Let’s face it— occasionally, work can be boring. And while it would be great to be able to listen to Taylor Swift while typing away, sometimes our favorite songs can be a little too great and cause us to become distracted as we bob our heads and hit the high notes. Fortunately for us, there’s an entire all-you-can-eat buffet of lyric-less music! But where to start? Jazz? Mozart? The Mario Kart theme song? All great options, but in my opinion, the go-to work playlist should consist of one thing and one thing only… film soundtracks.
As a film fanatic I may be a little biased in writing this, but I believe songs from films trump other wordless songs. For starters, their quality is just as good (or dare I say, sometimes even better) than the classics; if you’re some sort of snob who only listens to a certain caliber of music— say, Bach or better— well, then John Williams has an entire catalogue for you to explore. But more important than their quality or distraction-less abilities are the feelings these songs can invoke. Songs with lyrics are fun and feel special because the primitive part of our brain enjoys remembering lines of songs and singing along with the artist— the sense of familiarity makes us happy. And unless you play enough Beethoven that it functions as the soundtrack of your life, odds are that it, at best, evokes memories of other times you listened to Beethoven. But not film soundtracks.
Film soundtracks can put you right back into the thick of your favorite movies scenes, and help you feel the warm rush of familiarity that your favorite song lyrics may bring. In other words, a piano sonata from Mozart may be beautiful, but John William’s Hedwig’s Theme is beautiful and brings you back to Hogwarts, and boy oh boy is that a whole cauldron of emotions to experience while you work.
Without further ado, here are five of my favorite classical tracks from film soundtracks that I listen to (at least once) every time I need to work without being distracted:
"Han Solo and the Princess" by John Williams
What better way to start than with John Williams, perhaps the most famous American composer of all time? Williams has won 25 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, and is second only to Walt Disney himself for Academy Award nominations (Williams has 52). He’s composed film scores for an uncountable amount of our favorite movies, and you could easily make several playlists from his work alone (and I have). After careful deliberation, I’ve decided to recommend "Han Solo and the Princess," as Star Wars will forever hold a special place in my heart. And while certain songs of his-- I’m looking at you, "Duel of the Fates" -- may be a little more high energy for when I need to really kick my work into high gear, "Han Solo and the Princess" is a quintessential example of background music that stays in the background while subtly invoking joyous emotions.
"On The Nature Of Daylight" by Max Richter
This song has technically been in a handful of films— including Shutter Island, Stranger than Fiction, and Jiro Dreams of Sushi— so perhaps that means its power are multiplied if you’ve seen more than one film it’s been featured in (note: I haven’t). Regardless, Max Richter does a breathtaking job with this piece, and its celestial, albeit haunting beauty is almost enough to distract you from work. Almost. This song is a bit slower than others, but if you need something serene to keep you company while you make your way through your inbox, this is the track for you.
Bonus: Max Richter has a project from 2014 called Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons and it’s… well, it’s exactly as the name describes, but it’s also phenomenal and worth the listen on its own (even if it isn’t featured in a film yet).
"Manchester Minimalist Piano and Strings" by Lesley Barber
A lofting song with moments tinged with darkness, Barber sure finds a way to make two minutes and twenty seconds feel a whole lot longer than two minutes and twenty seconds. And perhaps that is the ultimate point of a good work song— slowing down time to help you complete more work in less time, while enjoying yourself throughout!
And when less than 2% of the top 100 grossing films of the last decade are composed by women, it’s important to put our money where our mouth is and stream/buy soundtracks composed by women.
"LIFE ON MARS?" by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Admittedly, I haven’t seen Watchmen… yet. And so while for me this song currently invokes as many emotions and memories as any old solid piece of classical music, it still holds a spot in my playlist because of the potential it holds. When I do watch Watchmen, I know this song will transform beyond its current state, but my, oh my what a current state it is. Reznor and Ross deliver a delicate sub-three minute piece that takes its listener on an emotional rollercoaster that seemingly only floats higher and higher. And let this recommendation be a lesson to all of you readers out there-- it’s okay to add soundtracks to your playlists for media you haven’t seen yet, because it’ll just make it all the more special for when you do finally watch.
"Mountains" by Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer may be my favorite composer, and even an ear as untrained as mine can easily pick out his distinctive style. He just composed the new James Bond soundtrack (phenomenal), and he also composed the soundtrack for Dune (which as of writing I haven’t listened to yet as I am waiting to see the movie first, but I am sure it’ll be spectacular). In my humble opinion, Zimmer’s best soundtrack is for the film Interstellar, and I’ve been known on more than one occasion (read: dozens and dozens) to listen to the entire soundtrack on loop while writing. While there are too many great songs from the soundtrack to casually pick one, I settled on "Mountains"— easily the most energetic, rousing, and dare I say inspiring song out of both the soundtrack and this article. Mountains has a larger-than-life build-up that may remind you of an ocean wave growing larger and larger until it crashes in a loud, beautiful splash of inspiration that will propel you to beat the deadline and deliver your best work yet.
"The Soundtrack to Your (Work) Life" is part of our ongoing blog series, "The Soundtrack to Your Creative Process." Check out our running Spotify playlist and stay tuned for more additions soon!
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Note From Tongal: This blog is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here!
