La La Land

The freeway chorus that opens the film, compressing into a single frame the optimism and weariness of those who have flocked to this city.

• The light piano accompaniment and brass harmonies of the opening create a mood like morning sunlight, set against the stifling space of a gridlocked road.
• Having one character after another take up the song is a choice meant to show not one person's story but the feeling of an entire city.
• An actual freeway ramp was closed off and the scene shot in three parts, then stitched together with hidden cuts, so that music and camera movement turn in lockstep from start to finish as if in a single shot.
• The melody is in a bright major key, yet the lyrics speak of endless failure and holding on, so that exuberance and sorrow ride on the same tune.

The piano melody Sebastian plays absently in the jazz bar becomes the couple's theme and runs through the entire film.

• This short piano melody of just a few notes returns in altered form in scene after scene; a brief melody that recurs to signal a character in this way is called a leading motive (leitmotif).
• When it first appears, it flows freely, like improvisation, made up on the spot without a set score; as the relationship deepens, it grows into a full orchestral arrangement.
• In the latter part of the film, the same melody tilts gently into the minor and its mood is overturned, a passage often cited as foreshadowing the rift in the relationship.
• The draft Hurwitz first recorded on piano is said to have become the backbone of the final arrangement, and it was the melody most often singled out during awards season.

A song traded on a hillside as if each were pushing the other away; though their words deny it, their steps and melody are already attuned to each other.

• The way the two sing in alternation borrows directly from the duet form of old Hollywood musicals, letting dialogue-like exchanges flow naturally into song.
• The sound of the tap steps is used like a percussion instrument, so that the footfalls themselves become part of the accompaniment.
• The lyrics and expressions are cynical, but the melody grows steadily tender; the pleasure of the song lies in this mismatch, with words and music saying different things.
• The two actors performed the scene themselves after long dance rehearsals, and the way it was shot in one long, unbroken take drew wide attention.

The melody Sebastian sings alone on the pier later returns as their duet, capturing a heart torn between dreams and love.

• The simple, low-pitched, whistle-like melody was written to be hummed with ease, and this very modesty is counted among the reasons it caught on so widely.
• At first it is close to a solitary monologue, but it later returns as a scene sung by both; even the same melody means something different depending on how many voices sing it.
• The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and some observed that its spare arrangement stood out all the more among the showier nominees.
• In the latter half, the strings slip quietly into the accompaniment and the melody's tonal center shifts, subtly signaling that the relationship is moving into its next stage.

A wordless orchestral piece underscoring the scene in which the two float up into the starlight at Griffith Observatory.

• Without lyrics, carried by the orchestra alone, this piece is a moment when feeling is conveyed through music rather than words, expressing in a rising melody the sense of escaping the weight of reality.
• The harp spreads its chords one note at a time in flowing broken chords (arpeggios), creating the impression of scattering starlight.
• The two lovers' themes, heard earlier, return here in their fullest form, and the music speaks the emotional climax on the characters' behalf.
• The visual effects and camera movement are timed precisely to the beat, a passage that shows plainly how the songs were finished before a single frame was shot.

A stage number for the band Sebastian joins to earn a living, a popular sound far from the jazz he meant to protect.

• Synthesizers and a steady drum beat dominate, giving it a color distinctly unlike the piano-led jazz heard before. The contrast itself is the device that reveals the character's compromise.
• Amid the dazzling lights and the vast stage, Sebastian wears the look of someone slightly out of place, and this mismatch between music and man lays bare the heart of the conflict.
• As the song plays, the camera also catches Mia's face as she watches from the audience, revealing the distance between two people who hear the same music in different ways.
• A song by a fictional band created for the film, written by John Legend together with several other songwriters.

The song Mia sings alone at the audition, stripped of lavish accompaniment so that only the character's sincerity remains.

• The accompaniment narrows to a single piano, creating a still moment set against the orchestral splendor built up until now. The choice to pull the sound back only makes the feeling grow.
• As the song gradually swells, the strings slip in quietly in the latter half, and here voice and accompaniment rise together to the climax.
• It is said that Emma Stone's live on-set vocal was used just as it was, and this live-recording approach is a hallmark of the film as a whole.
• Performed again on the Academy Awards stage, the song went on to become one of the film's signature numbers.

Before the two, reunited after the years have passed, the themes heard throughout the film follow one another briefly, calling to mind other possibilities.

• The many themes heard earlier unfold one after another like a medley; this way of reweaving fragments already heard and joining them into short scenes is called montage.
• This time the same melody flows with different harmonies and arrangements, and the music blurs the line between what happened and what might have happened.
• A long stretch carries the emotion through music alone, without dialogue, leaving the audience to fill in the meaning for themselves.
• The final variation, which runs on through the end credits, suggests that, like a jazz improvisation, the same theme can keep returning with a different face.