The music holds the answers to the ending

My wife and I shared a bottle of wine (Italian), grilled a couple of steaks, and settled in for our “Sunday Night Date”.

Ever since The Soprano’s first aired back in 1999, my wife and I have made Sunday night “our” night. It’s our night to not make any other plans — it’s our night to wind down from the weekend, spend some time together, have a nice dinner, and enjoy “our show”.

Whether it was The Soprano’s, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, or Big Love — HBO has always been part of our Sunday night.

But it all started with Tony, Carmela, A.J. and Meadow.

And last night it came to end. We’ve seen all 86 episodes — and while many people were disappointed with David Chase’s final moment of the show, I was left gratified with the ending.

Obviously, not everybody “got it”:

The line to cancel HBO starts here. What a ridiculously disappointing end lacking in creativity to The Sopranos saga. But if you’re one of those who found it perversely interesting, then don’t bother to read on. Even if David Chase, who wrote and directed the final episode, was demonstrating the existential and endless loop of Tony’s life or the moments before the hit that causes his death, it still robbed the audience of visual closure.

________

So, how do you think it ended when the screen went to black?

Did the guy come out of the bathroom and put a bullet in Tony’s head just as Meadow finally walked in the door? Or was it the guy in the USA trucker hat, who perhaps was Phil Leotardo’s “Plan B”. Or were the two black kids casing the joint, and the Soprano’s went down in a botched robbery — fatally in the wrong spot at the wrong time?

I don’t believe it was any of the above.

Producer David Chase has always used music as an integral part of the story telling in The Soprano’s.

Remember when Tony and Christopher wrecked the SUV, and Tony ended up smothering Christopher to death? The song playing on the stereo was Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd), as performed by Roger Waters and Van Morrison on Martin “Marty” Scorsese’s soundtrack for The Departed.

The lyrics as Christopher died:

There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I cant hear what you’re sayin.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

On one of the final episodes this season, Tony and Sil are having dinner and they are shown in a light-hearted moment slow-motion boxing each other. The song in the background of the restaurant? The overture for Cavalera Rusticana, which is the same song that was used during the slow motion beginning of Scorsese’s Raging Bull.

Genius.

Now — back to the final scene in the diner last night. Tony puts his quarter and selects the classic Journey power ballad Don’t Stop Believing.

Just before the screen goes to black, the lyrics being sung are:

Working hard to get my fill,
everybody wants a thrill
Payin’ anything to roll the dice,
just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

And that’s how it ends:

The finale displayed the characters continuing, for better and worse, unaffected by the fact that the series is done. The implication was, they will go on as usual. We just won’t be able to watch.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Monday, June 11th, 2007 | Trackback |