Don't play "Lyra" on your lyre

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to see The Golden Compass this week and wrote an IMDB review of it. Basically, the beginning and ending of the movie were clunky, but the closer you got to the middle, the more entertaining it was. In fact, the very first and very last moments were worst of all. My first moments in the cinema were taken up by some god-awful previews for kiddie movies that are going to come out in the next few months. And then at the end, over the credits, they played a horrendous song called "Lyra," by Kate Bush. Dad and I had to flee the theater, it was so awful.

But you know what song always makes me think of Lyra and His Dark Materials--and is a much better song to boot? "Ray of Light" by Madonna!

"Ray of Light" is upbeat and energetic where "Lyra" is New Age claptrap, and the lyrics make me picture Lyra speeding between the universes on her heroic quest. And hey, the rays of light are kind of like the golden streams of Dust...and the song belongs to that same late-1990s cultural moment as the His Dark Materials trilogy.

She's got herself a universe, gone quickly
For the call of thunder threatens everyone...

Faster than the speeding light, she's flying
Trying to remember where it all began
She's got herself a little piece of heaven
Waiting for the time when earth shall be as one

Ah well, I suppose it's more appropriate for The Subtle Knife or The Amber Spyglass, once Lyra has actually traveled to another universe... Filmmakers, are you listening?