WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: Visions, now streaming on Disney+.
The arrival of Star Wars: Visions has been an unexpected gift to fans. The amazing anthology anime series is a stellar sensory delight of sights and sounds. Now for the first time in decades, a major Star Wars project is offering up a brand new musical number that might have some fans forgetting those re-tuned musical acts in the special editions, as they’re banging along with Jabba the Hutt to the brand new beat.
The second episode of Star Wars: Visions, “Tatooine Rhapsody,” features Boba Fett and his crew chasing down and capturing a renegade Hutt named Geezer. The performer had fled Jabba’s crime syndicate to pursue a life as a bass player in his band, Star Waver. When Boba Fett brings him back to face Jabba’s ultimate justice, Geezer’s bandmates, which include a young former Jedi Padawan, Jay, all play a final show together to win Jabba’s mercy – and Geezer’s freedom.
As the short, 14-minute feature plays to a final crescendo with a big concert in front of thousands of fans, the song the band plays is actually pretty good. It in no way fits into any previous style or sound of any Star Wars-related music, past or present, and that’s not a bad thing. The song fits the mood, style and feel of the episode, not to mention that little ditty is pretty darn catchy.
It was a daring creative risk to feature a song that will likely feel very contemporary to mainstream listeners. Having a modern song in a beloved fantasy series set worlds away undoubtedly had risks. But the song fits extremely well within the artistic vision of this anime short while staying true to the Japanese genre. The song bolsters the episode rather than bogging it down, like some of creator George Lucas’ modern musical choices with his two trilogies.
The creators behind “Tatooine Rhapsody” were able to leverage the long anime tradition of using compelling original music, and sometimes musical numbers, to help tell engaging stories. But this episode still feels and plays like a recognizable Star Wars product. This is likely due to the inclusion of popular supporting characters like Bib Fortuna and Gamorrean guards. But the biggest reward for many fans is likely Temuera Morrison voicing Boba Fett. His appearance gives an early sense of comfort and credibility, helping to quickly draw fans even deeper into the story. So when viewers finally end up at a modern feeling rock concert, they’re happy to be there.
Star Wars has always had big (and little) permeations into mainstream music since John Williams' symphonic score was first heard nearly 50 years ago. But beyond things like his iconic opening theme or the "Imperial March," which have both been DJ favorites to remix and sample for decades, other Star Wars songs from Williams like the original Cantina music, "Mad About Me,” made the airwaves while original fans were disco dancing in the 1970s.
The 1980s gave George Lucas’ pop culture phenomenon, and Williams’ original music, a chance for more radio play with remixes of the “Ewok Celebration,” aka "Yub Nub," from 1983’s Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. While the popular song was dubbed over for the special editions in the 1990s, that song nevertheless has held strong as an everlasting earworm. The chances of the big finale number in “Tatooine Rhapsody” ending up on the airwaves in regular rotation today may be slim. Even so, it’s a pretty good song that can stand on its own merits, with or without Star Wars: Visions.
To hear this new Star Wars banger, all nine episodes of Star Wars: Visions are currently streaming on Disney+.