melanesianmusic

1. Jisas yu holem hand blong mi - Choir of All Saints (1:23)
2. Soon my Lord - Choir of All Saints (1:17)
3. God yu tekkem laef blong mi - Choir of All Saints (2:16)
4. Early morning at Tabalia - Melanesian Brotherhood (0:29)
5. Procession chant 1 - Melanesian Brotherhood (1:28)
6. Procession chant 2 (kustom tune) -Melanesian Brotherhood (0:56)
7. Holly - Melanesian Brotherhood (1:41)
8. Procession chant - Melanesian Brotherhood 3 (1:04)
9. We love to sing -Choir of All Saints (3:40)
10. Mi go longway - Choir of All Saints (2:53)
11. Jisas, masta mi save - Choir of All Saints (2:59)
12. Procession chant 4 - Melanesian Brotherhood (0:38)
13. Together Be - Melanesian Brotherhood (2:27)

Total Amount: 51:49

14. Sunday Service hymn - Melanesian Brotherhood (1:45)
15. Halleluia!, Sing to Jesus - Melanesian Brotherhood (1:31)
16. Jesus, you are here - Choir of All Saints (2:17)
17. Bybye - Choir of All Saints (2:34)
18. We are one big happy family - Choir of All Saints (2:31)
19. Traditional lullaby - Melanesian Brotherhood (2:18)
20. Cho Cho Wancho - Melanesian Brotherhood (1:26)
21. Procession chorus- Melanesian Brotherhood (0:56)
22. Remember - Melanesian Brotherhood (1:54)
23. Jisas yo holem hand blong mi - Melanesian Brotherhood (2:44)
24. Pray for us - Melanesian Brotherhood (2:10)
25. God all mighty - Melanesian Brotherhood (3:18)
26. Kyrie - Melanesian Brotherhood (3:02)

Malenesian music in relation to score

God U Tekem Laef Blong Mi is to be considered as the most vital chant of them all. Which was the actual reason for being included on the other score release of Zimmer's music. We first hear this chant in the place where private Witt has left his company to live around the locals. The whole environment is like a separate world besides the world of anger and hate, the world of war. This chant is lend by composer Hans Zimmer for his score and transformed into an very interesting orchestral composition, without involvement of the choir. Witt has several conversations with First Sergeant Welsh about his other world. He tells him ''I seen another world. I think it was just my imagination.'' So even if its just the chant is already very dreamlike, imagine how it is when being used in an orchestral way, used as a theme for Witt. It occurs for example in the hills, that c-company still has to win, of the Guadalcanal in a conversation between the two soldiers. The entire score and film take you already into an entire world, but when the chant or instrumental version is utilized it makes us even more aware of a surrealistic world besides the one of cruelties, the world of animals and people live in harmony with nature. Other than there is a another choralpiece that might be considered as a split main chant besides God U Tekem Laef Blong Mi that's called Jisas yu holem hand blong mi.

Novel writer James Earl Jones never wrote that much on the natives of the Guadacanal. Malick did otherwise and as well as with his important role for nature in the film. Thus that meant having a certain cultural musical element for the natives. And to have Melanesian choirs was a very good decision by Malick. He wanted a much more clearer vision of the entire flora and fauna, and so he also send a crew down to the Guadalcanal on the Solomon Islands, where the movie location is settled, to record all kinds of bird sounds and other environmental sounds. And recordings where made from the two different local choirs, recorded in two weeks in november of 1997. These were recorded with both
the Melanesian Brotherhood and All Saints choir. While the Brotherhood's male performances where recorded at one of their morning services at the Tabalia camp, the other choir's chants, consisting of 60 members, performed in an church building the filmcrew had built. Choir master for the Brother hood was Robert Nani, while Brother Zephaniah was the director of the All Saints choir. As well as with the score by Hans Zimmer and his Media Ventures crew, the Melanesian choirs where given a separate cd, released by RCA Victor. Claude Letessier, one of MV's sound designers, recorded the choirs and brought them back to the studio.

The language these people speak and chant is in pidgin English. Somewhere around the 19th century the English went there and they've had it under their colonial powers for over 100 years. During their time they wanted to trade and communicate with its inhabitants and due to commication a mixture between English and Chinese developed into pidgin English, which they still speak nowadays on the Solomon Islands. The language is often referred to as an Creole language.

The chants sung by the choirs carry out a very peaceful message and feel, while often being very religious. In the film these are used in scenes that features the inhabitants playing around, with Private Witt around them, and the peaceful quality adds to that no worries mentality of these people. All chants, even the ones not featured in the film, are rather simplistic in harmony and melody, but that seems to be their strength. In the film for example there's a sequence where some soldiers walk by a cemetery, as we some people who are chanting about death. Most of the times you hear them while children are playing around, leading a joyful existenz.

God U Tekem Laef Blong Mi was also used in the extended theatrical trailer, while this is chant can also be heard when the end credits start rolling.

Melanesian Brotherhood, at Tabalia camp

Witt living in his other world.

Dvd Extra Melanesian choirs

On the very first dvd release of The Thin Red Line some of the choirs are put as an extra. I must admit very cleaverly, to promote the chants release as well. I doesn't matter on which region you buy the film, but it has to be the first release. This featured the first 11 chants: