A Look Back: Songs In The Key Of X

Songs In The Key Of X. It is probably one of the most morose and dark albums to ever be created. It is still an album that I can put on today and I still find myself drifting off into a world of dark lyrics that to me show some kind of rare beauty.

The album was technically a companion to the hit television science fiction show The X-Files. It was marketed as a soundtrack but as we look behind the scenes of the album you will see that Songs In The Key Of X was a lot more than that.

In the mid 1990s the Chris Carter created The X-Files was to pop-culture what Game Of Thrones is today. It was a show that transcended age gaps, even in our own household both myself and my mother were religious watchers of it. The shows stars – Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were some of the most recognisable people on the planet. Their visit to Melbourne to promote the show saw Beatles like crowds at Southland Shopping Centre, my mother even gave me the day off school to attend it on the proviso that she could go with me… she was that determined to get a David Duchovny autograph.

Of course the producers behind the show saw dollar signs and all kinds of merchandise starting hitting the stores – posters, trading cards, T-Shirts and even lunch boxes (a weird concept seeing the show wasn’t meant for kids.) The X-Files meant big business and the suits behind the show knew it.

With as much merch as KISS filling the stores there was little wonder that somebody came up with the idea of releasing a soundtrack for the show. There was only one hitch – in the all the seasons of the show to date aside from Mark Snow’s theme music the show had only ever featured four tracks – the most prominent being “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

Not to let that major flaw get in the way Warner Bros. came up with another concept. They decided to put Album Producer David Was in charge of the project and the decision was made to find artists who were huge fans of the show and get them to write or record tracks that they were inspired to write by The X-Files.

David Was described it by saying “The good news is that we didn’t have to prowl the gutters of Tin Pin Alley picking up the discarded songs that the usual burger-and-fries of the soundtrack game. Contrary to custom, the music assembled was made for the occasion by artists who came humbly as devotees of the show. The only requirement was that Chris Carter went synsaesthetic when he heard their music.”

Despite a plan in hand though things started out shakily for Was. Many of the artists approached about the project early on rejected the idea. Tom Petty told Was he was unable to commit due to a tour he was on, Bruce Springstreen couldn’t get involved in the project because he was contracted to Sony while Seal blew off the project by saying he was ‘snowboarding.’

Not to be out done though Was kept at it and soon the magic started to happen. Rob Zombie teamed up with Alice Cooper to record “Safe In The Hands Of Death (Burn Baby Burn)” and it was a moment that Zombie described as one of those “great moments where you really feel like you’ve made your dreams come true.” This was probably the track that showed the world that the album was more than just a gimmick with Cooper and Zombie being nominated for a Grammy Award for it. They sadly lost though to Rage Against The Machine.

From there the magic just kept happening: the Foo Fighters delivered a brilliant cover of Gary Numan’s “Down In The Park”, Elvis Costello and Brian Eno teamed up together to create the beautifully poetic “My Dark Life” while R.E.M. worked with author William S. Burroughs to create a strange re-working of one of their early tracks – “Star Me Kitten.”

The project seemed to bring out the best in the artists that got involved with it. Danzig’s “Deep” is another amazing track on the album while even the then radio-darling Sheryl Crow went to the dark side with gothic balled “On The Outside.” It was soon very obvious to music lovers right around the world that an album that had started out as a questionable gimmick had turned into something of a musical masterpiece.

Today Songs In The Key Of X has become a collectable album. Strangely though it is still an album that few seem to know about. Over the years I’ve had many people say to me “Oh I’m a huge fan of the Foo Fighters, what is your favourite track?” When I say “Down In The Park” they have never heard of it and my resulting explanation has them scouring second hand music stores looking for a copy of Songs In The Key Of X. They same has happened with more than a few Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie fans over the years as well.

Yes it is a dark and morbid album but this is one that every serious music fan should have in their collection.