Novel
Soundtrack
By: Kelsi Stephenson
1. Poison and Wine – The Civil Wars
[Male]: You only
know what I want you to
[Female]: I know
everything you don't want me to
[Male]: Oh your
mouth is poison, your mouth is wine
[Female]: You think
your dreams are the same as mine
[Together]: Oh I don't love you but I
always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
Oh I don't love you but I always will
I always will
[Female]: I wish
you'd hold me when I turn my back
[Male]: The less I
give the more I get back
[Female]: Oh your
hands can heal, your hands can bruise
[Male]: I don't
have a choice but I'd still choose you
[Together]: Oh I
don't love you but I always will [x7]
I always will [x5]
This song really shows the type of marriage that Janie
experienced with her first two marriages, especially with Jody. Their dreams
didn’t line up, Janie continued to give while Joe only took. Joe could heal her
when he wanted, but often he was only abusive, mostly verbally. By the end they
were just stuck in a loveless marriage.
2. Broken Crown – Mumford and Sons
2. Broken Crown – Mumford and Sons
Touch my mouth and hold my tongue
I'll never be your chosen one
I'll be home safe and tucked away
Well You can't tempt me if I don't see the day
The pull on my flesh was just too strong
Stifled the choice and the air in my lungs
Better not to breathe than to breathe a lie
'Cause when I opened my body I breathe in a lie
I will not speak of your sin
There was a way out for Him
The mirror shows not
Your values are all shot
But oh my heart, was flawed I knew my weakness
So hold my hand consign me not to darkness
So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down
I'll never wear your broken crown
I took the road and I f****d it all away
Now in this twilight, how dare you speak of grace
So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down
I'll never wear your broken crown
I can take the road and I can f**k it all away
But in this twilight, our choices seal our fate
This song, interpretively, can be seen as Janie’s fight for
independence from the worldview and expectations she had from her grandmother
and everyone around her. She didn’t want to wear the “broken crown” her
grandmother placed on her head of the womanly role, or of the mayor’s wife that
Joe placed on her. She had her own type of Christian-ish worldview, but she
denied the one she knew. She saw the hypocrisy and wanted to find a road of her
own, with her own choices.
3. All Signs
Point to Lauderdale – A Day to Remember
I hate this town, it's so washed up
And all my friends don't give a f**k
They'll tell me that it's just bad luck
When will I find where I fit in?
2, 3, 4!
Remember when I tried?
I never strayed too far from you
Forever by your side
No matter what I was going through
But now I never know the things to say to you
That help me prove that I'm still on your side
I never show just what you do to me
Guess I'm what's always wrong
I hate this town, it's so washed up
And all my friends don't give a f**k
They'll tell me that it's just bad luck
When will I find where I fit in?
I hate this town
Cause no one can understand
I just can't be tied down
Nothing comes between me and my plans
So now I never know the things to say to you
That help me prove that I'm still on your side
I never show just what you do to me
Guess I'm what's always wrong
I hate this town, it's so washed up
And all my friends don't give a f**k
They'll tell me that it's just bad luck
When will I find where I fit in?
And don't believe a word they're telling to you
Don't believe a word they're telling to you
They let me down
When will I find where I fit in?
I hate this town
Won't let a world gone mad ever bring me down
Gave everything I had to turn it back around
Cause our time's worth something bigger than both you and me
I can't live my life always backing down
I gotta do this right, then they can't make a sound
Cause I'm not here for nothing, least I can say
I stand for something
You and me, we stand for something
This song totally relates to Janie’s life before Tea Cake. I
don’t know if she hated Eatonville, but she definitely didn’t have the life she
wanted there. Her free spirit couldn’t be contained or tied down, she couldn’t
quite fit in with the crowd there. No matter what, she couldn’t be brought
down. She stuck by Jody despite what he did to her and how he didn’t believe
her.
4. Luck be a Lady – Frank Sinatra
4. Luck be a Lady – Frank Sinatra
They call you lady luck
But there is room for doubt
At times you have a very un-lady-like way
Of running out
Your on this date with me
The pickin's have been lush
And yet before the evening is over
You might give me the brush
You might forget your manners
You might refuse to stay
And so the best that I can do is pray
Luck be lady tonight
Luck be lady tonight
Luck if you've been a lady to begin with
Luck be a lady tonight
Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way you've treated other guys you've been
with
Luck be a lady with me
A lady never leaves her escort
It isn't fair, it isn't nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice
Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be lady tonight
A lady never flirts with strangers
She'd have a heart, she'd be nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice
Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be lady tonight
This song basically just relates to the gambling that
goes on with Tea Cake and the town. Luck is sometimes on their side, and other
times, she’s not so helpful.
5. Painless –
Mae
The sun was barely coming up,
my heart was all but slowing down.
but I could barely make out the sound.
It was my personal symphony.
Striking the chords for only me.
There was a coursing all through my veins.
Another chance to get away, oh.
Until this empty place is filled, I’ll keep pretending.
Hey! Wait! Knock me down and I'll get up again.
Oh! Pain! A remedy that can erase your sting.
I'll keep holding, and I'll keep trying.
I feel this fight, it is slowly dying now but I feel
painless...
These days and night blend into one,
but one more night is all I need.
Another chord from the symphony.
To float above the world for now,
to lose control is bliss somehow.
And wring the color from the grey,
another chance to get away, oh.
Until this empty place is filled, I’ll keep pretending.
Hey! Wait! Knock me down and I'll get up again.
Oh! Pain! A remedy that can erase your sting.
I'll keep holding, and I'll keep trying.
I feel this fight, it is slowly dying now but I feel
painless...
All these reckless nights, have left me spinning out of
control.
Is there not a cure for sorrow?
All these faded lights, have made me search for something
more.
Will there be a new, tomorrow.
Until this empty place is filled, I’ll keep pretending.
Hey! Wait! Knock me down and I'll get up again.
Oh! Pain! A remedy that can erase your sting.
I’ll keep holding, and I’ll keep trying tonight.
Hey! Wait! Knock me down and I'll get up again.
Oh! Pain! A remedy that can erase your sting.
I'll keep holding, and I'll keep trying.
I feel this fight, it is slowly dying now but I feel
painless...
“Painless” gives a portrayal of someone who is searching for
something more as they look for an escape for their soul. Janie often was
wandering to a place in her head far from reality. It was almost as if her soul
was disconnected from her body, that she would travel to a place where her soul
was and be painless. And “until that empty place is filled,” she “kept
pretending.
6. Emerald Lake, AB – Said the Whale
6. Emerald Lake, AB – Said the Whale
Left arms burnt, we head for the lake
A bit more sun than we could take
I'll push the Jimmy, if you push the Dave
Then we could sink down to the bottom and say
What a fine life we are living
And I think you'll agree
That the train tracks are complimentary
To squishing pennies and kissing girls
We scratched our names all in a row
Into a tree, in hopes it would grow
Into the tallest tree the forest ever would know
We'd climb up to the top and shout to below
What a fine life we are living
This is an upbeat song that really shows the life of
those who aren’t well off financially, the freedom they have. It’s a similar
portrayal to the life Janie took with Tea Cake, both in Eatonville and
especially when they went to the everglades. The irony is in how they call it a
fine life that they’re living, when to “high society” it looks “trashy,” and
the opposite of “fine.”
7. Inevitable
– Anberlin
Do you remember when we were just kids
And cardboard boxes took us miles from what we would miss
Schoolyard conversations taken to heart
And laughter took the place of everything we knew we were not
I wanna break every clock
The hands of time could never move again
We could stay in this moment (stay in this moment)
For the rest of our lives
Is it over now hey, hey, is it over now
I wanna be your last, first kiss
That you'll ever have
I wanna be your last, first kiss
Amazing how life turns out the way that it does
We end up hurting the worst, the only ones we really love
I wanna break every clock
The hands of time could never move again
We could stay in this moment (stay in this moment)
For the rest of our lives
Is it over now hey, hey,
I wanna be your last, first kiss
That you'll ever have (that you'll ever have)
I wanna be your last, first love (that you'll ever have)
Till you're lying here beside me with arms and eyes open wide
I wanna be your last, first kiss for all time is it over now
To me, this is just a beautifully simple portrayal of love –
the kind of love Janie and Tea Cake had. It shows the development of lives and
relationships, from childhood throughout. There are times they wanted to just
live in the moment, there are times when they hurt each other, even though they
loved each other so much. But they wanted to stay together forever, and they
did.
8. I’d Be Lying – Greg Laswell
8. I’d Be Lying – Greg Laswell
Won't you let me give you a hand
I have an extra I'm not using
Won't you let me lighten your load
I mean after all your legs are shaking
And I can understand
All I need is your hand
Oh won't you take the fall
It is me after all
Won't you let me match your stride
I can slow down if you want to
We can handle it side by side
What do you say girl don't you want to
And I can understand
All I need is your hand
Oh won't you take the fall
It is me after all
I'd be lying
If I ran away
I'd be lying
If I ran another way
And so I'll stay
But won't you let me be your man
I'm strong enough you know that I can
Be the one to ease your mind
Ease your mind
And I can understand
All I need is your hand
Oh won't you take the fall
It is is me after all
I'd be lying
If I ran another way
I'd be lying
If I ran another way
And so I'll stay
There's not much that you can do
To get me to run away from you
This
song reflects the fear of Janie that Tea Cake was going to leave. Tea Cake
needed to convince Janie that he was not about to leave, that he could and would
be there for her. He needed to gain her trust.
9. Little Lion
Man – Mumford and Sons
Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart
Weep Little Lion Man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start
Rate yourself and rake yourself,
Take all the courage you have left
Wasted on fixing all the problems
That you made in your own head
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really f****d it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my...
Tremble for yourself, my man,
You know that you have seen this all before
Tremble Little Lion Man,
You'll never settle any of your scores
Your grace is wasted in your face,
Your boldness stands alone among the wreck
Now learn from your mother or else spend your days biting
your own neck
But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really f****d it up this time
Didn't I, my dear? (x2)
Joe Starks’ rise to power and attempt to be a great,
admirable man is shown in “Little Lion Man.” In the end, he could not be the
man in his heart that he wanted to be. The verses describe an outsider’s look
on him, but then the chorus is similar to what Joe may have been feeling on his
death bed when Janie told him all she felt about how he limited her.
10. War – Bob Marley
Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.
That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.
That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race -
Dis a war.
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained -
Now everywhere is war - war.
And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola,
In Mozambique,
South Africa
Sub-human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed -
Well, everywhere is war -
Me say war.
War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south -
War - war -
Rumours of war.
And until that day,
The African continent
Will not know peace,
We Africans will fight - we find it necessary -
And we know we shall win
As we are confident
In the victory
Of good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Obviously, Their Eyes Were Watching God took place in a time
when racism was common and acceptable. There was discrimination and
segregation, so just for the time period and the events regarding racism in the
book (Mrs. Walter’s racism, the dead white people getting caskets when the
blacks didn’t after the hurricane, etc.) I think this song fits.
11. Cat and Mouse – Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Softly we tremble tonight,
picture perfect fading smiles are all that's left in sight,
I said I'd never leave, you'll never change
I'm not satisfied with where I'm at in life.
Am I supposed to be happy?
With all I ever wanted, it comes with a price.
Am I supposed to be happy?
With all I ever wanted, it comes with a price.
You said, you said that you would die for me...
We made plans to grow old,
believe me there was truth in all those stories that I told.
Lost in a simple game cat and mouse,
Are we the same people as before this came to light?
Am I supposed to be happy?
with all I ever wanted, it comes with a price.
Am I supposed to be happy?
with all I ever wanted, it comes with a price.
You said, you said that you would die for me...
You must live for me too'...
For me too...yeah, yeah...
You said that you would die for me...
Like “Poison and Wine,” the song reflects the marriage of
Janie and Jody. The marriage became selfish, there were empty promises from Joe
to Janie. He didn’t ever live for Janie, it was all her. Janie wasn’t happy
with where she was and she felt like all the things she wanted had prices she
couldn’t pay.
12. Hello Hurricane – Switchfoot
I've been watching the skies
They've been turning blood red
Not a doubt in my mind anymore
There's a storm up ahead
Hello hurricane
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows
Boarded up
All your dead end fury is
Not enough
You can't silence my love, my love
Every thing I have I count as loss
Everything I have is stripped away
Before I started building
I counted up these costs
There's nothing left for you to take away
Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows
Boarded up
All your dead end fury is
Not enough
You can't silence my love
Yeah my love
I'm on fire fighting for control
I'm a fighter fighting for my soul
Everything inside of me surrenders
You can't silence my love
You can't silence my love
Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows
Boarded up
All your dead end fury is
Not enough
You can't silence my love
Yeah I said hello hurricane
This was more of a cheesy pick, mainly because I picked it
because there was quite literally a hurricane in the climax of the novel. But
it can be interpreted literally and metaphorically, they did survive the
hurricane and their love went on through the storms.
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