What I love about film is the ability to connect music and images to the story theme. Recently, my husband and I have been watching the TV series “Yellowstone” mostly to see what all the fuss is about. But what I keep coming back to is the theme song. Yes, I know the word theme is in the term, but this one is particularly fitting. The composer uses 4/4 timing, which, besides being the most commonly used timing, lends itself to slower pacing or “walking speed.” This is clue one to the overall theme. For the characters, it will not end well (don’t spoil it for me). But the song also utilizes a minor key in its composition. Hint two of the tone and theme.

As far as images, there are many sweeping shots of the valley called “Paradise Valley,” cattle being driven, oil refining, wrangling, wildfires, wind turbines. The modern world is clashing with the old west and threatening rancher’s way of life. So, my thoughts went immediately to a dirge. There are a lot of articles online linking this theme with Westworld and Game of Thrones. The theme songs have a familiar sound. Westworld thematically focuses more on the artificial preservation of the past or even a just a plain fantasy world. A way to escape the pressure of the modern life and experience a simpler time consequence free. (To be honest, I lost interested in this series after season one). Game of Thornes’s themes, on the other hand, revolve around power and the things people will do to get it.

Yellowstone follows the Dutton Family, who stand on the brink of losing their ranch to developers. The modern world adds complications to the simple life the ranchers live. With new development: ritzy condos, casinos, hotels, ect., the property values would price the Dutton’s out of their own land. Something taking place in the Western states now. Billionaires are buying up farm and ranch land by the millions of acres and, through modern farming technology and techniques, fewer of these jobs are required, and young people are less inclined to continue the family business. The simplistic old ways are dying out.

The music’s somber tone picks up on this theme, speaking of the dying of an era, a breed of men, and a way of life. It forces us to ask, is it necessary? As progress pulls more and more people away from the land, what will the future look like? Will we lose a connection that we need in order to understand ourselves? Each new era sees the death of the old. This has always been true. But humans have always had a connection to the land. It grounds us in a way scientist and psychologist still don’t fully understand. What happens if that connection is broken?

To explore this theme a little more, let’s look back at the 1976 film, The Shootist. With the opening credits, the score starts off upbeat using brass and percussion in places as a narrator tells of the exploits of a famous western gunman. However, when the protagonist comes into view, the tone shifts. Strings take over and the tempo slows. The melody flows gentle and smooth. It’s not sad, necessarily. But the jarring shift in tempo clearly signals the shift in subject and theme. The man riding toward us is no longer the gun slinger we were introduced to. Something is changing. We don’t, and more specifically, he doesn’t see it coming yet.