Over the weekend I saw the movie Crazy Heart again. It featured here in my Friday’s Finest movie segment back in 2021. The movie earned ‘the Dude’ – Jeff Bridges his first Academy award after seven nominations. For movie buffs I point you to this brief interview of how Jeff nearly turned down the role. Aside from The Big Lebowski, Crazy Heart stands out as one of my favourite Jeff Bridges performances. He strikes me as one of the most effortlessly natural and least self-conscious actors I’ve seen on screen
The principal song from Crazy Heart called The Weary Kind also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and will be featured here in the not too distant future. The whole soundtrack is great (thanks in large part to T-Bone Burnett), but there’s another song which stood out for me and is the feature of today’s article – Fallin’ & Flyin’. The scene I wanted to forward below is the first presentation of the song in the bowling alley, but it is unavailable in its entirety. So below, you will find the studio recording and the final live duet performance featuring Jeff Bridges and Colin Farrell.
Crazy Heart tells the story of a once famous country music artist who suffers from alcoholism and tries to turn his life around after beginning a relationship with a young journalist. For most of my adult life I too have succumbed to alcoholism and I could engage a lot with this story.
The ingenuity of the lyrics Fallin’ & Flyin’ is how relatable they are to the addict – capturing the paradox of addiction with raw, relatable simplicity. It speaks to that internal conflict: the high that once felt like freedom, and the quiet voice that always warned it would come at a cost. This tug-of-war between euphoria and reckoning is wonderfully mirrored in Bad Blake’s story arc in Crazy Heart. This song also has a fantastic melody to bring home this point.
I was goin’ where I shouldn’t go
Seein’ who I shouldn’t see
Doin’ what I shouldn’t do
And bein’ who I shouldn’t be
A little voice told me it’s all wrong
Another voice told me it’s alright
I used to think that I was strong
But lately I just lost the fight
Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’
For a little while
Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’
For a little while
I got tired of bein’ good
Started missing that old feeling free
Stop actin’ like I thought I should
And went on back to bein’ me
I never meant to hurt no one
I just had to have my way
If there is such a thing as too much fun
This must be the price you pay
[Bridge]
You never see it comin’ till it’s gone
It all happens for a reason
Even when it’s wrong
Especially when it’s wrong
References:
1. Crazy Heart (soundtrack) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Love this movie. BIG Jeff Bridges fan!
The soundtrack like the movie is great. Bridges doesn’t really put a foot wrong, does he?
Jeff Bridges is cool. Well, I suppose there’s a reason they call him the dude. I haven’t watched the movie. Based on the songs you highlighted here, the music sounds like it’s right up my alley – good stuff!
The soundtrack and movie go so hand in hand here. It’s quite the achievement. And Bridges is so convincing as the naturally talented, but indolent country singer. I hope you get to see it.
Bridges does seem to be a cool guy. So, yes, if I get a chance, I’ll watch that movie!
Part of being a great actor is choosing good parts in good movies.
Yes, in the interview I linked here, you can see how selective Jeff is. He’d always wanted to do a movie steeped in music, but the script lacked the music lol. Thankfully T-Bone convinced him he would get the music he wanted.