The Secret History of Rock 'n Roll: David Lynch: Forever Chasing the Siren

David Lynch may not have been as obsessed with Elizabeth Fraser as I am, but then again, maybe he was. He certainly spent a lot of time and money chasing that sweet, sweet Fraserly dragon...

He mentioned "Song to the Siren" at least three times in his weather reports. In this one, he called Elizabeth "one of the greats."

I don't think he was the kind of guy who used that term lightly. He was far too mindful of history.

I'm sure you all know the story by now. But in case you don't, here's how it goes:

Filmmaker David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti's collaboration with Cruise first came about during the scoring for Lynch's 1986 film Blue Velvet, in which a key scene was intended to feature This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley.

With the rights to the song proving prohibitively expensive, it was suggested that Badalamenti compose a pop song in the same style and recruit a vocalist with a haunting, ethereal voice. Badalamenti recommended Cruise, who had sung in a New York theater workshop Badalamenti had produced.

The result was the track "Mysteries of Love". Lynch and Badalamenti were impressed with the results, and elected to record subsequent tracks with Cruise.

It goes a lot deeper than that. Apparently he was so obsessed with "Song to the Siren" that he and Isabelli Rosellini listened to it incessantly in-between takes on Blue Velvet.

In fact, Lynch wanted Elizabeth and Robin Guthrie to perform the song in the film, and wrote a scene where they appear at the Laura Dern character's high school prom. It sounds to me like he wanted to contrast the darkness of the Rosellini character's circumstances with that of the angelic Elizabeth.

Little did Lynch realize at the time how dark Elizabeth's life had actually been. I do think he did soon after, through whatever means. By which I mean, I think the man was legitimately clairvoyant. We'll get to that shortly.

I saw Blue Velvet in 1986 at the Waverly in Greenwich Village and noticed right away how much "Mysteries of Love" sounded like Cocteau Twins.

But it didn't sound like "Song to the Siren" to me as much as did what at the time was latest Cocteau LP, Victorialand.

Meaning more wispy, more ethereal than the deep, mournful lament of "Siren."

In fact, "Mysteries of Love" reminded me quite a lot more of "Lazy Calm," the leadoff track on Victorialand, only arranged for synthesizer rather than guitar and soprano saxophone.

Ironically, a YouTuber recently made a video for the Cocteau classic "Serpentskirt," using clips from Blue Velvet, and the two mesh together perfectly. So much so that the tune sounds like a Badalament/Lynch composition.

If nothing else, it shows how much Lynch was looking for that Cocteau vibe in his own work.

Badalmenti, Lynch and Cruse worked on an album together in 1989, which became a dry run for the music they'd create for the first season of Twin Peaks the following year.

Badalamenti's style is obviously much different than Robin Guthrie's, but the breathy, sylph-like vocals are perfectly in line with the style Elizabeth was working with at the time.

Same can be said for the track Cruise sang in Fire Walk with Me.

But I was always also struck by the theme from the Pink Room, since it sounded like someone playing the Cocteau track "Hitherto" at three-quarter speed.

In fact a YouTuber actually used "Hitherto" for a Pink Room-centered music video, but unfortunately it's not available for play in the US.

But you can still just play "Hitherto" at .75 speed and hear the obvious influence it had on Lynch. Given that the song was originally included on a 12" EP, I'm willing to bet that Lynch mistakenly played the record at 33 RPM instead of 45 RPM and liked what he heard.

It makes me wonder how much Lynch knew about Elizabeth - who like Laura Palmer, had experienced sexual abuse and violence at an early age, ran away from home at age 14, and began dancing at a local club shortly thereafter.

It's possible that Lynch was highly empathic and sensed a very deep and old pain in her voice - especially on those early records - and put the pieces together in the Laura character. But as I said, it's also possible he was psychic.

Without saying too much, I'm leaning towards the latter.

Lynch finally got to use "Song to the Siren" in a movie, in this case Lost Highway in 1997. I wonder what had been collecting in his unconscious though, since he basically used it for a softcore music video that he placed in the middle of the film as an act divider. It made me glad he didn't use it in Blue Velvet.

"Song the Siren" is not soundtrack music, in my opinion. It's a song that you stop everything and listen to. The story is complete within the grooves. It needs no visuals - in fact, visuals are an imposition.

The following year, Lynch produced the debut solo album by Jocelyn Montgomery - former singer in Miranda Sex Garden - which was a collection of songs based on the work of medieval Christian mystic, Hildegarde of Bingen.

Miranda Sex Garden were heavily influenced by Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance in their early days.

In 2002, Lynch collaborated with the late German actress Rona Hartner on this single. Sounds very much like Lynch was going for a "Persephone" or "Great Spangled Fritillary" vibe on this track.

Very, very much indeed.

The end credits in 2006's Inland Empire were set to the tune "Sinnerman" by Nina Simone.

I know what you're thinking: "There's no possible connection to be made between Nina Simone and Elizabeth, right? They couldn't be less alike."

Not so fast, buster...

In 1994, Elizabeth named Nina Simone as her 'vocal hero':

“Nina Simone…she’s, she’s just done so much. I don’t know much about her life but that doesn’t bother me, because I’ve learnt so much about her through her material. She’s so vulnerable. And I can really relate to that. A lot of her songs are about being fallible. She’s a really dysfunctional person. And dysfunctional people are attracted to each other.

"I guess that’s why I am attracted to her. We both had a rough life. She’s familiar."

Jeff Buckley, Elizabeth's doomed lover, was also a big Nina Simone fan as well.

In 2009, Lynch worked with Swedish singer Lykee Li on this single. Flavor: Rootsy Ethereal, with a hint of trip-hop.

In 2011, Lynch worked with Yeah Yeah Yeah's vocalist Karen O on this track. The album cover was designed by the late Vaughn Oliver, who designed the early Cocteau Twins record covers for 4AD.

More Rootsy Ethereal, with a bit more yearning.

Also from 2011 is this amazing track, which is probably my favorite of all of Lynch's attempts to capture the Cocteau magic.

This very much sounds to me like Lynch was listening to the Cocteau Twins' tripped-out Otherness EP - especially the remix of "Violaine" - when this was being worked on.

Chrysta Bell would make her acting debut on Twin Peaks: The Return, playing a character that reminded me a lot of Olivia Dunham from Fringe.

In 2012, Lynch remixed this killer track by the great Zola Jesus.

I love the insanely-gifted Zola for a lot of reasons, but especially since she seems so obsessed with rewriting "The Spangle Maker" in as many ingenious ways as possible.

I'm sure Lynch appreciated that as well.

Twin Peaks: The Return had a number of different groups appearing during the closing credits, some of whom were very much in the same wheelhouse as Cocteau Twins, including Chromatics...

... and Au Revoir, Simone. Julee Cruise also made an appearance.

The Master's final work was with Chrysta Bell. This 2024 video - which serves as his farewell - is not at all unlike watching the "Song to the Siren" video while dosed with a particularly exotic hallucinogen.

Or perhaps inside the Black Lodge.

Lynch's passing seems especially synchronistic, given how much "Song to the Siren" had come back to the fore last year. Unfortunately, that includes this heinous butchery by ~~Murdery McCIAwhore~~ She Who Shall Not Be Named.

Far better is this version by Garbage. Shirley Manson is a huge disciple of Elizabeth's and does the song justice.

As we continue to pay tribute to the Master, check out "The Liminal Symbolism of Twin Peaks," an ongoing series at the newly-opened Secret Sun Extension School.

Click here for Part One