Mermaids (music)

Mermaids is a musical theme composed by Hans Zimmer and Eric Whitacre for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It appears on the film's sountrack.

Track Description
The track consists of several new and old themes, including the new On Stranger Tides theme, all of Blacbeard's themes (including the one for the Queen Anne's Revenge), and two themes from At World's End; an excerpt from "At Wit's End" and Cutler Beckett's theme as heard in "I Don't Think Now Is The Best Time".

The piece begins with a statement of a theme from 2:01 to 2:31 of "At Wit's End" from the third film. The main tune is sung by the mermaid choir in 3/4 time, and is supported by an arpeggio pattern on the harp. After a restatement of this theme the track moves into the new On Stranger Tides theme, again sung by the mermaid choir. The bass instruments play a deep pedal note to accompany this meloddy. There is then a thrid statement of the "At Wit's End" mermaid theme, followed by two more renditions of the On Stranger Tides theme (the latter version replacing the mermaid choir with strings, while the brass section takes over the pedal note).

The track then becomes an action cue; a powerful and driving ostinato replaces the gentle scales and arpeggios, and the mermaid choir change from their lyrical melody to "shouting" chord notes. All of the action material is new. There is a brief action statement of Blackbeard's theme, followed by an abridged version of Beckett's theme from "I Don't Think Now Is The Best Time", with Blackbeard's six-note figure overlaying it. There is then a powerful statement of the Queen Anne's Revenge theme, followed by Blackbeard's theme again (with a slightly altered rhythm on the last two chords) which rounds off the piece.

The first half is heard when Scrum sings to the mermaids to attract theme. The second half plays when the mermaids attack the sailors in the boat. The final statement of Blackbeard's themes accompanies the capture of Syrena.

Trivia

 * At 8:05 minutes, it is the longest track on the album.
 * The portion of music between the destruction of the boat and the capture of Syrena is not included in the official release, although it can be heard in the demo version.
 * The first half of the track is composed in A minor, despite Hans Zimmer writing almost exclusively in D minor. This may be evidence of Whitacre's involvement.
 * The first half of the track is an expanded addition to the version heard in the film.
 * The adapted "mermaid theme" from At World's End and the new On Stranger Tides theme are very similar, and begin with the same three notes.
 * Though the album was negatively recieved amongst critics, Mermaids was praised as "the only track with any real merit".