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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

“The Anatomy of Desire” Soundtrack

Option #2



While reading, “The Anatomy of Desire” by John L’Heureux, I came up with a few songs that I think go well with the plot, characters, and emotion of the scenes. After each scene I covered, I paused to find the right song before moving on. I did this to pick songs that would appropriately portray the characters and events at that moment, without any prior knowledge of subsequent events.

“The Weeping Song” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
          This song starts out with a slow beat of the piano, into a deep male voice. This song would play during the opening scene, where Hanley is walking around the hospital searching for someone to love him. The lyrics, “this is a weeping song, a song in which to weep,” fits the sad, lonely mood of the main character as he mopes through the corridor.


“Hatchet in the Teeth” by Xander Harris
          The next song goes quite well with the next scene of the book, which is a flash back to how Hanley lost his skin. In this part of the story, the narrator talks about how Hanley gets captured by the enemy and dragged to their general. This song is just instrumental, and has a spooky sound that something bad is about to happen. Hanley’s encounter with the general is very bizarre and fits the synthesized sound of the song.


“Careful With That Axe” by Pink Floyd
          During the next gruesome scene, where Hanley is hung up on a stripping post and stripped of his skin, I chose this very creepy Pink Floyd song. The act of skinning someone, I assume, would take a long time, and therefore the slow tempo would match the methodical task. The song contains faint screaming or wailing sounds that could further intensify the painful scene. Lastly, the whispers of “kill, kill”, followed by laughter is repeated right before the climactic part of the song. I imagine the disturbing general watching from afar, laughing and enjoying the sight of Hanley’s torture.


“Possession” by Sarah McLachlan
          Hanley so deeply desires the love from his nurse, and so the next song’s lyrics talk about a person going through similar issues. The words “would I spend forever here, and not be satisfied” remind me of the sadness he feels about his appearance and the fact that no one will love him. The song continues to talk more about this person’s obsession for the other and how their “… body aches to breathe your breath; your words keep me alive.” Hanley finally gets the affection of the nurse, and she has become infatuated with him. She tells him she can’t live without him, which makes this soft love song a perfect fit for both characters at this point in the story (L'Heureux 341).


“Something I Can Never Have” by Nine Inch Nails
          The story ends with Hanley feeling unfulfilled after he “possesses” the nurse. He is forever searching for something that he can never have back, which is his skin. This song expresses the emptiness and hopelessness that his character is feeling. Once again the slow piano melody, accompanied by the creepy voice and lyrics of Trent Reznor, makes this song an ideal fit for the story.

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