Composer Angelo Badalamenti tells and shows how the theme song to Twin Peaks was created, in this short and funny video.
The quick version is that Angelo Badalamenti sat down at the piano with the TV show’s creator, David Lynch. Lynch told him the mood he wanted, and Angelo plinked it out right then and there, pretty much:
It’s a charming little story, and David Lynch fans will get a chuckle out of picturing the scene. Twin Peaks fans will, of course, enjoy hearing the music.
It’s a great bit from a very good soundtrack. At the time I had the soundtrack on cassette (!) and would listen to it in my car, entering a dream state that served me well through a long commute. Here are some scans of the cover of the cassette tape, which I still have. My two children grew up hearing it:
