I’m not a dog
wick's playlist goes somewhat off the established pattern of color key, in that it doesn't exactly describe his arc over the book. i would consider his more like an onion, in that it's a peeling back of the layers of his character. it begins with the image he presents of himself, what he wants to be and how he's perceived. but slowly, slowly, we see who he is underneath all that. downtrodden, taken advantage of, crushed under the whims of capital and his own hunger. we'll explore this song by song.
"Main Title" - Dudley Moore Trio (from Bedazzled)
as explained in neeta's write-up, i like to open my playlists with an overture. sometimes, a literal overture (or main title, the movie equivalent) is the best choice! i really like the original dudley moore/peter cook film Bedazzled, and the soundtrack is fun and jazzy in that good good 60s-70s way.
this particular track has a great crime thriller sound (the movie is not that) so it's a perfect match for the secret agent action hero image wick tries to present. but there's still that underlayer, those heavy horns and tinkling chimes, that say there's more going on than just the jazz.
"A Good Song Never Dies" - Saint Motel
i included this because, again, i want to project wick's image of the cool secret agent. but it's also a fun double meaning with his immortality. he never dies :^) sometimes it's as simple as that. it's a good song for a secret agent vampire!
"Supermassive Black Hole" - Muse
unironically that is the main reason i included it, because i think the vampire baseball scene in twilight is hilarious conceptually. it's also just another good I'm Cool I'm An Action Hero song for that projected image i keep telling you about. sometimes it's good to put a joke song in the playlist, long as it fits the overall theme and tone.
"Rats" - Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird
a pretty straightforward addition--a song about a sinking ship and how everyone on it is doomed. this is the turning point in the playlist, when things start to Go Bad.
"The Man Who Sold the World" - David Bowie
listen a lot of these songs are gonna be on the nose! i believe this song was meant to represent his ties to goldfinch. wick's playlist goes a bit beyond the events of the Lark, and into his fuller backstory. for Future Book Purposes i'm going to be vague on those details, but i encourage you to let your imagination roam.
"A Street that Rhymes at 6am" - Norma Tanega
the "you're dead" theme song for what we do in the shadows was also performed by norma tanega. but obviously i don't want to just put the theme song to the vamprie show on the vampire playlist. but i liked her sound, so i went listening to her other work and felt like this fit pretty well. song for a guy who doesn't really like the situation he's in and would like to be somewhere else.
"Is It Poison, Nanny" - Hans Zimmerman (from Sherlock Holmes)
i would call this an end theme for his work for goldfinch. when it maybe lost some of its luster. i probably included this as an on-ramp to the next song, which would've been a harsh transition from norma.
now this is a song for the image of a supernatural secret agent. sneaking, investigating, being a vampire. perhaps the excitement of first joining the agency and having a new purpose to his life? perhaps it represents the idea of being the supernatural secret agent, rather than the realities.
cope. cope. cope. cope. cope.
"I Am a Rock" - Simon & Garfunkel
honestly i kind of regret adding this song to his playlist, if only because it would fit [redacted] much better in the next book. theme of wallowing in one's own loneliness. i don't think that really fits wick as i imagine him these days. he is Not happy about his loneliness. so we'll just move on from this one.
"Creep" - as performed by Vintage Postmodern Jukebox
now this feels like a better representation of wick and his loneliness. he's a vampire, he's gay, and either one of those things would be hugely isolating, but he's both! it doesn't come up as much in this first book, but, smilingly: look forward to it!
"Vampire on my Fridge" - Low Roar
song for a man who is dead, but not dead, and pulled into a situation where he has no true control. sorry i have to be more vague as we get deeper into the backstory implying songs.
also the song has vampire in the title :^)
song for a man who is dying, and trapped.
"Wrong Black Mare" - Brown Bird
song for a young man who isn't dead yet, but lives a life like being dead, where being dead might be easier. okay less cryptically, this is meant to represent his life in wolverhampton, being poor, having money problems. a family history he may/may not have. it's not literally what happened with him, but it's in the same ballpark.
If only I didn't want the world
I wouldn't make you feel so sad
I'm sure my shame would be gone
Is it human to adore life?
If only I'd hidden my lust
And starved a little bit more
If only I didn't ask for more
Is it human to adore life?
the original title of this playlist was "If I hadn't been so starved" and came from this song, which i would consider the true, absolute core of wick. this is the wick song. there he is, there's his heart.