Ry Cooder – Paris, Texas (1984)
Countless wealthy white musicians have copied, have been heavily influenced by, or have shamelessly ripped off black blues guitarists/singers who lived in poverty during the 1920s and the Depression era of the 1930s. These wealthy white musicians more often add flash without feeling, style without substance.
This criticism cannot be leveled at Ry Cooder’s deeply haunting slide guitar score (he clearly has respect and reverence for the blues in his delicate and stark variations of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was the Night”) for, by far, Wim Wenders’ masterpiece-Paris, Texas. Paris, Texas is, by far, the best American film of the cultural wasteland of the 1980s and, in my humble opinion, the greatest American film as it shares with the viewer the heartbreaking performances of Harry Dean Stanton and Nastassja Kinski in the roles of lost, wandering father and mother, the broken American family, written in Sam Shepard’s screenplay.
This road movie, with its vast desert landscapes, would not be nearly as powerful if it was missing the lonely music of Ry Cooder. Harry Dean Stanton shows he is not only a superb actor, yet also a superb singer in the homesick, melancholy, unforgettable Mexican folk song “Cancion Mixteca”.
Paris, Texas is my favorite soundtrack of all time.
by Mark Lager
[…] our Paris, Texas album review & film […]
Who plays this “keyboard” behind Ry Cooder’s slide guitar? What is this insrument?
All I can think of, when someone mentions this movie/soundtrack, is the look on Harry Deans face and the music itself. That scene when he’s talking through the glass is HEAVY HEAVY.
Thanks Nick!