The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Da-dee-da-dee-daa. The most recognisable two-note motif in soundtrack history kicks off Ennio Morricone’s innovative, influential, and best-selling score to director Sergio Leone’s equally iconic 1966 Western, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Leone regarded his ultra-violent film as a satire of the genre, but Morricone took the assignment very seriously indeed. Performed on flute, ocarina and guitar, respectively, his impudently twangy main theme represents the three titular badasses throughout the movie. “The Carriage Of The Spirits” and the anti-war song “The Story Of A Soldier” feature the sort of lyrically romantic themes for which Leone would later be known. But it’s the one-two punch of the score’s decidedly unsentimental final tracks that make it a masterpiece. “The Ecstasy Of Gold” is a bacchanal of glorious strings and heavenly horns, suggesting that even if crime doesn't pay, it’s worth the cost. And acoustic guitar and castanets propel “The Trio - Main Title” into an almost unbearably suspenseful atmosphere of imminent death, as the scoundrels face off against each other.