Soundtrack Eleven
The grand finale to my study of Station Eleven is something that I have been working on since the very beginning. Throughout my analysis, I've kept a playlist of songs that I felt resonated with the themes of the novel. Now, having narrowed it down and selected only the most relevant and important ones, I have compiled a playlist of eleven songs that capture the story of Station Eleven.
The songs are annotated with vague clues as to the parts of the stories they represent and most are self-evident. Others, however, I have taken the liberty of further explaining below:
Last Words of a Shooting Star - Mitski
Something striking about Mandel's telling of the apocalypse is its poignant sense of nostalgia. It is not the dog-eat-dog battlezone that is typically shown in post-apocalyptic novels, but rather a melancholy requiem of all that was lost. This song captures that sense of a quiet ending to the era of technology and prosperity. Though some characters deal with violence in the aftermath, our general impression of the world in collapse is that it is in disbelief, awe, and a kind of mourning.
As well, this song takes the point of view of someone who is on a crashing airplane. Airplanes play a major symbolic part in Station Eleven as symbols of the pre-collapse, and evoke both senses of hope (when August dreams that he sees a plane overhead) and despair (The Air Gradia jet) - parallel to memories of the old world. There is hope that civilization may be restored but despair at all that has been lost.
The end is sudden, sad (as opposed to violent) and inevitable:
"I always wanted to die clean and pretty
But I'd be too busy on working days
So I am relieved that the turbulence wasn't forecasted
I couldn't have changed anyways,"
Restless Year - Ezra Furman VS October - Broken Bells
In Station Eleven, we see two eras of Arthur - struggling and happy, then famous and dissatisfied. These two songs capture both sides.
Restless Year is upbeat, but not necessarily victorious. It describes someone living in relative hardship, yet retaining hope and energy ("And when you catch my coat-tails I'll be miles away"). This is similar to Arthur's situation when he first moves to Toronto. He is not successful, but he is finally free and he looks back on this time as one where he was truly happy: "It was a restless year, For a while we had no fear"
October is a much more melancholy tune. Though it is most likely a love song, I chose to interpret it as Arthur talking to his younger, naive self (the one portrayed in Restless Year). As he finds that fame isolates him and forces him to wear a disguise, he begins to long for the simper time before he found success:
"Wrong just seemed so right
'Til the spike of morning light
And all these searching eyes
Do they scald your tender hide?"
It serves as a message not only about his career but also his failed marriages:
"Pretending at love could help you find your way
But you've got me wrong"
The final lines of the two songs contrast interestingly as well:
Restless Year: "Don't tell me anything I don't want to hear"
October: "Yeah, you got me wrong"
Restless Year leads into the idea that Arthur knows he will end up regretting his path (which is shown in the book where he remembers the parties he attends getting sloppier and less glamorous) and the end of October reflects the end of his life, where he resolves to quit acting and move to Israel to be with his son, only to die without realising either of those. His legacy is one of a famous actor and nothing more, but there is much more to his character that the world will never know.
Music When The Lights Go Out - The Libertines
As the world slowly forgets the old era, there is a sort of divide between those who remember and those who are too young to do so. And therein lies the dilemma - do we keep wishing for things the way they were, or do we attempt to forget? This song appears to be a conversation between someone who wants to forget and someone who wants to remember:
"I no longer hear the music" is repeated throughout the song - representing how, in the novel, so much time has passed that much of the modern world has been erased.
Yet, it is still wondered whether or not children should be told of the wonders of the old world:
"Is it cruel or kind not to speak my mind
And to lie to you rather than hurt you?"
Furr - Blitzen Trapper
Hearing this song with Station Eleven on my mind caused me to entirely reinterpret both the song, and parts of the novel. It is a great insight into Tyler's story. From religion to moral ambiguity to becoming wild, this song almost perfectly illustrates his journey:
"Yeah, when I was only seventeen, I could hear the angels whispering"
"And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong For my flesh had turned to fur Yeah, and my thoughts, they surely were Turned to instinct and obedience to God"
Obviously, it isn't perfect (as the song has a much happier ending than Tyler's fate), but listen carefully to the lyrics and enjoy a glimpse into how Tyler would tell his own story in Station Eleven.
There are six other songs on the playlist (the tracklist is above, if you are curious), and I highly encourage that you listen to it closely. These songs were not chosen at random, and much thought has been put into them in order to capture what is truly important and beautiful in Station Eleven. I hope you will enjoy them and perhaps use them to more deeply appreciate the book.
Any questions about song choice may be directed to the comments, where they will be considered and most likely answered, should they be in a language that I, or an online translator, understands.
- A.M. Ham
