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oneunexpected · 10 months

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Hi, everybody! In case you missed it, I'm doing a chapter-by-chapter playlist for each book in the series in honor of @prophecyofgray's #TUC20 event. Sorry for getting this one out late, as I was gone this weekend and couldn't work on it.

Click here to check it out on Spotify, with my explanations for why I chose each song below! If you missed my playlist for Gregor the Overlander, check it out here.

1 - White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes - This is one of my favorite songs ever <3 It is a beautiful piece of music, but the lyrics are darker on a closer read — the kids are running through the snow wearing red scarves, and when one named Michael falls, he turns the snow “red as strawberries in the summertime;” some people take this to imply his head fell off a la the story of the “Red Ribbon Girl.” I don’t think it means Michael’s head fell off, personally. I think the narrator is just struck by how red his scarf is against the snow, or perhaps he is bleeding. But regardless, this is a song about loss of innocence that uses running through snow to convey that, and it’s often co-opted as a Christmas song (fuck pentatonix christmas music all my friends hate pentatonix christmas music). I felt it was a good fit for Gregor, who is the one who’s lost his innocence, and Boots, who is in this book Gregor’s Michael. And also just because this chapter also depicts an idyllic white winter scene where something more sinister is occurring if you look closer.

2 - Oblivion by Grimes - Elon be damned, she had some bangers back in the day. This song is sonically dark and the lyrics are creepy and the chorus is “see you on a dark night” on repeat, and in this chapter Gregor’s on the run through dark tunnels from those that swore to hunt him for all time. It’s a good marriage.

3 - Sabotage - Angry chapter. Angry song. Gregor’s mad at the roaches and the Underlanders, Ares is mad at Gregor, they’re both angry at the world. Favorite lyric for the chapter: “I can’t stand rocking when I’m in this place / Because I feel disgraced / Because you’re all in my face.”

4 - Dark Days by the Punch Brothers - Your first track stolen from the Hunger Games soundtrack for this playlist! “Sister hide your love away / From the evil we both know … Our love will see us through these dark, dark days / Sister, ‘til it lights our way back home” makes for a good song for this chapter, where Gregor reads the Prophecy of Bane, understands what’s at stake, and decides to stay in the Underland to see it all through.

5 - Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division - This is the first chapter we get to see the ideological schism that runs straight through the heart of Vikus and Solovet’s relationship. Vikus is maybe my favorite character in the series in terms of I Like Him and Solovet’s maybe my favorite character in terms of I Want To Put Her Under A Microscope, so of course I’m fixated on their interaction over the other things in this chapter. They’re tearing apart by trying to reconcile their own outlooks on the world with their love for someone so different from themselves; this song was a natural choice.

6 - Glory and Gore by Lorde - Every line in this song reminds me of the Regalians. This chapter, we meet the Fount cousins, and that fits well with the edginess of this song which was written about belligerent teenagers. It’s also the chapter where Gregor hits the total. The red liquid in the balls disturbs Gregor, but for the Underlanders, it’s for “roughing up their minds so [they’re] ready when the kill time comes.” One of my favorite lyrics in this song is “no one ‘round here’s good at keeping their eyes closed.” That’s true for Stellovet and her non-Howard siblings, who see Luxa’s vulnerability re: Henry and weaponize, and it’s true for the other Regalians, who immediately spread word about what Gregor accomplishes, even though he’s disgusted with it.

7 - Somewhere Only We Know by Keane - This song is so sweet and lovely. It’s a little on the nose, because Ares appears out of nowhere and takes Gregor somewhere only they know, but it’s also about letting people into your heart, which is a sentiment I like for the two of them beginning to act more like proper bonds. The song is also a little wistful about times past, which pairs with the part of the chapter where Luxa, Aurora and Ares reflect on positive memories of Henry.

8 - Blackbird by the Beatles - Okay, I really wanted to use this for Ch. 15, but I became married to the idea of using a different song for it, so I’ve shoehorned it in. I don’t think it fits with the chapter well sound-wise, so sorry in advance. But this song reminds me of Twitchtip, who tried so hard her whole life to find a place in gnawer society. In terms of sound, it fits better with the second half of the chapter, when the survivors of the first quest have dinner together.

9 - Monty Got a Raw Deal by R.E.M. - Everyone’s getting a raw deal in this chapter. Gregor has his first echolocation lesson and he sucks. A grieving Nerissa implies Henry was on the right track in joining with the gnawers but admits he bungled it badly. Gregor finds out he has to kill the Bane all on his own. “Heroes don’t come easy,” the song says, and the song is right. Raw deals all around.

10 - Atlas by Coldplay - Honestly, kind of a filler song. I didn’t get much out of this chapter besides exposition for the quest. The verses are about things people desire: security, wealth, adventure, but the chorus is just “I’ll carry your world.” That’s Gregor: carrying the Underland for the Regalians’ own interests.

11 - Sail by AWOLNATION - ha ha get it they’re on a boat Really though, I chose this song not only because they’re sailing and because it’s a banger, but because it’s the chapter Ares teaches Gregor how to kill a rat, and he really can’t imagine doing it. “Maybe I’m a different breed / Maybe I’m not listening” reminded me of that.

12 - Bloom by Radiohead - This song kinda freaks me out. I once listened to it for three hours straight while writing a midterm. I like the syncopation and I thought it might fit well with Gregor’s fragmented perception while he’s raging, and because it’s a trippy track, it fits well with his little dream sequence, too. Its lyrics are about the ocean, too, so I obviously had to use it.

13 - Invisible by U2 - Okay listen I didn’t want to have to use a U2 song so early here. I was anticipating only using one this playlist. But here we are. Anyways, this song is about people outgrowing family members who have hurt them or left them a bad legacy. Howard denounces Stellovet’s behavior, and Gregor realizes Luxa joined the trip to prove she’s not like Henry.

14 - Never Let Me Go by Florence + the Machine - Never Let Me Go is about the struggle of finding the will to keep on living. I interpret the lyrics to reflect suicidal ideation about drowning in the ocean, so be mindful of that if you wanted to read the lyrics and you’re sensitive to that, but the chorus is this choral arrangement of voices repeating “Never let me go, never let me go,” reflecting that the narrator subconsciously wants to keep living. Although clearly describing different situations, I decided I wanted to pair this with the whirlpool chapter. Twitchtip has nearly accepted her fate, embracing “the arms of the ocean,” as Florence puts it, but when Gregor goes back for her, she begs him not to let go. I think it’s an emblematic moment for a character who wants, more than anything, not to be alone.

15 - I’ll Be Home for Christmas as recorded by Bing Crosby - There’s a lot of good stuff in this chapter. Also, Pandora is eaten alive in the end, but we’re ignoring that for now. I chose this song because it’s the chapter where Gregor thinks about what a wreck his parents must be, and he wonders if Christmas has already passed. This song was originally written from the perspective of an American soldier fighting in Europe during World War II, who knows he won’t make it back for Christmas. It’s all very sad. This whole chapter is pretty sad. That’s all I got.

16 - 10 dEAThbREsT by Bon Iver - When I first began these playlists, I just had a giant list of songs that reminded me of the series. This was one I had but I anticipated using it in a later book, probably during combat, or during some tense moment between Gregor and Luxa. I love this song. It’s off-putting, it’s compelling, it keeps you on the edge of your seat, and I have no idea why the title is stylized like that because nothing Bon Iver did after their self-titled album makes much sense. Anyways, I had NO clue what to use for this chapter. No song I know captures how disturbing Pandora’s death is. But I ended up with this one, because the edginess captures Ares’ struggle and Gregor’s fear for him sufficiently. This chapter is also an important moment of bonding for Gregor and Luxa — he imagines taking her to the Overland for the first time — and for Luxa and Howard, who grieve together and finally start acting like family. I know the tone doesn't fit well with the emotion of the last few pages of this chapter, but I'm hoping the outro of this extended version suffices. The lyrics seem to deal with trying to fight the notion that you love someone. Or something. It’s all pretty esoteric. I think those can only be stretched so far to apply to Gregor and Luxa/Luxa and Howard, but I like the lyric “I’m un-orphaned in our northern lights” a lot for Luxa. She is slowly building relationships again after all she’s lost in her parents and Henry.

17 - Music for Prague 1968, Movement I: Introduction and Fanfare by Karel Husa - “oneunexpected would NEVER make me listen to a programmatic work written for symphonic band!” ENGH! Wrong! I saw this in concert when I was 17 and I was deeply, deeply disturbed, which is the point. This first movement starts sooooo eerie and then gets SCARY which is absolutely perfect for the party knowing they’re sailing directly into a trap and then for when the serpents wake up. Enjoy!

18 - Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation - We break with our programming of stolen Hunger Games soundtrack songs to bring you a song stolen from the Twilight soundtrack. This song is chilly and the narrator is someone who has nothing left to lose and is ready to fight. It’s another song I expected to use later in the series, maybe for when Gregor and Solovet’s relationship deteriorates, but I ended up using it here because when Gregor thinks Boots is dead, he doesn’t grieve immediately — he says he feels like ice has encircled his heart, and for the first time, is resolute that he will go kill the Bane.

19 - Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars - We break with our Twilight soundtrack programming to return to the Hunger Games. This is the chapter where Gregor and the others convince Howard to return with Mareth and Andromeda, but I chose it for the conversation Ares and Gregor have. Gregor gives one last chance for Ares to bail, and when he refuses, Gregor senses they’ll never have a conversation like that again. He remembers the moment they bonded in Regalia, which is what reminded me of this song. The lyrics go, “I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, ‘I’ll never let you go’ / When all those shadows almost killed your light / I remember you said, ‘Don’t leave me here alone’ / But all that’s dead and gone and passed tonight.” The circumstances of their bonding are similar to those first three lines, but all of that fades away as Gregor realizes they’re truly bonded now.

20 - Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd - Sad song for a sad chapter, as Gregor and Ares reluctantly leave Twitchtip behind. Ares admits to Gregor that he doesn’t think it’s right that he’s still alive when Henry, Luxa and Aurora are gone. I mostly chose this song for Ares’ grief. The verse of this song reminds me a lot of Henry, and how Ares must view Henry, especially regarding the line, “Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in the cage?”

21 - No Children by the Mountain Goats - YES! THE TUMBLR SONG FOR GOLDSHARD AND SNARE! “I HOPE YOU DIE! I HOPE WE BOTH DIE!”

22 - 13 (There Is a Light) by U2 - Okay I swear I didn’t want to use this song. As much as I love U2, I really don’t dig this song very much. It’s so long and meandering. But the lyrics are nice. The way I’ve been constructing these is I skim very quickly through the book and write a brief summary of each chapter and when that’s done, I assign songs to each. My note for this chapter was just “baby hitler conversation.” I ended up choosing this song for one of the verses, which goes, “I know the world is done / But you don’t have to be / I’ve got a question for the child in you before it leaves: / Are you tough enough to be kind? / Do you know your heart has its own mind? / Darkness gathers around the light / Hold on, hold on.” I really liked the fit there for Gregor in this chapter. Even after losing his baby sister, he doesn’t let the world harden him so much that he’s willing to kill a baby. He’s tough enough to be kind, he follows his heart, and he holds onto the light within himself. And that’s why he’s our protagonist.

23 - One Tree Hill by U2 - Last U2 song for this book I SWEAR. But this is a song I associate with Ripred sooooo strongly. It’s a song vaguely about the cost of protesting oppressive systems, and those who do so anyways, which is a good fit for our favorite old rat, but more than anything I chose it for the chorus, “He runs like a river runs to the sea.” Since this is also the chapter Gregor says goodbye to little Pearlpelt, I like the line, “I’ll see you again when the stars fall from the sky / And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill,” which is probably about seeing someone again in the afterlife, but I think it also works in the context of Gregor and the Bane: the next times they meet, their whole worlds will have changed.

24 - Viva La Vida by Coldplay - Along with chapter 22, I struggled the most with giving a song to this chapter. I wasn’t sold on its usage here but it’s the best I could come up with. This is the one where Nerissa gets crowned, and I related her struggle to the line, “Oh, who would ever wanna be king,” and also the allusions to hearing voices and having some sort of prescience about your fate in the chorus. Also, this is the chapter where Ares and Gregor are thrown in the dungeon, which is a dramatic change in his treatment. Until this point, Gregor has been a messianic figure to the Regalians. As the song says, “One minute I held the key / Next the walls were closed on me.” Gregor’s experiencing a similar fall from grace.

25 - All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix - You can listen to any version of this song you’d like, whether that’s the Bob Dylan original or anything else you can find, but this is the most well-known version. My favorite is — you guessed it! — a U2 cover. The song depicts a conversation between two characters, a jester and a thief. The joker is looking for “someway out of here,” and is in general very cynical. The thief, on the other hand, says, “There are many among us who feel that life is just a joke / But you and I, we’ve been through that / And that is not our fate / So let us not talk falsely now / For the hour is getting late.” It reminds me a lot of Ares and Gregor’s conversation in the dungeon. Ares encourages Gregor to sell him out and save himself, but Gregor refuses. He settles instead on just telling the truth, which is ultimately what saves them.

26 - 42 by Coldplay - This song is moody and contemplative, which is a fine fit for the unraveling of the prophecy. It deals with the loss of loved ones, with its first verse going, “Those who are dead are not dead / They’re just living in my head.” This is the chapter where Gregor finally begins to grieve for Boots, only for him to find her alive, and there’s this great, energetic tonal shift in the song that leads to the repeated lines, “You thought you might be a ghost / You didn’t get to heaven but you made it close.” After finding Boots alive, Gregor is rejuvenated from the shell of himself — the ghost — he would have been otherwise.

27 - The Morning Fog by Kate Bush - A song about having a new lease on life after a close brush with death. It’s so upbeat, so cheerful, so Bootslike that I had to include it here. I love, love, love the lyrics, “D’you know what? / I love you better now.”

BONUS TRACK - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas as performed by Frank Sinatra - I wanted to make this the song for Ch. 27 originally, but I wanted to give you an out if you didn’t want to listen to more Christmas music. It’s the first time Gregor’s family gets to have a proper Christmas, full of gifts and decorations and genuine happiness, since Gregor’s dad disappeared. But it’s also a little bit melancholy. They slip the lines “through the years we all will be together / If the fates allow” in very casually, but it makes my heart ache a little. It is especially poignant for Gregor’s family, who have almost lost each other time after time. But the last line, “And have yourself a merry little Christmas now” is a good reflection of how Gregor’s family gets to live in the moment and genuinely enjoy the holiday that year.

#tuc20 #gregor the overlander #underland chronicles #tuc20: pob #prophecy of bane

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