Carol Anne's Theme - Jerry Goldsmith

"When I get a fantasy film job, the first thing I look for is the non-fantasy element to build the music upon. The human side of the film is what's important, not the hardware. My work on 'Poltergeist' is a perfect example. Most people saw it as a ghost story and a horror story. I saw it as a love story and wrote the music with that emotion in mind."

LATER DAYS: The Jerry Goldsmith Experience: Track Seventeen

Song: Carol Anne's Song (End Theme)
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Album: Poltergeist OST
Quote: Jerry Goldsmith
Mix: The Power of Three

The three greatest movie score composers of our age team up in THE POWER OF THREE! John Williams, James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith at their very best in fifteen different movies spanning back to 1980. Buckle Up.

When I was seven years old we had just gotten cable for the first time. My parents went out of town and a babysitter came to stay with us. POLTERGEIST was showing on HBO and it was a free weekend for that channel. So she watched it and I watched the whole thing with her. And that was it. The entire movie was seared onto my soul forevermore in that moment. Everything came from that movie. The sheer spectacular horror of it all is incredibly tense and frightening for anybody who experiences it. But a seven year old? There's something about the ages between seven and nine where I think our strongest impressions are formed, the ones that last a lifetime. So of course you'll understand when I say that, without a doubt, POLTERGEIST is the greatest Motion Picture ever made.

And then of course there's Jerry. There is something about this particular score that is utterly unlike anything else I've ever heard, even from him. It is sweeping, tender, strange, bombastic, beautiful, harrowing...well, I could I go on but I think you get the point. It's incredible. CAROL ANNE'S THEME is probably one of the most recognizable songs in all of cinema. Anybody who has seen the movie and hears the beautiful yet creepy singing voices of these children most likely feels the same way I feel...a mixture of appreciation for the beauty of the melody with a slight but definite unease at the evil lurking just beneath the surface. Or maybe it's just me. All I know is that seeing a man rip his face off at seven years old to bizarre orchestral music really does something to you.

And so we have come Full Circle. I hope you have enjoyed this showcase of Jerry Goldsmith, one of the greatest composers in movie history. May his legacy live on far into the future, teaching us all not through words, but through the Universal power of his musical vision. Thank you all for joining me. May God bless you all.