew this from the beginning.
