Musical themes
From Lostpedia
Michael Giacchino's musical score for Lost makes use of numerous recurring leitmotifs and themes, often with associations to specific characters, locations, or actions. As Giacchino hasn't publicly given titles for most of these, this list uses generic, unofficial names that denote the entities they typically represent. Each name is followed by the episode it was first heard in, enclosed in parentheses. In cases where the theme can be heard on soundtrack, a track title is given after the description, along with track times when necessary for clarity. Note that many themes are used in multiple seasons after their introduction.
For recurring musical elements that don't qualify as full-fledged themes, see musical score.
Contents |
Themes and Leitmotifs
Season 1
- Main theme/Dharma Initiative theme song: ("Pilot, Part 1") Typically played on high-pitched percussion, this five-note theme is typically used (sometimes with an additional note at the end) repetitively in creepy or suspenseful moments. It can be heard over the percussion in the end credits as well as in the theme song played on the Dharma Initiative orientation films. ("The Eyeland", 1:20)
- Action beat: ("Pilot, Part 1") Entirely percussive motif used in various permutations in the first season. A version from after the engine's explosion is heard in the end title music for the show. ("World's Worst Beach Party")
- Emotion theme: ("Pilot, Part 1") Usually a closely-spaced arrangement for strings representing the emotional aftermath of the crash. Heard extensively, especially in the first season. ("Credit Where Credit is Due")
- Traveling theme #1: ("Pilot, Part 1") Repeating five-note motif for various pitched percussion, often accompanied by the chord progression i - V - i - IV above in the strings and/or brass. Used while the characters explore the island or, in the case of Juliet and Ben, when they arrive there.
- Suspense theme #1: ("Pilot, Part 2") Based on alternating minor seconds ending with a winding passage, this tense theme is first heard in a more hesitant form as Sayid looks up at the cliffs near the beach. Melodically similar to Kate's theme.
- Traveling theme #2: ("Pilot, Part 2") Heavy bassline in the low strings with violins playing a melody in counterpoint above. ("Hollywood and Vines")
- 1st Locke theme: ("Walkabout") Four-note theme representing the mysterious hunter-gatherer side of John Locke's character. ("Crocodile Locke")
- 2nd Locke theme: ("Walkabout") Ascending theme based on a ♭VI - i chord progression, representing Locke's journey from the sorrows of his past. ("Locke'd Out Again")
- "Life and Death": ("Walkabout") After its initial use for the introduction of the caves, this quiet piano-based theme is frequently used for the deaths of major characters.
- Charlie's addiction: ("The Moth") Low, ominous four-note melody with another four-note set of tentative string chords. The latter is also heard in conjunction with the "life and death" theme for Charlie's death in Season 3. ("Charlie's Temptation", Season 2 soundtrack)
- Redemption theme: ("The Moth") The chord progression i - ♭II, typically played by a quiet synthesizer and representing the purification of characters such as Charlie and, later, Eko.
- Sayid's theme: ("Solitary") Solemn melody used in Sayid's centric episodes. ("New Trade", Season 2 soundtrack)
- Friendship theme: ("Raised by Another") Tender theme often used for Claire and Charlie's friendship. ("We're Friends")
- Explosive theme: ("All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues") Rising four- or eight-note theme heard first quietly in the cellos, then more loudly in the trombones for action cues. Frequently used for scenes involving The Black Rock and/or explosives. ("Run Away! Run Away!")
- Sawyer's past: ("Outlaws") Disquieting four-note piano theme, based on three repeated intervals of a major sixth and then another a major second up. Used in scenes involving the man Sawyer shot in Sydney, and much later when he discovers the real Sawyer in "The Brig".
- Claire and Aaron: ("Outlaws") Affectionate piano theme used for scenes with Claire, particularly those involving Aaron.("Thinking Clairely")
- Love theme: ("...In Translation") Used in various scenes, such as one involving Michael and Walt, Kate and Sawyer having sex in the cages, and Kate coming home to Aaron after her trial.
- Hurley's theme: ("Numbers") Ascending pitched percussion beneath a playful harmonica melody. ("World's Worst Landscaping", Season 2 sountrack)
- Sliding strings: ("Numbers") A high minor chord in the violins glissandos downwards a minor third. Especially common in Hurley's centric episodes.
- Mystery theme: ("Deus Ex Machina") Originally a spinoff of Locke's first theme, this four-note motif is usually played high in the violins and is more generally used for the discovery of mysteries of the island, such as the hatch. ("Oceanic 815", 5:20)
- Kate's theme: ("Born to Run") Winding eight-note passage with a slower counterpount, rather similar to suspense theme #1. Ostensibly an homage to the music of Bernard Hermann, especially considering its name on the soundtrack. ("Kate's Motel")
- Leaving the island: ("Exodus, Part 1") Three ascending melodies that are combined in various ways in scenes involving rescue or departure from the island. ("Parting Words")
Season 2
- Hatch theme: ("Man of Science, Man of Faith") Eerie motif debatably representing the hatch, often played by string instruments as tremolos sul ponticello (rapid back-and-forth bowings near the bridge of the instrument).
- Tailies/early Others theme: ("Orientation") Four ascending notes above repeated descending minor seconds, initially used while Sawyer, Jin, and Michael believe the tailies to be the Others, but later in the big reveal of the Barracks at the beginning of the third season.
- After the raft: ("Everybody Hates Hugo") This variation of "leaving the island" takes the theme in different melodic directions for a variety of tender scenes, especially before the return of those on the raft.
- Hurley's misfortunes: ("Everybody Hates Hugo") Slow, dolorous theme usually used for the various things that have gone wrong in Hurley's past. ("Mess It All Up")
- Sun and Jin: ("...And Found") Five simple piano chords (i - VIb - VIIb - IIIb - V), sometimes with iv replacing the second chord and another melody playing in the strings. ("Last to Know")
- Eko's theme: ("The 23rd Psalm") Brooding ascending minor second followed by a falling minor second, used to represent particularly the brutish side of Eko's past. After Eko's death, the motif is still occasionally heard in other contexts.
- "Other"worldly percussion: ("The Hunting Party") Brief scattering of notes on tribal drums, most often heard in scenes involving the Others.
- Traveling theme #3: ("The Whole Truth") Ascending arpeggio played quietly on harp (with occasional swells of the same chord in the string section) for several scenes involving treks across the island.
- Rose and Bernard: ("S.O.S.") Constantly ascending love theme for the couple, heard numerous times in their centric episode. ("Rose and Bernard")
- Reveal theme: ("?") Two chords (i - III) used for the reveals of surprising sights on the island, such as the Pearl.
- The Others'/Ben's theme: ("Three Minutes") Sinister seven-note melody for muted trombones or string tremolos, consisting of two similar descending figures, each ending with a half-step glissando. Its initial use for the Others as a whole was gradually replaced with a more specific association with Ben. This theme is also given a substantially different treatment in "The Man Behind the Curtain", this time played gently by piano or strings, with chords and a second melodic phrase that give it a distinctly tender character. ("McGale's Navy")
- Hillbilly Others' theme: ("Three Minutes") Bouncy, chromatically-moving intervals of a minor third in the trombones, sometimes with a secondary melody in the strings. Used in scenes involving the Others' seemingly primitive existence in Season 2. ("McGale's Navy")
- Lost theme counterpoint: ("Live Together, Die Alone") Disturbing, repetitive dissonances, with the main theme often heard in conjunction. First heard as Jack, Sayid, and Sawyer swim to Desmond's sailboat.
- Desmond's theme: ("Live Together, Die Alone") Two variations of a melancholy tune for Desmond, particularly his past with Penny. A related progression of uneasy chords is also used for the stranger aspects of his experiences after the implosion of the Swan station.
- Traveling theme #4: ("Live Together, Die Alone") Four ascending notes of a minor key, played by harp.
Season 3
- Jack's theme: ("A Tale of Two Cities") Gently played by solo cello with quiet harp or piano accompaniment in most instances, though Matthew Fox was taught how to play it on piano for the scene from "The Man from Tallahassee" when Kate finds him in the Barracks.
- Mystery motif: ("Not in Portland") Three major third intervals, high in the violins, ascending and then descending.
- Juliet's past: ("Not in Portland") Simple, hopeful chord progression accompanying scenes involving Rachel's miraculous pregnancy because of Juliet's work.
- Juliet's theme: ("Stranger in a Strange Land") Starts with a vi - II - I chord progression and most often plays in scenes involving Juliet's relationships.
- "Greatest Hits" motif: ("Greatest Hits") Triplet-based five-note motif in a minor key used to underscore various tense scenes in "Greatest Hits."
- Suspense theme #2: ("Greatest Hits") Three punctuated, descending dissonances that repeat, similar in character to the Lost theme counterpoint mentioned above. Sometimes accompanied by a faster bassline beneath. Most often heard in scenes involving the people from the freighter.
- Peril theme: ("Through the Looking Glass") Two short phrases, descending then ascending, heard first as the Looking Glass's communication room fills with water, and then much later as Ben uses a mirror to communicate in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1".
- Flashforward theme #1: ("Through the Looking Glass") A synthesized minor chord descends a half-step from the tonic in scenes involving the Oceanic 6's deception about the fate of the other survivors. Its first appearance is in the final scene of the third season.
Season 4
- Flashforward theme #2: ("The Beginning of the End") Another sad, synthesized theme for the emotional aftermath of the Oceanic 6's rescue, this one beginning with the chord progression i - IV - V.
- Freighter theme: ("Confirmed Dead") Alternately noble and ominous five-note theme for the people on the freighter, first heard during Charlotte's flashback in Tunisia.
- Returning home: ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") Texturally similar to Locke's second theme, this one is first used as the Oceanic 6 disembark to rejoin their families for the first time after the crash.
- "There's No Place Like Home" motif: ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") 3/4 ostinato of a single repeated note (1-and-(rest)-and-3) used as tension escalates among the survivors at the end of season 4.
See also
- Michael Giacchino
- Soundtracks - The first two seasons both have had soundtrack albums released, featuring music from the score
- The Lost Symphony - A symphonic work for orchestra composed by Giacchino, featuring music from the score
- Songs featured in Lost
- January 9, 2006 Official Lost Podcast - A special orchestra edition in which Michael Giacchino takes a tour of the scoring stage, and introduces musicians and instruments that make up the sound of Lost
- April 10, 2007 Official Lost Podcast - A video podcast in which Giacchino is interviewed and takes a tour of the scoring stage
- Incidental music download thread - A collection of Lost music tracks captured from various episodes
