A couple weeks back the trailer for the upcoming Watchmen film went live on the internet and later was attached to prints of the Batman sequel The Dark Knight. For those who don’t know, Watchmen is thought to be one of the most influential graphic novels of modern comics, written by Alan Moore in 1986. The story was grim and dark, and for many, a deconstructionist approach to the superhero genre that redefined the scope of how the medium could be used to tell stories that film and television could not.
The trailer — which for many is the first glimpses of not only the film, but for some the first they’ve ever heard of the story — at least visually looks to match the tone and look of artist Dave Gibbons’ work. Amidst vague and dark imagery of gritty super-powered characters and post-apocalyptic visuals, a song creeps in: with distorted electronic beats and ominous strings it sets the tone for the action on screen.
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At the time, Aryn, Greg and I noted that the vocals sounded like Billy Corgan, singer of Smashing Pumpkins, but I didn’t recognize the song at all and figured it was a new track written for the film.
Turns out, according to LA Times’ blog Soundboard, the song, originally titled “The End is the Beginning is the End,” first appeared on the soundtrack to Batman and Robin (the film known to have killed the Batman franchise until it was revived with 2005’s Christopher Nolan Batman Begins) and won a Grammy in 1998 for Best Hard Rock Performance. (Watch the horrible video below:)
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The song was a lesser known track for Pumpkins and sorta faded from view, no doubt because of its association with the worst Batman movie ever. The version from the trailer though, called “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” is an alternate take found on a Rarities and B-Sides collection.
Somehow over the years, I had never heard either version of this song. But according to that LA Times blog entry, most had not, since sales for that track have exploded on iTunes and Amazon. While not originally intended to appear in the actual film, director Zack Snyder chose the song for its mood and Corgan himself has asked to have it be included as a music video. It seems they would be foolish not to at this point, since the song has found new life and might be forever associated with the film. Anyway, great song…
Listen to the full track here:
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