By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
If you’re a real fan of Ronald Moore’s Battlestar Galactica reboot, then you know the real secret weapon of the show is the music. From the opening credits to the very last shot, composer Bear McCreary provided killer music that helped bring the show’s bleak forecast of humanity to life. While the series itself often focused on high-tech innovations like the Cylons, the “Cylon Theme” from the episode “You Can’t Go Home Again” was decidedly low-tech. In fact, it was secretly composed using kitchenware!
The Cylon Theme
Battlestar Galactica’s music maestro McCreary described his creative process for the episode, which included coming up with metallic sound effects. Conceptually, this was a very fitting idea. Considering that the original Cylons were clanking metal monstrosities, it makes sense that their theme song would have metallic effects. However, what no fan could predict is the lofi way that McCreary created this music: “This theme was originally performed using pots, pans and toasters for the metallic effects,” he said.
While “Cylon Theme” may sound like a pretty integral bit of Battlestar Galactica’s lore, this memorable bit of music wasn’t introduced until “You Can’t Go Home Again,” the fifth episode of Season 1. This episode mostly focused on whether Starbuck would survive after she crashed a Cylon Raider into a hostile moon with no oxygen. Meanwhile, the B-plot follows Helo as he continues to try to survive on the post-apocalyptic planet Caprica with what he thinks is Boomer but is secretly a Cylon.
Understandably, the more exciting bits of this episode involve Starbuck’s life-or-death struggle and Commander Adama’s hard decisions about devoting fleet resources to her rescue. This effectively formed the episode’s moral dilemma of how many very limited resources should be expended on Starbuck’s rescue effort. What is her life, the episode asked, weighed against all of humanity?
The Perfect Battlestar Galactica Music
Despite all that excitement, though, Helo and his Cylon gal are part of the most exciting part of the entire episode involving a shootout in a kitchen. And the man behind all of Battlestar Galactica’s greatest music was delighted when he saw the scene in question because this scene served up some sweet, sweet irony.
Bear McCreary noted the irony that this iconic bit of Battlestar Galactica music “was composed before I had seen ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’.” Why is this so important? In his words, because the episode “includes a scene where Helo battles centurions in a cafe kitchen and bullets ricochet off pots, pans and a toaster!”
That’s right: he composed a song using kitchenware and only later discovered it was used in an episode with a kitchen shootout, which included similar clings and clangs as those in his “Cylon Theme.” And if you’ve ever composed some major jams in your own kitchen using the pans you’re too lazy to actually put up, just think: you’re rocking in the footsteps of a Primetime Emmy-winning composer.
Even if you’re not a Battlestar Galactica fan, you’re probably familiar with Bear McCreary’s name because he has created music for other iconic shows, including Rings of Power, Black Sails, and Outlander and major films such as Happy Death Day and Godzilla: King of Monsters. The director’s effortlessly visionary music has left many fans wondering exactly how he crafts the kinds of themes that transport us through time and space. We now have an answer as to exactly how McCreary cooks up some of these tasty tunes, and that’s in the kitchen.
Where else were you expecting?
