St. Vincent, Bonnie Prince Billy & Okkervil River contributed songs to 'Pete's Dragon' soundtrack (listen)

August 12, 2016

The remake of Dinsey’s Pete’s Dragon is out today (8/12), and is by all accounts one of the rare remakes that is way better than the original. The soundtrack sounds a little more interesting than the original too: Bonnie Prince Billy sings the theme song “The Dragon Song,” and St. Vincent contributes a cover of Karen Dalton’s “Something on Your Mind.” St. Vincent also dropped a Twitter review of the film, which she liked:

Pete's Dragon was the sweetest rumination on boyhood in a world where the only villain was ignorance. I cried. #myfriendsmadeitandimsoproud

— St. Vincent (@st_vincent) August 9, 2016

Director David Lowery (not the Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker frontman) grew up with Annie Clarke in Dallas, and he also included Okkervil River and other acts from North Texas on the soundtrack. (Along with untypical family film choices like Leonard Cohen and Peggy Lee.) The score was written by Daniel Hart who played in St. Vincent’s band in the late ’00s. He told The Star-Telegram:

It wasn’t so much that I wanted to emphasize North Texas musicians as much as I wanted as many friends as possible to be involved with it. And all of my friends just happened to be from North Texas, so it worked out that way. The Leonard Cohen song [So Long, Marianne] is just a favorite song of mine. … One of the benefits of making a Disney movie is that you can actually get the songs you want.

Okkervil River’s contribution is a nod back to the ’70s Pete’s Dragon, a cover of the memorable “Candle on the Water” which was sung in the original film by Helen Reddy. You can listen that, along with St. Vincent and Bonnie Prince Billy’s contributions (and watch the trailer to the film), below.

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