Why Listen To Godzilla Theme Music?

NOTE: This theme is NOT for the faint of heart.

Maybe because it's scary Halloween time of year and I have an 8-year old grandson who is captivated by Godzilla that I am interested in listening to the theme music (another "Earworm") of Godzilla films. I don't like scary things, but I can understand how children find Godzilla, an enormous, destructive, prehistoric sea monter, exciting, because the monster gives them an opportunity to face their fears.

Upon researching the origin of the Godzilla film, I came upon the following Brittanica history:

Godzilla was a clear embodiment of Japanese fears about nuclear weapons in the wake of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also, early in 1954 the crew of a Japanese fishing boat had suffered radiation sickness after exposure to fallout from an American nuclear test on Bikini atoll; this incident was directly alluded to in Godzilla with a fishing boat being the target of the monster’s first attack.

Goijara, the character's name in Japanese, is a portmanteau of "gorilla" and "kujara", the Japanese word for "whale" ( Source).

Maybe facing their fears through movies is why many adults, as well as children, are interested in scary films these days, as well as in the past.

Godzilla Activity

Music plays a big part in eliciting emotions. Following are severall versions of Godzilla's musical theme, that could be the basis for an intriguing elder group or intergenerational activity:

1. Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Official Soundtrack | Main Title - Bear McCreary | WaterTower, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD0FeOrK6rk

2. Godzilla Theme | EPIC ORCHESTRAL VERSION (Godzilla vs Kong Soundtrack), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5BBgSUbf1w

3. ‘Destroyer of Worlds’ | A Godzilla Singular Point Suite | Godzilla SP Theme, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix8H5zO8w_Q

4. Godzilla Ultima (AMV) - INDUSTRY BABY (FINAL VER), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7HFH8RPC4, June 29, 2022

5. Godzilla Earth ( Custom Roar ) [ By me, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb9FEyNCJjQ

6. Evolution of Godzilla Roars (1954-2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHa8kDsoTqM

7. EVOLUTION OF GODZILLA in Movies (1954 - 2019). Godzilla King of the Monsters 2019 Ready Player One 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhLxEb6xTfc July 25, 2018

8. Godzilla Sings A Song (Godzilla King Of The Monsters Parody), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4helETGDXxE, Feb 27, 2021

Questions for Discussion:

• What musical instrument do you think is played in the third version above (#3)?

• How are the newer versions of the musical theme different from older versions?

• How did Godzilla Roars change over the past 60 decades (#6)?

• #5 is a made-up Roar. What would your Roar sound like?

• How do you think the Godzilla theme music contributed to the populariity of the film?

The film's music is so effective that some of us (especially those under 12 or squeamish elders) may not even have to watch the film!