Watchmen
Both a soundtrack and excerpts from Tyler Bates' film score were released as albums on March 3, 2009. The soundtrack features three songs written by Bob Dylan—"Desolation Row", "All Along the Watchtower" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'"—with only the latter performed by Dylan on the soundtrack. It includes some songs mentioned in the comic, such as Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" and "All Along the Watchtower" are also quoted in the graphic novel. Music by Philip Glass from Koyaanisqatsi plays when Dr. Manhattan is looking back on his life when he arrives on Mars. The Introitus of Mozart's Requiem appears at the end of the film. "Desolation Row" was covered by My Chemical Romance especially for the film, and the song plays in the end credits.
THE SCORE
Watchmen: Original Motion Picture Score is a film score album for the 2009 film Watchmen. It was released back to back with the soundtrack album Watchmen: Music from the Motion Picture.
MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE
Watchmen: Music from the Motion Picture is the film soundtrack album for the 2009 film Watchmen. The soundtrack features three songs written by Bob Dylan: "Desolation Row", "The Times They Are a-Changin'", and "All Along The Watchtower".
The film uses some of the songs mentioned in the comic, including "The Times They Are a-Changin'", Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower"; Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence"; Nena's "99 Luftballons"; a muzak version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"; and Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable". Many of the period songs were up-mixed to 5.1 surround for the film using the Penteo process. Tyler Bates, (who wrote the film's original score), said the challenge was composing music that would transition effectively into these famous songs. Director Zach Snyder and Bates received Dylan's permission to use the stems from "The Times They Are a-Changin'" so the three-minute song could play over the six-minute opening. The story of how Dr. Manhattan came to be is accompanied by a montage of the pieces "Prophecies" and "Pruit Igoe" by Philip Glass, originally composed for the 1983 cult film Koyaanisqatsi. Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II's sex scene aboard the Owl Ship is set to the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Originally Zack Snyder used a recording of the song by Allison Crowe for the scene, but decided Crowe's version was "too romantic" and "too sexy" for a scene that is intended to come across as ironic and "ridiculous". Snyder ended up placing the original Cohen studio recording in this scene. My Chemical Romance, whose members are fans of the comic, covered Dylan's "Desolation Row" for the first half of the closing credits. The second half is followed by "First We Take Manhattan" sung by Leonard Cohen.
The song "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning", composed by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins for the soundtrack of Batman & Robin, although used in a promotional trailer, was not included on the soundtrack of Watchmen. Also used in trailers but left off of the soundtrack is the track "Take A Bow" by English alternative rock band, Muse, from their 2006 album, Black Holes and Revelations. Additionally, "Bombshell", composed by American rock band Powerman 5000 for Freddy vs. Jason (2003), although used in a music video and bonus tracks, was not on included on Watchmen's original soundtracks.
"DESOLATION ROW" Cover
My Chemical Romance performed a cover of "Desolation Row" for the 2009 soundtrack of Watchmen. The song peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in March, 2009. The first chapter of Watchmen ("At Midnight All the Agents") takes its name from a line in the song. This line is also quoted at the end of the chapter.
The music video for My Chemical Romance's version was directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed the Watchmen film and, as a result, features similar effects to that of the film, though no actual footage of the film appears. It features the band playing in an old-school punk arena, with visual similarities to the "Pale Horse" concert referenced in the graphic novel. After the show becomes sold out and dozens of fans can't get in, a riot ensues as the band plays on. Eventually the police arrive but are too powerless to stop the rioting both inside the show and out. Eventually a SWAT team arrives, arrests the band, and disperses the rioters.
During MCR's parts in the video multiple elements of Watchmen imagery (such as Rorschach's mask and The Comedian's smiley face button) are seen. The pink elephant balloon from both the comic and the film is also seen at the beginning of the video.
My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way has stated in interviews that he is a longtime fan of the Watchmen graphic novel. Watchmen comic book merchandise can be seen in his home on the DVD Life on the Murder Scene.
The song's music video was the last to feature former drummer Bob Bryar, who left the band a little over a year after the song was released and in the early stages of recording their fourth album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.