Best Movie Soundtrack. Ever. – From the Junk Drawer

If there is one movie that I have seen more than any other, it is definitely Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman’s Juno (2007). 

If anyone turns on the film I know every word, but even better than that, I know every music cue. 

If you are not familiar with the soundtrack, it is a perfect blend of antifolk, rock, and otherwise alternative tracks. This soundtrack has done so much for me and had a large impact on my developing mind, enough so that I focused on one of the major artists (Kimya Dawson) for a final project last semester. Kimya Dawson’s music becomes the inner monologue of 16 year old Juno (Elliot Page) who finds herself pregnant at the start of the film. Kimya’s music helps to highlight the major plot points that Juno is enduring, both as her solo work and her work as a Moldy Peach and in the short-lived band Antsy Pants.

When thinking of her musical output, I find it so important to examine Kimya Dawson’s life and how she ended up where she was. 

Allow me to share the story of The Moldy Peaches, just as I wrote for my classmates last semester: Kimya met her bandmate Adam Green when she was 20- he was only 13. Kimya and a friend had accidentally walked in on an open mic night intended for middle schoolers, and they almost left as soon as they realized. They did stay though, and saw Adam perform his own music. Later down the road Adam got a job in a pizza shop that happened to be next door to the record store where Kimya worked. He went in one day while Kimya was behind the counter, and that’s when they were able to put two and two together. They began performing together in 1994, and continued performing and putting out music until they decided to part a few years later in 2002 in order to focus more of their attention on their solo work. 

“It was barely a month past my 26th birthday when I drank & drugged myself into a coma. Got out of ICU & spent a week w/a friend’s mother. My friend’s mom was a nurse & she kept a close eye on me until I could go to inpatient. […] A week after my release was the first Moldy Peaches show. With every loss of a young artist and addict I cry and cry and so much gets stirred up inside of me. I was so fucking lucky that night. My friends were there as I convulsed and threw up blood and choked on my vomit. They carried me down the stairs and drove me to the ER. People who don’t struggle with addiction should never assume someone should simply “clean up their act”. Recovery is a battle every single day.” – Kimya Dawson (from Tumblr)

Kimya Dawson has surely lived quite the life, and her experiences have fully informed her artistic output. She works now as an activist for a whole slew of things, proving just how much care is in her heart. When you consider just what she has been through, the music she writes and performs takes on a whole new meaning, and I hope this article will help you approach her music and her contributions to this film in a way you wouldn’t otherwise.