A Candy Coloured Clown

When watching David Lynches film 'Blue Velvet' certain scenes stand out to me and to others whom I know who have watched the film. The scenes I am referring to are the scenes which make use of the Roy Orbison song 'In Dreams'. The significance of the song to the film is it's subject matter, a song about dreams and the uncanny figure of the Sandman. Within Lynches film there are many references to dreams and the sometimes threatening subconscious. Around this subject the film is full of dislocated shots and sounds which invoke a dreamlike discordance. I will not go into all of the symbolism of the film but keep myself to what is relevant to the song I have before mentioned. The scenes in which 'In Dreams' is used both involve the main character Jeffrey Beaumont and Frank Booth the main villain of the film. Frank has an unusual attachment to this song, he is moved emotionally by it and uses it as a kind of soundtrack to his own scenes, fusing the association of Frank and the song, turning Frank into a profound character, an observation I will go into in more depth momentarily.

The first time we encounter the song the song is sung by Ben played by Dean Stockwell, Ben is a drug dealer which has its significance in relation to this subject as drugs supply a passage into the subconscious, accompanied sometimes by dislocations, confusion and waking dreams. Along with his providing of the song 'In dreams' on tape, he seems a kind of personal 'medicine man' or Shaman in some sense providing Frank with art and substances which satisfy his emotional and spiritual needs. Ben is most curiously wearing a subtle white face paint, to show perhaps how debonair he is but this white face mask acts as a mask, creating a sense of mystery and uncanniness about his character similar to the Sandman of the song who also prescribes a rout into dreams and the subconscious. Beyond this the white mask is also associative of actors who embody mysterious transformations and Clowns who embody the 'trickster' persona, a Jungian archetype. The trickster archetype can be found in any culture, first being manifested in society as a Shaman or 'medicine man' (with is relevant to Ben)the Tricker is a shape-shifter. The Trickster has evolved to be embodied sometimes as a jester or clown, masked and mysterious, revealing profound truths. The song 'In dreams' begins with the line "A candy colored clown they call the Sandman" infusing the 'Sandman' and the 'clown' together, and this fusion is used in Blue velvet as a mechanism to do just that, infusing the sandman with the clowns of Frank and Ben.

The second time in the film the music is played Ben is not present, Frank has taken Jeffrey to a secluded location and before playing the song from the tape player of his car applies lipstick to his lips messily so that it covers more than his lips and kisses Jeffrey in a sexually threatening display. However the image of his painted lips is two fold, not only does his painted lips carry with it sexual overtones but it also reminds us of the white faced clown, with big red lips. Frank embodies the Trickster persona (it is interesting to note that 'Persona' is Latin for 'mask'). Frank is a nighttime figure, seen in the night time hours of the subconscious. In this very scene in a convosation in the car Frank says to Jeffrey "Your like me". Jeffrey has at this point began to behave in some instances in a similar way to Frank. This sequence paints Frank as a reflection of Jeffrey, a trickster who reveals to Jeffrey his own dark side, the sandman of nightmares.