Jason’s Jukebox: Track #5 'Sail Away Tiny Sparrow" by Harry Manfredini
Even the most heavily scored films always carry a secondary
soundtrack; songs that play in the background usually as scene setters or
shameless promotions for up and coming bands or rock stars. The Friday flicks are no exception, with
numerous songs littered through the series from both well established artists
from Alice Cooper to The Hives to lesser known and never to be heard from again
starlets.
For this track, we are going all the way back to the beginning
to highlight a tune with a strange history of reappearing in different forms
throughout the years. The original 1980
Friday the 13th features the song “Sail Away Tiny Sparrow,” which
was written by the film’s composer Harry Manfredini, now a legend due to his ki
ki ki ma ma ma theme.
In the seminal book Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, author Peter M. Bracke quotes Manfredini
on the genesis of the song. Manfredini
revealed that the first cut of the film had a Dolly Parton song entitled “Fly
Away Little Bluebird.” Naturally, being
of small budget the filmmakers had to sacrifice the track due to cash
constraints. Enter Manfredini, who then
penned this similarly titled tune.
Now the track, albeit in different forms, appears a total of
three times throughout the film. The
first inclusion comes when Annie finds her way into the Crystal Lake general
store hoping to bum a ride to the camp.
The tune is blasting from the radio behind the counter, and the female
tending the counter turns it down in order to hear Annie’s request. The song is light with a female singer
boasting a slightly country feel, presumably by influence of the previous tune
by Parton. The mostly recognized version of the song, have a listen here:
This same version of the tune appears again in a later scene
leading up to the film’s climax. Camp
leader Steve Christie is finding refuge from the rain in the nearby Blairstown
Diner (the diner’s name is seen on the menus; Blairstown was the actual town
the film was shot in), and the tune again plays joyfully throughout the scene
while he flirtingly confers with the Diner’s waitress.
Finally, although not immediately recognizable, the song
appears in one of the most iconic scenes of the entire series. As revealed by Manfredini, the soothing
composition played while Alice idyllically awakes in the rowboat on the waters
of Crystal Lake is in fact an alternate version of the song. Instrumental and played to a much slower
pace, this version was made to give the audience a false sense of security just
before that breaking moment when….well, we all know what happens next to snap
us and the exhausted Alice out of a presumed happy ending. Listen and see if he can hear the resemblance below:
Over the years, this track has been often pondered and
discussed, largely due to the film’s credits not having a track listing to
identify it. The female voice heard over
the radio version has been identified as singer Angela Rotella. To make fans scratch their heads just a bit
more, Manfredini has included the song on subsequent soundtracks, however it
has been presented in a much slower version such as on the iTunes offering of
Friday the 13th The Ultimate Compilation in 2011 making the voice
even sound male in comparison to Rotella’s original vocal offering.
With its origin and continued exploration, Manfredini’s "Sail
Away Tiny Sparrow" solidifies itself as a series soundtrack staple and our next official
track listing for the ongoing compilation of Jason’s Jukebox.
