We Could Have Been Happy Anywhere
"Red Hook Stroop" - Tin Hat Trio
every playlist opens with what i consider the "overture". the song that's meant to convey an overall image of the character or story. i like tin hat trio for this because their music has a vintage sound that just suits the setting, and very often an eerie, even sinister vibe. it's not scary, but something is definitely off. and this particular song also has a curiosity to it, and i think all that taken together is a perfect overture for a girl in neeta's position.
i use tin hat trio in emery's playlist as well. another thing i like to do is signal a connection between characters by pulling from the same artists, giving their playlists a similar sound. (emery also has another jung jaeil song!)
i would consider this one a second overture. sometimes you need multiple overtures! this song is meant to evoke the innocence and loss in neeta's past. this is the song for growing up on the ship as emery's playmate, losing her mother, and going to girls' school alone. it's a melancholy work, and she's had a melancholy life on the whole. it's why she's so eager for something new!
"Searching" - Miguel D'Oliveira
theme of curiosity. this is neeta's interest in wick, her desire to be part of something, her observation and concern about what's happening to the crew. it's quirky, it's light, it's strange. it's adventure.
"Rich" - Cosmo Sheldrake (Ft. Andrea Vargas)
i imagine this one is easy enough to figure out. it's here to represent neeta's relationship to wealth, her relationship with her brother. her wanting. it's pretty straightforward, and it's a good song to use to transition to the more upbeat pieces with lyrics. going from instrumentals to lyrics needs an on ramp.
"Dirty Imbecile" - The Happy Fits
If I’m so smart and I’m so pretty Damn this town and damn this city You never give me anything that I want
i want off this ship! i want out of here! i'm sure the lyrics as a whole say something completely different, but i dunno! it just felt right. sometimes it's about vibe. and it's another good transitional song into the next.
another artist she shares with emery, which is fitting because this is where we start getting songs representing their relationship. honestly i could post half the lyrics but the song as a whole is just Them. it's so key to the playlist that the original title (i title my personal playlists after the most relevant lyrics) for the whole thing was "I see the future but we're not in it together." just oof aahh. that's so them. luckily "we could have been happy anywhere" is just as effectively heartbreaking
"Evelyn, Evelyn" - Evelyn, Evelyn
the Lore of this song is that it's conjoined twins both named evelyn singing about their relationship, not knowing what'll become of them, wanting to be together but wanting to be apart. if that ain't just the relationship! great song for codependency (not that i'd describe neeta and emery's relationship in those terms). this song specifically is to represent the relationship turning bad, when it goes from emery just being a little clingy to outright possessive.
"Done for the Night" - Theodore Shapiro
music from severance just belongs in the capitalsm bad book playlists. this is the song for things going bad, but not so dramatically, violently bad. a looming sense of something wrong. a song for following the vampire boy through decrepit maintenance halls that should have been familiar, surrounded by dead-eyed crew. out of everyone, neeta's playlist is probably the most "vibe of the book as a whole" rather than solely representing herself, but given the book is mostly her story, i think that works.
"Shango" - The Stargazer's Assistant
honestly, i just Like this song. it's serving basically the same purpose as "Done for the Night". things are wrong. things are bad. i would attach this specifically to the bit of her walking to the dining room, the ship all but melting around her into black tar, fearing for whatever she's going to find beyond that door. and finding a party where nothing feels right but nothing's explicitly wrong, either.
"As The World Falls Down" - David Bowie
this is the song that plays in Labyrinth when sarah is in the masquerade dream ball and bowie is trying to make her love him and stay with him. it's self explanatory babe you know why this is in the playlist.
"Never Love an Anchor" - The Crane Wives
On some level, I think I always understood That a ship could never really love an anchor So I did the only thing that I could And severed the rope to set you sailing from my harbor
self explanatory.
"Fortuna Impromptu" - Chelsea Norman
one of those songs where you're just like. i want this on the playlist. it feels right. it's an ending, it's a sadness. it's perhaps what neeta was feeling when she was in the water, too cold to think.
the ship sinking. your oldest friend begging forgiveness beside you. your new friend knowing he'd failed. a home you loved, even if you wanted to leave it, disappearing forever. an ending you didn't want, but the only ending you could have.
"Lover // I'm Waiting" - Kriti B.
lover, you came too soon.
the last song for emery and neeta. it's not to imply they'll have a romantic relationship, that's off the table forever now, but there is still a feeling of loss of what might have been. maybe they could have, if not for everything that happened. she could have loved him. she does love him. she doesn't want him out of her life, despite everything that happened. it's just different now. it came too soon.
"Last Train Home" - Pat Metheny
another instance of neeta's playlist containing major story beats, but honestly, this suits her as her. there's so much hope in this song, a sense of adventure. it's where i want to leave her--on the train to somewhere else. a new life, wherever and whatever that may be. that's what she deserves.