Instead of the alternating three-note theme song, would Steven Spielberg’s Jaws have been such a great horror film with a short-but-eerie show tune, or just some over-the-top creepy effects thrown together instead? I don’t even want to begin imagining it. The theme song worked so well to create fear around the monster shark, and for almost half a century, it has become synonymous with suspense. What’s even scarier is the fact the iconic theme almost wasn’t used by Spielberg. Thankfully, John Williams, who has composed other scores in various Spielberg flicks along with the Jaws motif, was able to save the day.
Williams recently described the initial conversation he had with Spielberg when he revealed the theme, and there was one thing about it that turned the director off: it’s simplicity. Practically all of Spielberg’s best movies are larger than life, and if they’re not overwhelming visually, they have emotion-driven storylines that can leave viewers teary eyed. So, it’s easy to see why he thought the minimalistic theme couldn’t keep pace with the epic-ness and danger of Jaws.
According to Variety, Williams made Spielberg have a change of heart by bringing the three notes to life through an orchestra, showing how terrifying simplicity can truly be. Here’s what the famed composer had to say:
I played boom boom boom on the piano for him, and Steven said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, ‘If you hear the basses and celli in the orchestra, I think it might work.’ And so we did a session with the orchestra, and he said, ‘Oh, this is wonderful.’ It was apropos of Benny Herrmann’s violins in ‘Psycho,’ which came from two notes. With ‘Jaws,’ we have three notes — two up, one down. But I don’t think doing ‘Psycho’ with Hitch and Benny was fun. Doing ‘Jaws’ with Steven was fun.
Spielberg has previously confirmed the Jaws theme story, saying he had expected to hear something "almost like outer space under the water." Instead, he got three notes.
Williams went on to talk about the cultural significance of the boom boom boom, mentioning that if he plays it, audiences laugh, and that “it’s become camp.” Of course, he means this in the best way. It’s something that so many people have grown up with that it’s become ingrained in generations. In fact, it’s probably safe to assume babies are born knowing the Jaws theme before anything else!
Besides Jaws, Williams has not and will not stop making amazing scores for movies. His most recent creation is the score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which Indy fans got to preview early. He’s also been in charge of the scores for nine of the Star Wars movies, which have ranked as some of the best of the franchise. As long as he continues creating and conducting, we’re guaranteed to have scores with the magic only he’s been able to create.
