When it comes to iconic movie themes, Jaws is probably one of the most well-known pieces of music from the history of cinema. While that may be true now, when Steven Spielberg first heard the John Williams piece, he thought it was a joke. It may be true that the simplicity of the globally recognized duh-duh, duh-duh, which has been incorporated into many parodies over the years, seems to be a contradiction to the size of the film, but there is no denying now that the tune was the perfect composition at the perfect time.

Jaws became one of the first summer blockbusters in cinema history, bringing terror and thrills to cinema audiences in equal measure in 1975 and ensuring that a whole generation of movie lovers was a little dubious about swimming in the sea. It was also one of the first times that Spielberg collaborated with John Williams, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last, with the pair having gone on to work together across the decades on many more blockbusters.

Spielberg recently recalled the first time John Williams played the idea for the Jaws theme song, and it didn’t instantly strike a chord with the director as he really believed Williams was “putting me on.” However, Williams wasn’t joking around, and despite the straightforward structure and long build, the tune became one of the most iconic things about the movie. As reported by THR, Spielberg recalled:

“I expected to hear something kind of weird and melodic, something tonal, but eerie; something of another world, almost like outer space under the water. And what he played me instead, with two fingers on the lower keys, was ‘dun dun, dun dun, dun dun.’ And at first, I began to laugh. He had a great sense of humor, and I thought he was putting me on.”

Jaws Was Defined as Much by Its Score as by Its Special Effects

roy-scheider-jaws
Universal Pictures

In the years that have passed, Spielberg has acknowledged that John Williams’ score became the backbone of Jaws, those two notes appearing every time there was a threat of attack coming to the residents of Amity Island. Even those who have not seen the movie still know the score, and whenever it plays, it immediately invokes images of the monstrous Great White plowing through the sea. As well as helping ensure Jaws was a hit, working on the movie provided a jump-off point for one of the longest-running composer/director relationships in movie history.

Over the decades, both Spielberg and Williams have dominated award nominations for their work, which is still continuing now as Williams enters his 90s and Spielberg hits his mid-70s. In a time when many people would be looking to step away from their working lives, it seems like neither of the icons have that intention just yet, and they will be collaborating again on Spielberg’s upcoming semi-autobiographical movie The Fabelmans, which is set to be released this November and could well earn the pair more awards glory.