Last weekend I finally saw the movie, "Once" after hearing a lot of buzz about it. Well, the movie was phenomenal, and that was largely in part to the very moving music performed by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova. The movie has been a called a modern day musical by some critics which is pretty accurate as the movie is around 60% music.

One of the first complete songs we hear in the movie (which ends up being last one on the soundtrack) is called "Say It To Me Now". It builds slowly until exploding to the song's peak. The context of the song in the movie is very appropriate too. It's the first time "Guy" and "Girl" meet, and she is the only one listening to him on the street as he plays. My other 2 favorites are "Falling Slowly" and "When Your Mind's Made Up" which are performed by both Hansard and Marketa. The latter is "performed" in a studio during a scene of the movie and it's one of the best parts of the movie in my opinion. You finally get to hear a song done with a full band and it's nothing short of remarkable (especially the melody/harmony escalator during the last 1/3 of the song).

Having never before heard of either musician, much less these particular songs, the movie scenes that I first heard them in is imprinted on my mind. Other people I know listened the soundtrack many times before seeing the movie which, I think, can give you a different perspective on the song's meaning. Bottom line: the music is something special and the movie is a perfect counterpart.