Think back to the last movie you watched. Now, can you name a song you remember from that movie? Even in the age of silent films, music has always played a paramount role in a viewer’s perception of a film. One modern-day director that values film music particularly highly is Quentin Tarantino, who has directed movies such as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Reservoir Dogs. In a recent interview, Tarantino claimed, “when you take songs and put them in a sequence in a movie right, it’s about as cinematic a thing as you can do…you’re really doing what movies do better than any other art form.” Tarantino’s 2012 film, Django Unchained, features a wide variety of music, from Italian composer Ennio Morricone to that of Florida rap artist Rick Ross. Nearly the entire soundtrack of Django Unchained can be divided into two distinct parts: music taken from mid-twentieth-century “Spaghetti Western” films and original music from black American artists. Tarantino’s use of traditional Spaghetti Western-style music combined with original, black-composed music strengthens the theme of black empowerment developed throughout Django Unchained.

The film itself is in the style of a Spaghetti Western, paying homage to the hundreds of Italian-produced Western films produced in the 1960s and 70s. While the plot of Django Unchained is not like any of the movies from which the music is from, the music pulled from these Spaghetti Western films suggests that the character of Django shares several similarities with the protagonists of these Spaghetti Western films. The film begins with an opening sequence backed by the titular track “Django” from the 1966 Spaghetti Western Django. The song, written by famed Spaghetti Western composer Luis Bacalov, was chosen to open the film because “this movie is done in the style of a Spaghetti Western, and any Spaghetti Western worth its salt has an opening credit sequence,” according to Tarantino. The song features vivid instrumentals, led by an orchestral violin and backed by a folk-sounding guitar and powerful drums. The lyrics foreshadow the basic premise of the film to come, as they describe Django losing the love of his life, while also suggesting that “after the showers / The sun will be shining.” This song captures the essence of Django Unchained, as the movie is centered around a newly freed slave who goes on a mission to free his enslaved wife, Broomhilda, who was taken from him. This song sets the stage for a black hero who will, against all odds, accomplish his mission and “get the girl,” as the song suggests.

Another Western-style songs plays as the movie nears its end. As our hero, Django, embraces his newly freed wife for the first time in years, the song “Un Monumento” accompanies the scene. This song, composed by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, was originally heard in the 1966 Spaghetti Western The Hellbenders. While the song is simply instrumental, the horns at the forefront of the track combined with the pounding bass drum in the background produces a sense of accomplishment as Django finally reunites with his long-lost wife. During the scene in which this song is played, only two lines are uttered, both by Django himself: “Auf Wiedersehen” (“Until I see you again,” in German) to the recently killed Dr. King Schultz, and, “It’s me, baby” to the recently rescued Broomhilda. These two lines, while minimal, are enhanced by the music that accompanies them. Django is at peace with the death of his fallen colleague, and he can finally rest, having accomplished his goal of rescuing his wife. While one would not normally consider music from mid-twentieth-century Western movies to enhance a theme of black empowerment, Tarantino masterfully weaves these songs into the movie to portray Django as a sort of black superhero.

Of the five songs that were commissioned specifically for use in Django Unchained, four of the songs were created entirely by black artists. Not only that, all four of these songs have themes of freedom and revenge, which ties in directly with Django’s mission to free his enslaved wife and get revenge on those who enslaved her. These songs all strongly reinforce the theme of black empowerment developed throughout the film through their depiction of a black “superhero.” The first of these songs is “Freedom,” written and performed by African-American artists Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton. The song comes on during an important scene in the film: the flashback in which Django and Broomhilda are punished after attempting to run away from the plantation together. The song’s lyrics are poignant, as the enslaved couple is “looking for freedom,” as the song suggests. Both artists deliver strong verses that convey a clear hope for freedom shrouded by doubt. Boynton sings: “No telling how, all these will work out / But I’ve come too far to go back now.” Hamilton, similarly, exclaims: “Trying to get up but the doubt is so strong / There’s gotta be a winning in my bones.” The words of Hamilton and Boynton fade into the background as Broomhilda screams out in pain after being whipped, but the music jumps back into the center of attention as the scene cuts to a flashback of Django and Broomhilda fleeing from men on horses, hand in hand. The brutality of this scene in combination with the background music emphasizes the immense struggle of slavery, and it makes Django’s eventual success even more satisfying to viewers.

Later on in the film, as Django and Schultz are on their way to “Candyland,” the plantation at which Broomhilda is enslaved, with Calvin Candie and his associates, a song begins with Western-style whistling and soft bells, sounding very similar to Ennio Morricone’s style of music. Around 30 seconds into the song, however, Rick Ross begins to rap: “I need a hundred black coffins for a hundred bad men / A hundred black graves, so I can lay they ass in.” This song is written and produced by Jamie Foxx, the actor portraying the role of Django. “100 Black Coffins” features Ross’s uniquely harsh voice demanding “a hundred black preachers, with a black sermon to tell / From a hundred black bibles, while we send them all to hell” over an aggressive beat featuring quick snares and loud bass. “Gangster rap, after all, has been given free reign, sometimes problematically so, to fantasies of unfettered black male prowess for years,” according to Glenda Carpio, a Professor of African-American Studies at Harvard University. At this point in the film, Django is portrayed on top of a horse, at the same level as all the white slave owners. Just as gangster rap music encourages “fantasies of unfettered black male prowess,” Django Unchained accomplishes the same thing through its depiction of its black protagonist, Django. While these fantasies of killing every man who has done wrong may be over the top, they still carry a clear message of refusing to accept injustices and acting out to right the wrongs of the world.

The soundtrack for the movie’s climax – when Django kills dozens of white slavers, painting the white walls red – comes in the form of a mashup. The song that accompanies this scene is “Unchained” – a mashup of James Brown’s “The Payback” and Tupac Shakur’s “Untouchable”, a previously unreleased track. During this scene, Django blows apart bodies while simultaneously using other dead bodies as shields. In the background, Tupac raps: “Am I wrong ‘cause I want to get it on ‘till I die?” The track serves as a kind of anthem for rebellion as Django takes the bloodiest route possible to get revenge on those who had wronged him.

This scene was not universally well-received amongst audiences. Renowned black filmmaker Spike Lee, for example, called the movie “disrespectful to my ancestors,” as he suggests that the film does not properly portray the struggle of slavery. Continuing, Lee argued, “American slavery was not a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It was a holocaust. My ancestors are slaves. Stolen from Africa. I will honor them” (Carr). However, Tarantino’s primary objective in Django Unchained was not historical accuracy. Rather, it was the development of Django’s character as a powerful black man who took matters into his own hands when he needed to. Despite the historical inaccuracies, however, Quentin Tarantino “doesn’t flinch from reminding us of slavery’s toll on black flesh” (Vognar). That is, he is constantly reminding viewers throughout the movie of the immense pain and suffering experienced by slaves every single day in that era. While some may argue that gruesome murder is not a successful portrayal of black empowerment, Joi Carr, Professor of Film Studies at Pepperdine University, argues that this scene sends a strong message: “Cinematically, the bloody and violent narrative spectacle…defies realism to make a point: a plea for innovation and a death to hackneyed black stereotypes that propagate notions of black inferiority.” Tarantino’s excessive use of violence combined with the aggressive lyrics of Tupac Shakur in this scene aims to destroy the cinematic trope of black characters being inferior to their white counterparts.

Continuing, Tupac raps, “Only wish to breed, I explode into a million seeds / Y’all remember me, legendary live eternally / Bury me in pieces ‘cause they fear reincarnation.” Here, Tupac is “giving voice to the hero who is ready to fight to death…whose body was cut in pieces but who lives ‘eternally’” (Carpio). Here, Tarantino’s use of Tupac’s “Untouchable” suggests that in this scene, Django is literally untouchable – that is, he will survive against all odds, and nobody can stop him. Common sense would dictate that one man with a pistol would be dead in seconds when faced with dozens of men with rifles, but Django somehow makes it out alive.

Finally, as Django escapes from his captors emerging out of a cloud of smoke, black singer John Legend’s “Who Did That To You” begins to play. Legend sings: “Now I’m not afraid to do the Lord’s work / You said vengeance is His, but I’mma do it first / I’m gon’ handle my business in the name of the law.” Similarly to Ross’s “100 Black Coffins,” this track essentially steps into the mind of Django Freeman. “The writing is pretty straightforward, and it is pretty spot-on in terms of the themes of the film,” according to Legend. Continuing, he claims: “It’s about retribution, it’s about avenging your lover’s honor, it’s about a desire to find your love and exact retribution on whoever harmed her” (Van Syckle). Rather than putting faith in the law, this song encourages vigilante justice, which is exactly what Django accomplishes in this film. The song highlights Django as a black hero who has taken matters into his own hands when the cards were not in his favor.

The uniqueness of Django Unchained’s soundtrack provides the foundation for a discussion on racial trauma during slavery-era America. The music “provides a backdrop for what a slave’s revenge may sound like, subverting the racial trauma inflicted on slaves,” according to Dr. Regina Bradley, Assistant Professor of African American Literature at Armstrong State University. Rather than simply serving as background noise to fill space, the soundtrack of this film served to develop the theme of black empowerment in the movie as well as in society. So, the next time you sit down to watch Django Unchained (or any Tarantino film for that matter), don’t just focus on what you see on the screen. Pay extra attention to what you hear, and you might just experience the film like you never have before.

Works Cited

Bradley, R. N. “I Like the Way You Rhyme, Boy: Hip Hop Sensibility and Racial Trauma in Django Unchained.” Sounding Out!, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Carpio, Glenda R. “‘I Like the Way You Die, Boy.’” Transition, no. 112, 2013, pp. 1–12. JSTOR, doi:10.2979/transition.112.1.

Carr, Joi. “Introduction: Django Unchained – Disrupting Classical Hollywood Historical Realism?” Black Camera, vol. 7, no. 2, 2016, pp. 37–44. JSTOR, doi:10.2979/blackcamera.7.2.37.

Mathiesen, Thomas. “Silent Film Music and the Theatre Organ.” Indiana Theory Review, vol. 11, 1990, pp. 81-117.

Prendergast, Roy M. “The Aesthetics of Film Music.” Film Music: A Critical Study of Music in Films, 2nd ed., W.W. Norton, New York, 1992, pp. 213–245.

Tarantino, Quentin. “Django Unchained Track By Track Album Commentary with Quentin Tarantino.” 18 Dec. 2012.

Tarantino, Quentin, director. Django Unchained. The Weinstein Company, 2012.

Van Syckle, Katie. “John Legend Song for ‘Django Unchained’ is ‘About Retribution’.” Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone, 21 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.

Vognar, Chris. “He Can’t Say That, Can He?” Transition, no. 112, 2013, pp. 22–31. JSTOR, doi:10.2979/transition.112.22.