Each Friday I pick a song–new, old, borrowed, blue–that’s been on my mind and in my ears, and write a short post about it.

This is “Foul Owl on the Prowl” by Boomer and Travis:

I watched In the Heat of the Night this week for the first time. I’m not sure why I’d never seen it before. It’s an incredible film with excellent script, performances, direction, and soundtrack by Quincy Jones, who wrote the music to “Foul Owl on the Prowl,” with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.  The song is played on the jukebox in the diner during a key scene, and it’s a great example of how music can create drama.  Although it’s music composed specifically for the film, it’s essentially used as a prop: the guy puts the record on the jukebox, and the menace and tension start up.  There’s a lot going on in this scene that only reveals itself in the climax of the film, though there’s also plenty of knowledge the viewer already has that provides tension, too; basically, this is the key scene of the whole film, where everything that’s at stake is in play, and it’s soundtracked by a particularly wonderful piece of music.