A Love Note To A Theme Song

There are few things more maligned in Star Trek than the Enterprise theme song. Written by Diane Warren and performed by Russell Watson, Faith of the Heart is a complete break from the traditional, sweeping, orchestral themes used in modern Trek. People (and by people I mean Star Trek fans) hated the theme. They hated it. They wrote letters to UPN trying to get it removed. They wailed and flailed all over the internet about how it's "not Star Trek" saying, "We wish to express our unmitigated disgust with the theme song that has been selected for the new 'Enterprise' series, it is not fit to be scraped off the bottom of a Klingon's boot." Simon Pegg even went into full-on Angry Fanboy Mode and condemned the song saying that it's the reason he never even tried Enterprise--which is a shame. And, even my dear old dad calls it "that graduation song."

But, here's the thing. I loved it.

Do I like the song itself? Have I ever listened to it in my car or on my ipod? Nope. It's really not my kind of thing. I don't get into soft rock ballads with overly sweet lyrics. But I don't think this revelation really means much. I don't blast the TOS, TNG, DS9, or Voyager themes while I'm running or driving or writing either. And, I like/love all the other Star Trek openings.

I love the Enterprise opening. I loved it from the start. I think I liked the departure from previous Trek. I think that, once we got to the end of Voyager, Star Trek had already kind of run its course in terms of plot and gimmicks and ideas and I think one more orchestral score while we looked at planets and exteriors of the ship would've just been more of the same. We needed something new for a new kind of show.

It helps that I'm a space history fan. I can look at still pictures of Amelia Earhart, astronauts in Snoopy hats and Chuck Yeager in front of Glamorous Glennis and get all misty-eyed. But it's not the imagery alone that gets me. I like the sentiment of the song. I know it's kind of cheesy and obvious but it's also sincere and I've talked a lot here about how much sincerity means to me.

My dad is right. It is a graduation song. It's about a time in Star Trek history when everyone was wide-eyed and excited about a universe they couldn't begin to understand while everyone older and wiser regarded them with disdain and doubt. It's about a bunch of relative kids heading out with zero cynicism and being greeted with nothing but. It's about believing that you're standing on the threshold of a brighter future. That's Enterprise. That's why I love the opening and that's why I love the show.