As a longtime fan of musical moments in Wes Anderson movies (Nico’s version of “These Days” and Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay” for The Royal Tenenbaums, the Stones and Cat Stevens in Rushmore, etc.), the soundtrack to his latest film, Moonrise Kingdom, is of particular interest around here. Most notable, perhaps, is its heavy Hank Williams leaning, in which 6 songs from the country pioneer’s oeuvre made the cut — more than any one artist’s work has been mined for an Anderson project. Set in 1964, over a decade since Hank’s death at only 29, the story and music both predate the onset of the Swinging Sixties, with classical pieces from composers Benjamin Britten and Leonard Bernstein, 1962 French pop song “Le Temps de l’Amour” by Françoise Hardy, and a half-dozen forlorn Williams classics. We’ll have to wait until May 25th to see how this all fits into Anderson’s tale of young, precocious love on the fictional New England island of New Penzance, but for now, preview some tracks boding well for the to-be-bittersweet event — half of which are set for official release with the others appearing only in the film — below:
“Kaw-Liga”
“Long Gone Lonesome Blues”
“Ramblin’ Man”
Songs Only in the Film
“Take These Chains from My Heart”
“Honky Tonkin’”
“Cold Cold Heart”