In the most recent episode (review with spoilers here) of AMC’s hit show Mad Men, they re-created the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and it may be the most chilling and evocative dramatization of the event I’ve ever seen. It was definitely the first time I found myself realizing that for the people who lived through that moment, it was a real and raw and shocking thing– not something that had already accumulated dust on history’s shelf or started growing dim with distance. I could feel what the characters were feeling: vulnerability, surprise, uncertainty about the future, despair, etc. And as I caught myself empathizing with fictional people, I started questioning how they were spinning the web I was caught in. Through their clothing, and their hairstyles, and the dialogue, and the acting– and the music.

Although the music during the average episode of Mad Men is subtle enough to fade into the background and just become part of the whole, each episode ends with a carefully chosen song that rises in volume as the credits roll and ties into the theme of the evening. This week’s song about not being in love anymore contributed to the sense of melancholy the show left me with, and it also inspired me to see who else was talking about the music of Mad Men.

You can buy a soundtrack CD on Amazon (see the cover art above), AMC keeps a running list of the songs they’ve featured this season, and they’ve got Mad Men-inspired playlists available on iTunes.

Music is such a huge part of the television and movies we watch, and Mad Men is definitely doing it right in their selection of tunes.

Perhaps you’ve heard of this movie coming out next month called “New Moon”? I think it’s an indie film about a hot, young werewolf who gets pestered by a pale girl and a bunch of emotional vampires. Or something like that… Just kidding!

New Moon, the latest in the Twilight saga, comes out November 20th, and The Vancouver Sun just ran a story on the “spooky” soundtrack that inspired me to look up the lyrics to all of the songs deemed good enough to score the ultimate in teen/occult-love-triangle movies for 2009. MetroLyrics has the whole soundtrack broken down for us already, so here are just a couple of highlights:

Have you ever thought of Death Cab for Cutie as “spooky”? I hadn’t until today, but this sample from their track, “Meet Me on the Equinox” is pretty dark!

Let me give my love to you
Let me take your hand
As we walk in the dimming light
Or darling understand

That everything, everything ends
That everything, everything ends

The Killers also make an appearance on the soundtrack, with a song called “A White Demon Love Song.” My favorite lines from this one are:

White Demon where’s your selfish kiss?
White Demon sorrow will arrange
Let’s not forget about the fear
Black invitation to a place
That cannot change
Wild, strangely holey
Come for a break

Are you swept up in the Twilight frenzy? Have you got the soundtrack? Are you planning to get it? We love to hear from you!