Sky Rockets in Flight
[This post contains spoilers from "Good Will Hunting"]
In 1976, Starland Vocal released "Afternoon Delight", a song which would become one of those unforgettable, timeless pieces of work. The single reached number one in the US Hot 100 in July of the same year and gave the band their first golden record. When analyzing the lyrics, even the most pure and innocent human being (if such a thing still exists) will realize that it's basically, as Stephen Silver said in one of his articles, an ode to midday fornication. Of course, one is never one hundred percent sure what a songwriter had in mind as he was penning the lyrics but, come on, Bill Danoff wasn't thinking about political complaints when he came up with "Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night?" or "Thinkin' of you's workin' up my appetite".
As for the musical part, I personally find it to be a real afternoon-morning-evening-whatever-time-of-the-day delight. The unhurried pace of an elephant comes to mind when you focus on the paused, calm rhythm carried by the bass and the drums, and you can actually imagine a startling orange-tinged afternoon evoked by the violins' ligatures. But what really blows you away is the vocal arrangement. That's pure magic. In fact, it won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Voices in 1976, an award which has only been achieved by the most legendary bands such as Toto, The Eagles or Bee Gees.
Having praised the song in isolation, let's get to work. As I said in the previous post, "Afternoon Delight" appears twice in the film Good Will Hunting (1997). The first time, Will is undergoing a psychoanalytic session as solicited by Prof. Lambeau [1.]. At the beginning of the scene it seems that the session is having an actual effect on Will, who talks (apparently unconsciously) about an instance of sexual abuse he suffered when he was seven. As the climax of the memory approaches, Will links his narration with a verse of "Afternoon Delight" and starts to sing the chorus of the song, making clear that he was never under the effect of any type of hypnosis and was just making fun of the poor therapist, as he had done with the previous ones. The way I see it, the meaning of the song has no strong relevance in this particular moment. It's such an intelligent, delicate movement from Gus Van Sant, director of the film, to reinforce and highlight the appearance of the song in the final credits. In other words, here Van Sant is playing with us, the audience, making sure that we unconsciously pay more attention to it when it plays again.
The culmination of the movie arrives. Chuckie goes to Will's house to pick him up and hag out somewhere as they normally do [2.]. He knocks at his door, but Will doesn't answer. That can only mean one thing, so Chuckie just smiles happily, startled, and goes back to his car with the guys: "He's not there" (Ben, dude, you were damn good in this one. I don't know what happened to you afterwards). Now the soulful and tender Sean takes the camera, reading Will's letter of farewell: "Son of a bitch. He stole my line". The therapist closes his door and the final scene shows up. Will drives to California in the clunker of a car that the guys got him to see Skylar (Minnie Driver in 1997; ladies and gentlemen, who wouldn't drive wherever it takes?) and the credits roll. It is here when, after listening to the also fantastic "Miss Misery" by Elliot Smith, our subject of discussion starts to play [3.].
Starting by stating the obvious, the very first verse shows the direct relation between the song and the scene/movie: "Gonna find my baby gonna hold her tight" (Will's probably gonna hold Skylar pretty damn tight). The second direct relation is with the time of the day, a clear and calm afternoon. From a more abstract perspective, the song evokes some kind of feeling of rebellion and freedom, a portrayal of the spirit of the 70s. As I mentioned before, the lyrics are pretty much saying they are not going to wait until it gets dark, they are going to make love right there at that very moment. Will portrays that rebellious spirit during the whole movie, and now is the time when he is completely unbound and free, en route to seek his lover. Basically, Will is having his own afternoon delight. For me, picking that particular song was an excellent choice, and I probably wouldn't have paid so much attention to it if Van Sant hadn't shown it like he did in the previous scene. For these reasons, I can do nothing but applaud such a brilliant idea. Well done, Gus, well done.
In 1976, Starland Vocal released "Afternoon Delight", a song which would become one of those unforgettable, timeless pieces of work. The single reached number one in the US Hot 100 in July of the same year and gave the band their first golden record. When analyzing the lyrics, even the most pure and innocent human being (if such a thing still exists) will realize that it's basically, as Stephen Silver said in one of his articles, an ode to midday fornication. Of course, one is never one hundred percent sure what a songwriter had in mind as he was penning the lyrics but, come on, Bill Danoff wasn't thinking about political complaints when he came up with "Why wait until the middle of a cold dark night?" or "Thinkin' of you's workin' up my appetite".
As for the musical part, I personally find it to be a real afternoon-morning-evening-whatever-time-of-the-day delight. The unhurried pace of an elephant comes to mind when you focus on the paused, calm rhythm carried by the bass and the drums, and you can actually imagine a startling orange-tinged afternoon evoked by the violins' ligatures. But what really blows you away is the vocal arrangement. That's pure magic. In fact, it won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Voices in 1976, an award which has only been achieved by the most legendary bands such as Toto, The Eagles or Bee Gees.
Having praised the song in isolation, let's get to work. As I said in the previous post, "Afternoon Delight" appears twice in the film Good Will Hunting (1997). The first time, Will is undergoing a psychoanalytic session as solicited by Prof. Lambeau [1.]. At the beginning of the scene it seems that the session is having an actual effect on Will, who talks (apparently unconsciously) about an instance of sexual abuse he suffered when he was seven. As the climax of the memory approaches, Will links his narration with a verse of "Afternoon Delight" and starts to sing the chorus of the song, making clear that he was never under the effect of any type of hypnosis and was just making fun of the poor therapist, as he had done with the previous ones. The way I see it, the meaning of the song has no strong relevance in this particular moment. It's such an intelligent, delicate movement from Gus Van Sant, director of the film, to reinforce and highlight the appearance of the song in the final credits. In other words, here Van Sant is playing with us, the audience, making sure that we unconsciously pay more attention to it when it plays again.
The culmination of the movie arrives. Chuckie goes to Will's house to pick him up and hag out somewhere as they normally do [2.]. He knocks at his door, but Will doesn't answer. That can only mean one thing, so Chuckie just smiles happily, startled, and goes back to his car with the guys: "He's not there" (Ben, dude, you were damn good in this one. I don't know what happened to you afterwards). Now the soulful and tender Sean takes the camera, reading Will's letter of farewell: "Son of a bitch. He stole my line". The therapist closes his door and the final scene shows up. Will drives to California in the clunker of a car that the guys got him to see Skylar (Minnie Driver in 1997; ladies and gentlemen, who wouldn't drive wherever it takes?) and the credits roll. It is here when, after listening to the also fantastic "Miss Misery" by Elliot Smith, our subject of discussion starts to play [3.].
Starting by stating the obvious, the very first verse shows the direct relation between the song and the scene/movie: "Gonna find my baby gonna hold her tight" (Will's probably gonna hold Skylar pretty damn tight). The second direct relation is with the time of the day, a clear and calm afternoon. From a more abstract perspective, the song evokes some kind of feeling of rebellion and freedom, a portrayal of the spirit of the 70s. As I mentioned before, the lyrics are pretty much saying they are not going to wait until it gets dark, they are going to make love right there at that very moment. Will portrays that rebellious spirit during the whole movie, and now is the time when he is completely unbound and free, en route to seek his lover. Basically, Will is having his own afternoon delight. For me, picking that particular song was an excellent choice, and I probably wouldn't have paid so much attention to it if Van Sant hadn't shown it like he did in the previous scene. For these reasons, I can do nothing but applaud such a brilliant idea. Well done, Gus, well done.
3 [3.] Good Will Hunting
– Credits (Afternoon Delight included): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERPM_If7bf0
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