Since I've been thinking much of sounds, both verbal and musical lately, this commercial from Volkswagen struck home. First, the words are written by Dylan Thomas and taken from the film Under Milk Wood. I've yet to see the film, but I've put it in the que. The language is measured and evocative of the sounds and scenes of night.

Second, I really like the way the soundtrack with the soft melodic keyboard evokes the atmosphere described through the language: "You can hear the dew falling / and the hushed town breathing."

Then there is the voice--in this case, Richard Burton. The timbre (low-pitched and slighly husky, but clear) and the tempo create a kind of soothing blanket, warm and regular.

Finally, there are the visuals. The dark scenes piled one over the other prepare a kind of inky foundation. Over this foundation is layered the soothing sounds rising toward the conclusion, and then layered in at the end is the brighter image with the car. Visually, we get the same message delivered by Burton: "Only your eyes are unclosed / to see the black-enfolded town / fast and slow asleep."