TeenDramaWhore

A big thank you everyone who entered the Jack Savoretti-One Tree Hill music contest.

My favorite thing about the contest was the memories of One Tree Hill it brought back.  Each submission referenced a wonderful OTH scene and gave me chills as I watched them again. As you can imagine, choosing the winners was quite difficult.  I am proud to say I was able to put aside my personal opinions (otherwise Leyton scenes would’ve taken the whole thing!) and choose based on what was truly the best scenes artistically, aurally visually with the best explanation.

I have two winners, who will reach receive an autographed CD, and two honorable mentions.

WINNER #1: Dora

My favourite is season 6 episode 6 where Milly makes a list of things for Brooke to do, and the music is Dreamers by Jack Savoretti. At that moment with that perfectly chosen music everythings seems possible even going to outer space. And right now im at a moment in my life where i cant reach my dreams and they are the only happiness in my life now. So i kinda escape in my dreams all the time, but that scene and that music gives me streghts to struggle and keep fighting and reach my goles and make my dreams come true in my life somehow.

I had NO IDEA that a Jack Savoretti song had been used on One Tree Hill previously.  (Note to self: do more research next time!)  How could I not pick this one? But Jack Savoretti-connection aside, this submission stood out for other reasons.  It was the only one that was more focused on a friendship than a relationship.  OTH has had some great friendship bonding scenes, and this is one of them.  It really established how much Millie cares for Brooke and how deep both of their hearts are.  This was also one of the few entries that really related the song and scene back to their own personal life.  I like that Dora went into what the song means to her.  That shows the impact One Tree Hill and its music can really have on a person.

WINNER #2: Shailee

My favourite music moment was season 2, episode 19. There is a powerful scene where Nathan is in a race car, driving fast to try make the speed take the pain away. its dramatic because he is in such a low place now that Haley is gone and he has just realised that he has to make the decision about whether it was ‘true love’ or not, and if he needs to let Haley go from his life.

As he begins to travel around the circuit by himself, the song “Like a Man Possessed” by The Get Up Kids starts playing. Its has a slow begining, with a light electric guitar riff. As the characters see that he is unresponsive, determined to stay and speed dangerously, ingnoring saftey and their calls to stop, the music become more urgent and powerful, complimented by flashes of sweet moments that Nathan and Haley experieced together before she left.

The music is pounding at this point and every time I watch that scene my heart aches for him and beats so fast in anticipation of coming to the climax of the song. Then, as if the music was created exactly for that moment, we are pulled through the chorus to see Nathan smash into the wall and the song slow. In an erie calm moment of the music the audience sees the outcome of the crash with the music in background, now only listening to the emotive strain of the lead singer.

Despite working with a powerful scene to begin with, it is a challenge to find a song that can match the gravity of the situation, and that is why this song was so perfect for the moment and reminds me of that scene even when I listen to it know, years later.

This was an interesting choice because it came from season 2, which many fans argue is the worst, and since the song itself and the scene visually focuses on just Nathan when the point being made is really about his relationship with Naley, as Shailee points out.  I’m a sucker for any scene with flashbacks, and this one did a great job flashing back to several classic Naley moments to show just why exactly Nathan is “a man possessed.”  Shailee also did a great job explaining how the sound of the song amplified the intensity of the action, which isn’t always the goal in a scene but obviously worked wonders here.

HONORABLE MENTION: Kaitlin

This was a no-brainer for me because this song is now my ringtone!

In season 4 after Lucas has his heart attack Peyton is struggling in every sense of the word. She feels hopeless and helpless and doesn’t know if Lucas is going to be okay, which is especially devastating because she and Lucas FINALLY get together moments before his heart attack. So what does Peyton turn to? MUSIC. She shows up at the record store, and Max (Mark Schwahn) recommends that she listen to La Rocca’s Non-Believer. The chorus of the song says “do you take the non-believers? Cuz I’m a non-believer…” The song captures exactly how Peyton is feeling because she wants to believe that heaven exists, but she’s unsure. The scene in which she plays this song for Lucas and puts the headphones in his ears as he lays in the hospital bed, is without a doubt the best music meets scene moment on One Tree Hill to date.

I liked Kaitlin’s choice for a number of reasons.  First, it was from a memorable episode for both Naley and Leyton fans.  Second, it was one of the few OTH episodes that featured show creator Mark Schwahn, who was and is largely responsible for the great music we hear on the show and the way it’s integrated with the scenes.  Lastly, the scene itself–Peyton, teary-eyed, at the hospital, playing the song for Lucas–is filled with such overwhelming emotion in an already emotionally-charged episode that it just sends you over the edge.  That is One Tree Hill music at its best.

HONORABLE MENTION: Angela

I have given this a lot of thought since I first heard of the contest taking place. After much contemplation, I can’t pick just one. It’s tied between two for me. (Sorry!) The first is the coda in 3.22, which was the season 3 finale. The song was, “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” by Led Zeppelin. I think it spoke volumes how a serialized show on a non-cable and non-major network was able to obtain rights to have the song incorporated into the show. It world well with the feelings portrayed at the time and the action that was taking place as the lyrics swirled through our ears with the music. The thing about Led Zeppelin is, each of their songs have different melodies. None of them are the same. To me, that is paralleled with One Tree Hill in the sense that nothing is ever the same or what we expect it to be.

The other music moment that I think was perhaps the most emotional and affected me most was the coda for episode 3.16, “With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept.” The song was “God Bless the Child” sung by Michelle Featherstone. All I can really say is WOW! It was such an important episode, powerful, thought-provoking, emotional, and most of all displayed how socially aware the show and producers are with the world around their audience. School violence is very much a big part of life nowadays, even children are bringing guns to elementary school. I think that Lindsay knew what she was doing by just putting that one song in the episode. We didn’t want the importance or message to be taken away or more subdued by the music. The words in the song strike me straight to the heart…… the one lyrics in particular, “God bless the child who is broken and bruised.” Close-up shots were taken of every character and it made me see the correlation between the lyrics, the character and the audience. We all have our struggles, our trials, our tribulations and we are one in the same. It was an episode that broke so many and I admit, I wept for hours afterwards. But in life and from experience, there have been few times where a show or a movie has made such a personal impact and a social one. And I pride in the fact knowing One Tree Hill is that show.

Oh, Angela! If only she picked just one of these!  Both are fantabulous entries and individually could have taken the whole competition, hands down, with the latter coming from quite possibly the most memorable One Tree Hill episode of all time.  She nailed the effect that both the song/scene and the episode had, and she clearly understands the use of music in a television show like OTH.  And the comparison she makes between Led Zeppelin melodies and the show is pure genius.  BUT: I had to stick to the contest rules, which said ONE song/scene only.  It wouldn’t be fair to everyone else for this entry to win because it has two–two amazing choices, but two nonetheless.

I easily could’ve justified putting any one of the others on the list (especially Sarah’s “Heartbeats” entry and Nora’s “Dare You To Move” submission) but at some point I just had to buckle down and declare some of them as the best of the best.  For future contests, perhaps I’ll open it up to everyone to choose the winners via a poll.

Thanks again to everyone who participated!