O Brother, Where Art Thou?: The Best Movie Album of All Time

The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? sticks to a lot of viewers because of the storyline and the lessons we can learn from it. This comical film starred George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson. It was set during the Great Depression era, but the writers of the movie injected a little bit of comedy into it. If you haven’t watched the movie, take some time for it. We guarantee you that you’ll have fun watching it.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack

It’s not only the movie’s actors or the storyline that caught our attention but the music incorporated into the film. O Brother, Where Art Thou? features extravagant songs into their soundtrack list. It may not be popular to the newer generation, but these songs are all traditional, which existed before we were even born. These tracks are often labeled as country or traditional songs, and they are often heard in churches or congregations who sing the songs during  Sunday masses.

The film released an album with the same title. It was produced by T Bone Burnett who is known to be the guitarist in Bob Dylan‘s band. In most movies, the album is only made after filming, but in this case, O Brother, Where Art Thou? album was made before the movie was released. The songs, therefore, not only served as background music to the movie, but it’s as important as the movie itself. The album has 19 songs, where 18 of it were a remake. “Big Rock Candy Mountain” was included in the album but its original recording was from Harry McClintock.

The original version

In the album, the song “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” has four versions (radio version, 2 instrumental, and with a band). The radio version was performed by the fictional trio in the movie, Soggy Bottom Boys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meCZ5hWNRFU

Here’s the complete list of songs in the album.

• “Po’ Lazarus”
• “Big Rock Candy Mountain” (original recording)
• “You are My Sunshine”
• “Down to the River to Pray”
• “Man of Constant Sorrow” (radio version)
• “Angel Band”
• “Lonesome Valley”
• “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”
• “Keep on the Sunny Side”
• “Man of Constant Sorrow” (2 instrumental versions)
• “I’ll Fly Away”
• “Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby”
• “I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)”
• “O Death”
• “In the Highways”
• “Indian War Whoop”
• “In the Jailhouse Now”
• “Man of Constant Sorrow” (with a band)

Awards

The album won various awards from the prestigious awarding body of the Grammy‘s to the biggest country award show of CMA’s. In addition, the album sold about 8 million copies according to RIAA. How can this album not win? It’s an amazing album, and the artists that were gathered for the making of it were also incredible. This is perhaps one of the best movie albums released.

Do you agree that this movie has the best soundtrack of all time? If so, what’s your favorite song in the album?