“The Truth Is Out There…” – The Music of The X-Files: Fight The Future

Something tells me when Chris Carter pitched the idea of two FBI agents pursuing cases about the paranormal, one a believer, the other a skeptic, I doubt that Fox saw it lasting more than a season, let alone 9 and 2 major motion pictures.

The X-Files exploded onto the small screen in the Fall of 1993 and instantly became a hit. The show was always unique, creepy, scary, and cool. At the time, it was “The Water Cooler” show. The X-Files gave a megaphone to geeks everywhere who watch the skies in hopes that we are not alone in the universe. I personally remember my first “X-File” episode, “Little Green Men.” It freaked the living daylights out of me and I was hooked. I stayed a loyal viewer till the end and I was sad to see it go, and even though I felt the show had long out stayed its welcome, there was something somber about watching Mulder and Scully fade into the sunset in the final episode.

For me, one of the big factors that would freak me out in addition to the visuals, was of course, Mark Snow’s atmospheric and down right creepy score. Snow, who at the time, had been scoring TV shows since the 1970s, was no stranger to the small screen. Every episode, Snow would develop and create little themes, some haunting and beautiful like “Scully’s Theme” in Season 8, or some treacherous, like Eugene Tooms in Season 1. Like anything in the show, the music made the world real. It made Mulder and Scully’s work jump off the screen and into our living rooms with its sonic beauty and horror, and while the show’s score showed a dynamic sandbox of abstract themes, motifs and electronica, the score for the film is very much restrained.

In “Threnody In X”, Snow’s theme becomes an epic piece of orchestral writing. I think the cue gets the listener excited for the experience to come in a big way. The sonic power of the orchestra lifts Snow’s original synth theme and brings it to a new level. I like how Snow doesn’t depend on the theme to move the score along. The great thing about the theme is that the way it’s written you really can’t, so it forces the composer to think of new ways to move the picture along. It only shows up a few times in Snow’s score. It’s played through once in “Plague,” and hints can be heard in “Stung Kissing/Cargo Hold” and “Corn Copters.” Also during the movie, the “Crossroads” cue is different than on the album, and it contains part of the “Threnody” theme.

I think to the casual viewer of the show, this music would be like nails on a chock board, albeit a handful of more palatable, more traditional pieces.  But for fans, Snow not only delivers his trademark eeriness but throws in some splashes of thematic boldness too. Cues like “Goop” and “Soda Pop” establish some early orchestral flares and orchestrations that we’ll hear later on. In addition to those, a bit of thematic material is heard that is slightly expanded on later. The honest truth of this score is that it’s all normal for your typical X-Files episode, but taken a few steps further. Even though Chris Carter and director Rob Bowman wanted a very minimalist approach to the music, Snow was able to introduce some really great moments with the orchestra. Cues like “Already Dead,” “Come and Gone” and “Trust No One” Snow gives us classic sounds from the series but with big orchestral treatments, while cues like “Cave Base” and “Crossroads” show us a more thematically sweeping arc.

A few cues that always stand out with me still 10 years later are “Stung Kissing/Cargo Hold” and “Facts.” I think both of these cues, in addition to the few mentioned above represent what Snow could have done if Carter and Bowman would have really let him go on thematic development… as much as an X-Files movie could handle that is.  Snow gives what I think is some of the best music of his carrier, aside from his work on Smallville. Of course, his music for The X-Files show and movies will always be a stand out for fans.

As a fan of the show and the music, I guess I’m biased. I think 10 years after this score was recorded and 6 years after the airing of “The Truth,” it still holds up. It still manages to give me goosebumps at all the right times, and I think that’s what really takes a mediocre score to good, or a good score to great.  Personally, I’m really excited to hear what Snow’s cooked up for “I Want To Believe.”

Rating: 4/5
Favorite Track: 1