It’s goofy, but it’s a celebration of the victory of the characters in this film. The Special Editions have always been a mixed bag (this site wouldn’t exist if that opinion was so shockingly rare). I know, OT is itself a mixed community… of both preservation and revision efforts by fans. May that never change!
Most of us who “love” yub nub do so because of nostalgia, not because it’s some kind of objectively amazing thing. It’s kind of catchy, but if you’re not looking at it through nostalgia goggles, or as a child, sure, I guess it’s goofy.
But is the flute music created in 1997 really that much better?
I guess I’m looking at it as an overall presentation. If you were just listening to the music on its own, would you know what it was? One is in some unknown language and sounds like a party that turns into a hymn. The other sounds like some generic music that turns into a chant of some kind. Both very generic removed from their context.
Most of us think of the John Williams symphonic music when we think of Star Wars. It gives the themes of menace, of triumph, grandeur, mystery and so forth. Anything with lyrics (Lapti Nek and Yub Nub) jar from that.
But now that people love the Mandalorian which features Dub Step type music, I guess anything is fair game now, right?
I agree that the “SE” ending of ROTJ is a nice way to “end the saga” (perhaps even with the prequels in mind, at least with the 2004 insert of Naboo and the extra buildings on Coruscant that you miss if you blink), but back in 1983 there were only these three, and that’s why, for better or for worse, “we” “like” “it.”
It’s a more subtle discussion I guess than Lapti Nek vs. Jedi rocks, where one is a glorified work-out song vs. a stunningly cheesy bit of disneyfied (long before Disney actually got involved) nonsense.
The best thing about these songs is that they’re not in English (I know, I know “celebrate the love”… and an english version of Lapti Nek exists too, but if you were only watching the movie you’d never know that).
If ROTJ was something you always hated or was your least favorite, I can see wanting to change it. Maybe it should be changed to something else entirely? Has anybody tried to create a new song, maybe something more hip and with it?
For me, make mine the original, for old time’s sake.