wesssiiiiiiiide!

I've seen West Side Story a half-dozen times at least, but until last night hadn't seen it it about 13 years (half a lifetime ago!). Was flipping through the channels last night and caught right from the opening theme. Conversations were dubbed into French, but thankfully the original soundtrack was reverted to for the songs.

You don't need me to tell you how cool the music is, but listening to it with my now-wizened ears was great, a near-total rediscovery. It's awesome that this music can appeal directly to a child and engage an adult. I'd always loved the "Say it soft, and it's almost like praying" line in "Maria," but this time around also listened carefully to how "Cool" unfolded. A nice change from so much cookie-cutter film music.

It's funny how these tough gang members are probably mostly gay and the lead Portorican is Greek.