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withasideofshakespeare · 9 months

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The Great Shakespeare Playlist

Hello, friends and foes! If you’re on the Hamlet server, you’ve likely heard about this before, but if not, welcome! I’m working on making a playlist out of all the songs you associate with Shakespeare’s plays and his characters! Submissions are still open and the early submissions have been added! Who they’re associated with will be listed below, organized by play for your convenience.

Submit a song here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrrJawR9CzAvA-uJMFLrTEGgedTgcIGr2LR5IpYQU7W7cFkA/viewform (Don’t worry about submitting a song that has already been submitted! Just add more thoughts!) Listen to the playlist on YouTube Music here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeoLN_fzmwY2PLxuwuyBtijqheBAis2An An organized list of songs and their associations below the cut and in this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IEI1UqZ48tnhim3UdQ6O0-KiW8vJ93sK7wEf3_fEj-8/edit?usp=sharing

(Plays are categorized as they appear in The Riverside Shakespeare 1974) NOTE! THIS IS A WORK-IN-PROGRESS- don’t worry if your song isn’t here yet! It will be... so long as it’s on YouTube Music (I’m sorry Spotify gang!!!)

Tragedies:

Hamlet:

Rule #4- Fish in a Birdcage (Fish in a Birdcage, Fish in a Birdcage EP) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “vibes honestly. it reminds me of the plot and themes of ragad.”

Unraveling (The Crane Wives, Coyote Stories) Associated with: Hamlet, Horatio, and Ophelia Comments: “yeah i'm gonna submit a whole bunch of crane wives songs, what about it? i made this form, i get to do what i want. but yeah this song feels like it's about these guys' disastrous relationships.”

Shallow River (The Crane Wives, The Fool in Her Wedding Gown) Associated with: Ophelia and Gertrude Comments: “someone please give these two a duet and make it this song”

The Dead Waltz (Radical Face, Family Tree: The Roots) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “I feel like this is the vibe Horatio is getting while Hamlet is talking to the ghost. also, i like the idea of the whole interaction being somewhere between beautiful and terrifying.”

The Fly (Cosmo Sheldrake, Pelicans We) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “i wrote a whole fic about this (also, i absolutely adore this poem). they have the Vibe”

Ghost (Indigo Girls, Rites of Passage) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “this works post-canon or during canon. the vibes are so incredibly there. "i'm in love with your ghost" is such a horatio line (and i love the indigo girls. gay people music!!!!)”

Joking (Indigo Girls, Rites of Passage) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “...bought you a beer, it’s too corny to cry.” IM SOBBING.”

Down the River (The Crane Wives, Foxlore) Associated with: Hamlet and cast Comments: “everyone @ hamlet's increasingly murderous fuck ups”

Can’t Go Back (The Crane Wives, Foxlore) Associated with: (Post-canon) Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “‘when have you ever known the world to be a fair place? all things end and all things change’ ouch now i'm crying.”

Pretty Little Things (The Crane Wives, Foxlore) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: "i don't believe the pretty little things that you say; i've heard a lot of little pretty things. don't buy me flowers, it pains me to watch pretty little things wilt away" is this not opheliacore?? tell me this isn't opheliacore”

Your Body is a Weapon (The Wombats, Glitterbug) Associated with: Osric and Laertes Comments: “LOOK OSRIC DIDN'T DO SHIT BUT LIKE??? he is. so gay for laertes ok. because i say so <3 i will be back just you wait”

The Anchor (Bastille, Wild World) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “because???? horatio is the light that is blinding him. the anchor that hamlet ties to his brain, if you will absolutely them!!! he keeps him grounded yk”

Another Place (Bastille, Doom Days) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “maybe things would've turned out different in another time and in another place haha”

Mama (My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “just. it's . just listen to it you'll see what i mean”

Brave As a Noun (AJJ, People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “same as the last one. holy hell is this hamlet coded”

BlackBoxWarrior - OKULTRA (Will Wood, The Normal Album) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “once again it's just. yeah . for what for what for what it's worth if it was gonna kill you boy it would have by now”

When He Died (Lemon Demon, Spirit Phone) Associated with: Hamlet, Hamlet Sr., Claudius Comments: “this song is referring to BOTH hamlet sr and claudius. To Me”

Achilles Come Down (Gang of Youths, Go Farther In Lightness) Associated with: Hamlet, Horatio, Ophelia, Laertes Comments: “imagine . horatio singing this to hamlet. yeah. good bye. :3″ “once again this is a hamlet/horatio song that made its way onto my ophelia playlist.”

Ophelia (The Lumineers, Cleopatra) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “its litterally named ophelia and shes literally named ophelia?????”

For the Dancing and the Dreaming (Erutan) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “idk it feels like her. she sings it while going mad :3″

Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles, Greatest Hits) Associated with: Ophelia, Laertes, Hamlet, Doctor of Divinity?? Comments: “"Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave. No one was saved." Is this not Ophelia's Funeral?”

Boy With a Coin (Iron & Wine, The Shepard’s Dog) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (but specifically RAGAD) Comments: “The whole song has a running coin motif“

I’ll Follow You Into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “listen to the song. you'll get it. basically it's "if you die i'm following you"; “The song talks about death and following one's love into the dark, a.k.a. death. It talks of love so dedicated it continues after death and expresses, I think, Horatio's desire to follow Hamlet into death or anywhere at all, just wherever he goes. But it's even more tragic because he's denied the ability to follow his love into that one place, that one place where he can't go.”

Get Used To It (Ricky Montgomery, Montgomery Ricky) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “it's all about what he used to be and how he feels like he can't get back to the place where he was before which was better and it's just ough hamlet sadboy for realsies”

Time Machine (Miracle Musical, Hawaii: Part II) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “it's all about time and its passage and "WHY CANT IT STOP"core which has always been what resonated most about Hamlet to me”

Fighter (Jack Stauber's Micropop, Cheeseburger Family / Fighter) Associated with: Horatio Comments: “it's all about how he tries and tries and TRIES in this relationship and he's really trying to help this relationship which he knows will never work which is... just... sobs and dies“

Flowers in My Hair (Wes Reeves) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “it feels like something she might sing, maybe like earlier on in the play before she went mad outright. idk”

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Fucking Dead (The Rentiers, Get More Loot and Move to a Boot!) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “I. Look at the song title. Just look at it for a second.”

Dust and Ashes (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “Vibes I guess”

Isle Unto Thyself (Miracle Musical, Hawaii: Part II) Associated with: Horatio and Hamlet Comments: “Horatio POV. It's so... first love but also like with someone much more important than you and it's asking so many questions that I feel like whoever's on the receiving end (Hamlet) has no answers and it's so horatio”

Je te laisserai des mots (Patrick Watson) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “song for like earlier in the play when she likes hamlet and is like slighly infatuated with him, it also just sounds like a song for her. <3“

Secrets and Lies (Ruelle) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “once again most of these are vibes. but i really like it for an "ophelia can see the doom of them all and eventually goes mad" approach :3″

Youth (Daughter, If You Leave) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “same as secrets and lies, if im being honest. i really like that interpritation“

Constellations (The Oh Hellos, Notos EP) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “ophelia right at the begining of her madness :3″; “It feels like an Ophelia madness song.”

Soldier, Poet, King (The Oh Hellos, Dear Wormwood) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio; Laertes, Hamlet, and Fortinbras Comments: “despite this being on my ophelia playlist it is oviusly a hamlet/horatio song . i mean look at it” “Laertes plays the role of the solider, Hamlet plays the role of the poet and Fortinbras of the King.”

Saturn (Sleeping At Last, Atlas: I) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “ummmm. horatio song for as hamlet dies or something, yeah. why was this on my ophelia playlist.”; “Um it feels like a song horatio would sing sing to hamlet at the end. Hamlet would be dying and horatio would like be holding him and cradling his body and he would stroke hamlets cheek softly. Horatio would sing this, voice breaking around his crying, and he's just begging hamlet not to die, but its all in vain. Hamlet dies. Horatio lives. The play happens again. They are trapped.”

City of Angels (Arrows to Athens, Exile) Associated with: Hamlet, Ophelia Comments: “ummmm because . just go listen to the song ok. look at it.”

Vienna (Billy Joel, The Stranger) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “um . because. idk. like its just there. its not an ophelia song, despite it being there”

Riptide (Vance Joy, Dream Your Life Away) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “the vibes”

Like Real People Do (Hozier, Take Me to Church) Associated with: Ophelia; Horatio Comments: “a- the vibessdjshf b- hamlet and ophelia are both homosexual and um. in a convience relation ship . with a dont ask dont tell motto . idk its wha t Appeared to me while reading over the lyrics i dont control these things. ANYWAY”

Line Without a Hook (Ricky Montgomery) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “ummm look at it”

Bloom- Bonus Track (The Paper Kites, Woodland) Associated with: Ophelia, Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “vibes”; “vibes and like the lyrics are so cute and soft for liek. them . please just let them be happy“; “vibes . the sound”; “idk it feels like a horatio song, "Can I take you to a moment//Where the fields are painted gold//And the trees are filled with memories//Of the feelings never told?" hes in love with hamlet but doesnt say it, and like "Oh, the whole world, it is sleeping//But my world is you//Can I be close to you?" like look??? please it is horatio im telling you “

Tea Errors (Jack Stauber) Associated with: (Pre-canon) Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “All about woah we were really young and in love and now I’m super anxious and scared of everything now”

Ball Cap (Mother Mother) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “”Oh don't you know that beauty is only skin deep? Well baby, baby, come on and skin me" desperate love and hamlet wanting to get rid of the flesh”

Angel With a Shotgun (The Cab, Symphony Soldier) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Obviously on one hand it's just a very obvious choice of song about deep love that makes you go to great lengths - but on top of that there are so many religious illusions in it - "I don't care if heaven won't take me back, I'll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe" etc - that I feel really speak to the just....amount of religion that is in that play and the implications of that for Hamlet and Horatio's relationship.”

A Sadness Runs Through Him (The Hoosiers) Associated with: Horatio Comments: “The song is about desperately trying to save someone who cannot be saved. Hmm. I wonder how in the world that could possibly relate to horatio. oh wait. it's literally the crux of the entire character”

Love & War in Your Twenties (Jordy Searcy, Dark in the City) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Horatio to Hamlet - "I may never be a politician, or Make a lot of money, hold a high position Baby, you're my mission and all my glory days are yours I don't wanna take the world for granted While I'm still trying to understand it The more I live I am convinced Everyone just wants to be in love"”

It’s Alright (Mother Mother, Dance and Cry) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Roughly going back and forth in terms of pov, with Hamlet feeling the pain of things that he has done ("I did one million stupid things, I said one billion foolish things", "I am broken down in shame") and Horatio reassuring him he's ok ("It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay, you're not a demon, there's a reason, you're behaving that way. It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay and I believe, yes, I believe that you will see a better day")”

Two (Sleeping At Last, Enneagram) Associated: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Horatio's love for Hamlet in a "dude maybe you love him a little bit too much maybe worry about yourself too" kind of way.”

peace (Taylor Swift) Associated with: Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “Somehow all of these lyrics feel like both Hamlet and Ophelia talking to each other with one voice.”

Can You Feel My Heart (Bring Me The Horizon) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “Just big "Hamlet is really not doing OK" vibes with this one.”

Stone (Jaymes Young, Feel Something) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Just Horatio trying to be what Hamlet needs...also though specifically the first lyric; "Your father came and went like the ocean’s tide".”

Sunlight (Hozier, Wasteland, Baby!) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: "All the tales the same Told before and told again A soul that's born in cold and rain Knows sunlight, sunlight, sunlight And at last can grant a name To a buried and a burning flame As love and its decisive pain Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight"

Leave Out All The Rest (Linkin Park, Minutes to Midnight) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Hamlet telling Horatio to tell his story: "When my time comes Forget the wrong that I've done Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed And don't resent me And when you're feeling empty Keep me in your memory Leave out all the rest"

Bigger Than The Whole Sky (Taylor Swift, Midnights) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “I mean, it's just the aftermath of Hamlet's death: "Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye You were bigger than the whole sky You were more than just a short time And I've got a lot to pine about I've got a lot to live without"

my tears ricochet (Taylor Swift) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “So to me these lyrics scream of, not what sort of "actually happened", for want of a better way of putting it, but of what Ophelia thinks happened and how Hamlet treated her and it's sort of her ghost looking on at the funeral like "oh NOW you care???""I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet"

Ready, Aim, Fire (Imagine Dragons) Associated with: Fortinbras; Hamlet, Horatio, Laertes, Fortinbras, and Claudius Comments: “Fortinbras taking Denmark; "Ready aim fire An empire is falling In just one day" “This is SUCH a 5.2 duel scene song. listen to me listen. listen. "With our backs to the wall//The darkness will fall//We never quite thought//We could lose it all" Literally they all die. all of them. dead. well not Horatio but still, he looses it all. "An empire is falling//In just one day" what did i say. all dead. empire falling. "You close your eyes//And the glory fades" Theyre all dying. for nothing. why? because claudius wanted the throne so bad he would kill his brother? it doesnt matter if you die. "Off in the distance//There is resistance//Bubbling up and festering" Yeah, that that's fortinbras coming to take over the kindom. good luck buddie. Hey mr motion//Make me a potion//Shake it all up//With your mistery" Claudius again. he used poison on the blade + in the drink to make sure they died. "How come I've never seen//Your face around here//I know every single face//Around here" horatio questioning what fortinbras is doing here. "A man on a mission//Changing the vision//I was never welcome here" Claudius, on a mission of becoming king. yeah. "We don't have the choice to stay//We'd rather die than//Do it your way" Hamlet and Leartes in the duel, doomed to die by claudius. "Blood in the writing//Stuck in the fighting//Look through the riffle's sight" they!! are trapped!! doomed to this duel!! they cannot help it, they must die!! its tragic, but thats how the play was written. doomed by the narrative. "Hearing the echo//Holding the shackle//I was never welcome here" hamlet, seeing the ghost of his father, tasked with revenge, being the ghosts touchstone to the living realm. over all its such a tragic song for a tragic scene!!! there is . so much here. it could fill an animatic. i love it“

Yellow Flicker Beat (Lorde) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “Ophelia at the beginning of madness, thinking of what she thought she was going to be (she wasn't actually a princess but she did think she'd be Queen) and just watching everything, including her own mind, unravel.”

Battle Cry (Imagine Dragons, Smoke + Mirrors) Associated with: Hamlet, Fortinbras Comments: “Hamlet knowing that he's going to die ("I've been poisoned inside") and Fortinbras taking Denmark ("King is crowned, it's do or die")”

It Has Begun (STARSET, Transmissions) Associated with: Fortinbras Comments: “Fortinbras's pov before invading Denmark.”

Atlas Drowned (Gang of Youths, Go Farther In Lightness) Associated with: Laertes Comments: “This is Laertes storming the castle, willing to dare damnation and call all of Elsinore into account for how they harmed his family. There’s anger, frustration, disgust at the hegemony, but also a deep, deep love.”

Hey Brother (Avicii, True) Associated with: Laertes and Ophelia Comments: “Oh, and if the sky comes falling down / for you / there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.” NEED I SAY MORE 🥺👉👈”

In The Best Case Scenario We’d Die at the Same Time (My Name is Ian) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “🥹 babe”

Little Talks (Of Monsters And Men, My Head Is An Animal) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: ““And some days I can’t even dress myself” “It’s killing me to see you this way””

Una Palabra (Carlos Varela, nubes) Associated with: Laertes to Ophelia Comments: “ANYWAY this whole song is so them but especially the last line. “Está la orilla donde me ahogo” means “the shore in which I drown.” This is in reference to eyes, specifically OPHELIA’S EYES. Like it’s literally too perfect. How is this NOT Laertes coded????”

Left Brain, Right Brain (Bo Burnham, what.) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “They’ve always given me very left brain and right brain vibes. Ros is emotional, Guil is analytical. Also, the explosion and immediate apology from left brain is so Guil.”

Dust in the Wind (Kansas) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “The overarching theme in the song of narrative insignificance is very relevant to the idea of R&G.”

i’m gonna tell my therapist on you (Pinkshift) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “The idea of a ‘downwards spiral’ and blaming it on others feels like Hamlet tbh”

Little Dark Age (MGMT) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “Dude, just listen to it. It sounds like something Hamlet wrote in his emo poetry book”

Not the Ghost (The Crane Wives, Foxlore) Associated with: Hamlet and Hamlet Sr. (the ghost) Comments: “If only I could break the chain of disappointments weighing me down” is such a Hamlet line.

Typical Me (kroh) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “Yes ik its originally a ranboo fansong but. Look at it.”

Dead Hearts (Stars, The Five Ghosts) Associated with: Fortinbras and Horatio (talking post-play) Comments: “'They were kids that I once knew/now they're all dead hearts to you'. an interview between an outsider trying to understand and the unwilling witness to it all.”

Up the Wolves (The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree) Associated with: Basically everyone young in Hamlet, especially Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “Just listen”

No Children (The Mountain Goats, Tallahassee) Associated with: Basically everyone young in Hamlet, especially Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “Just listen”

Child Support (Woz) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “Vibes”

Another Me (D_AAN) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “A description of Hamlet’s supposed descent into madness – a change in personality and identity from a madness constructed by a ‘deceiving person’ (偽者) to actually becoming mad. The narrator also calls themself ‘traitor’ (裏切り), which is fitting considering the R&G arc. One line that stands out is “Are all humans in the world the same” (世界中の人間が同じですか), which reminds me of the “To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand” bit (Act II Scene II)”

Grievous Lady (Team Grimoire & Laur) Associated with: Gertrude Comments: “I just think ‘grievous’ is an excellent word to describe Gertrude’s situation and fate.”

Purgatorium ( お月さま交響曲) Associated with: Hamlet Sr. (the ghost) Comments: “Obviously a song themed around Purgatory and Hamlet Sr. – coded. Specifically, though: “Is this the end or the beginning?” (これは終わりなのか始まりか) feels like a commentary on whether avenging his death will be the end-all of strife or the start of something even more disastrous. Also, “Will you take away my sounds, colours, and memories and destroy what I am?” (音も色も記憶も奪って/私と云うモノを壊して――？) suggests that the ghost is no longer Hamlet Sr., but a faded and hollow shell of him that only understands vengeance.”

Blastix Riotz (Camellia) Associated with: Laertes Comments: “Laertes’s aggressive and chaotic energy.”

Bad Elixir (Xi) Associated with: Claudius Comments: “‘Bad Elixir’ = Poison, which is what Claudius did to Hamlet Sr. and also what the presence of Claudius appears to represent in the play (something rotten in the state of Denmark). Also, the melody is less dramatic/antagonistic, but more descending/tragic, which feels like a fitting representation of how he’s really more of the Lawful Evil type than your stereotypical villain.”

Imaginary Friends (Sta) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “R&G are the Imaginary Friends of Hamlet – apparently his friends, but not really, and cease to be alive by the end of the play. Two especially relevant lines: “we wouldn't wake up to dark so long” -> they are going to be executed, so yeah, they won’t be waking up at all after not so long “We smile under the coil all over again” -> Hamlet’s “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil” (Act III Scene I)”

WATER (A-39) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “Well, a song about drowning is a song about Ophelia. A line that stands out is “I was merely searching for a wish that did not come true” (叶わない願いをただ探していた) – which could represent Ophelia’s attitude towards Hamlet’s affection: she wishes they were true, but they turned out to be just a part of Hamlet’s plot. Also, “pressure, opposing currents, suffocation, dizziness” (圧力　対流　窒息　目眩) is a good description of her reaction to her father’s death: Polonius and Hamlet are the “opposing currents” pulling her apart and “pressuring” her in different ways, thus causing her to lose direction (“dizziness”) and start drowning (“suffocation”) long before she physically did”

Purple Verse (Hommarju) Associated with: Polonius Comments: “Polonius speaks in purple prose, but it’s verse instead of prose. Hence Purple Verse.”

I’ve Heard it Said (combatplayer) Associated with: Horatio Comments: “The song is very transient, and Horatio (as “Timekeeper”) is a transient character. Lyrics are also very fitting. “You know that it’s insane” -> direct commentary on Hamlet’s madness. “Before it takes you down” indicates Horatio’s understanding that Hamlet is descending and will eventually fall. “The universe is made up of stories” references Horatio’s role as the person who would be telling the story of the tragedy.”

Phantom (WF1/F-777) Associated with: Hamlet Sr. (the ghost) Comments: “Phantom” can mean “ghost”, “nightmare”, or “illusion”, and I think all three apply to Hamlet Sr. – he’s presented as a ghost, but Hamlet’s madness can be interpreted by some sort of terror/fear in response to his presence (like how one might react to a nightmare), while the ghost might not even be real (illusion). Also the pipe organ is an instrument that fits the religious implications of Hamlet Sr. and the play quite well.”

Out of your love (Exhaust Mix) (RANDO:) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “Ophelia is a character that should not be defined by Hamlet’s ‘love’ for her, hence ‘Out of your love’. Another line, ‘Heaven can fall’, references how her death is not honoured properly and how the ‘holiness debate’ of Hamlet’s and Claudius’s actions are largely irrelevant to her.”

Why do you hate me? (Camellia) Associated with: Polonius Comments: “Polonius does not appear to understand the gravity of his actions, and is somewhat confused when Hamlet and Gertrude express disdain towards him, hence ‘Why do you hate me?’. Also, the drum patterns, distorted vocal samples, and sound effects sound like endless rambling, and the last bit feels like him bleeding out after he is stabbed (sorry)”

Vicious Heroism - Traitor Version (Kobaryo) Associated with: Laertes Comments: “Laertes is obviously a hero with a vicious disposition who eventually betrayed Claudius. The song also contains a multitude of genre and key shifts, and is set at the very high BPM of 256 – this reflects how fast everything progressed since Laertes returned from France, and his internal turmoil over how to deal with the situation (the whole honour thing).”

lastendconductor (zts) Associated with: Horatio Comments: “This is the theme song of Battler Ushiromiya from the visual novel Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Battler and Horatio are parallel characters in that they are both survivors of tragic narratives that use storytelling as a coping mechanism for their shock, loss, and grief. “conductor” refers to how each of these characters direct the retellings of the “last end”, or the certainty of the deaths of essentially everyone else except themself. Also, the genre of trance and the texture of the violin vibe pretty well with Horatio.”

FLOWER (DJ YOSHITAKA) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “Apart from the direct association of Ophelia with flowers, I feel like Ophelia is suited for ‘retro’-style songs that have rising chords and reassuring melodies. I suppose this is more of a pre-canon Ophelia.”

RESSiSTANCE (ぐるたみん) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “I think this is another song that tells the story of the play from Hamlet’s perspective. ‘lovesong with the image of falsehood’ (嘘の様に、愛の歌を) describes his communication to Ophelia; ‘as I do not know whether the meaning of tomorrow will be taken away’ (明日の意味を奪われなどしらないから) expresses his existential dread (to be or not to be) and his indecision; ‘to jail the depths of my heart behind a lock’ (ココロの奥で鍵かけたいや) references his ‘acting’ and how his madness is of ambiguous ingenuity; ‘If the answer I desire does not lie here – merely this is sufficient reason to embark’ (望んだ答がここじゃないのなら/踏み出す理由はそれだけでいい) describes his rather long-winded journey to ascertain Claudius’s fratricide, via a play etc; ‘my struggling heartbeat is the proof of my breath’ (抗う鼓動が今呼吸への証だ) again fits with the ‘to be or not to be’ and his internal conflicts; ‘Even if the clock’s hands turn in reverse, I cannot return to yesterday’ (時計の針を巻き戻しても/昨日に戻れるわけじゃないから) is reminiscent of ‘for yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am, if, like a crab, you could go backward’, and shows despair at his newfound predicament Finally ‘Resistance’ can also refer to how Hamlet breaks the fourth wall and resists the narrative (in futility of course)”

ヘルツ" (Hertz) (zeryoone ft. nao) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “I feel like this song is post-canon Horatio, at a very old age, reminiscing Hamlet. Again, it’s a very liminal song. Key lyrics: “the day we bid farewell” (あの日にさよなら) – establishes the subject of the song being the day Hamlet died “ ‘the unchanging’ is quite beautiful” (“確かなもの”って/綺麗だと思ってた) – commentary on how quickly everything in the play happened “in your eyes, I saw reflected my bitter smile” (その目に映した僕は/上手く笑えやしなかった) – best Hamratio quote I’ve ever seen. (the literal meaning is more like ‘I was unable to smile properly’, hence a contorted, forced, or bitter smile) And I think the following bits don’t even need much explaining: “the conversations floating in space and the resigned answers both fade, frozen in wintry cold” (宙に浮かんだ会話も/苦し紛れの返事も/冬の寒さに凍えて/居場所を失くしたようだった) “I’ve long known your desires; I’ve also known why you didn’t cry” (もう分かっていた/涙なんて無くたって/分かっていた) “Why would this become merely a memory” (記憶になってしまうなんて) “Fear prevents me from releasing your hand from my grip” (僕は怖くなって放せない) “This is the last time; that is the last time” (もう最後だった/あれが最後だったんだ) “A tremendous force took you away” (巨大な力がきみだけ奪ってく) – the force of the narrative; “I cannot forgive this world, about to resurrect itself” (生まれ変わろうとする世界がただ/赦せなかった) – Fortinbras; “I touch the transparent you” (透明なきみに触れていたんだ) “Both my grief and my regret faded on the night of hope” (僕の愁いや後悔も/消え去ってしまえと願う夜を) “on the day we bid farewell, I’ll tell you, I’ve forgotten you” (あの日にさよなら/言って/きみを忘れていく)”

Alea jacta est! (BlackY and WAiKURO) Associated with: Hamlet and Laertes Comments: “Yes, the title refences “iacta alea est” (“the die is cast” = “we are past the point of no return”) supposedly said by Julius Caesar as he led his army across the Rubicon to start the civil war. Thus this song is about Hamlet and Laertes’s duel. (The song’s MV also features two people duelling.) I feel like this sort of ‘jazzy trancecore’ genre also captures the duel’s vibe pretty well.”

しう" (SIU) (MARETU) Associated with: Laertes Comments: “This song discusses Laertes as a ‘rallier of the people’. Specific relevant lines include “an overflowing anti-affluence sentiment” (あふるる反富裕), “life and the world are merely such, huh?” (限界だろう？人間界は), “give compassion to the plebeian sacrificers” (最低の犠牲者に愛を) Also, “give termination to the slaves of hope” (願望の奴隷に終いを) feels like foreshadowing to the duel.”

こちら、幸福安心委員会です。(This is the council of happiness and contentment.) (UtataP) Associated with: Claudius Comments: “This song describes a dystopian society where people are required to be happy – or they will be executed in excessively cruel ways. As such, this is a darker interpretation of Claudius’s reign – why is everyone so content under him? The answer is that any dissenters were executed, much like Hamlet was intended to be.”

Löschen (BlackY and Risa Yuzuki) Associated with: Hamlet and Laertes Comments: “I feel like this is another song that depicts Hamlet and Laertes’s duel. “To reveal my voice with raspy words” (錆びた声で吐き出して) – the pre-duel sort-of-confession-and-reconciliation scene; “One-sided justice manifests in my fleeting thoughts; I have continued to make choices untrue to myself” (片側だけの正義/横切る影に立ち　不自由選び続けてた) – apart from what is essentially a Polonius reference, this shows how both Hamlet and Laertes are unable to comprehend the entirety of the situation and have little free will in their fates “Facing the unobscured you, I wish this nameless view will last forever” (隠せない方を背に/名前のない景色　終わらないでと待ち続けた) – again, they are both relieved that the other is being honest and vulnerable to a certain extent There are also a few self-evident lines: “If forgiveness is as cruel as harmony, I have already made my decision” (赦されること　それが無慈悲な調和と等しいのなら、/答え遂げて) “Under the exploits of “pain”, we keep hurting each other” (悼みという名のもとに/繰り返し傷つけあう)”

Uprooted, Marooned (Memoryheads (Frums & Silentroom)) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “Highly experimental, almost nonsensical style that ends with intense static ambiance – I feel like this is more of RosGuil in R&G are Dead than in Hamlet itself. I don’t feel like this is the type of song I can explain with words.”

彁 (Ka) (LeaF) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “彁 does not actually exist as a kanji or a hanzi – it is a Unicode ‘ghost character’ caused by an error in digitalising and cataloguing kanji. Thus the song denotes the perceived existence of things that don’t actually exist, which is again RosGuil’s lives. This song also ends in static, which is the execution scene, of course.”

Mutiny (F-777) Associated with: Laertes Comments: “Laertes and his revolution, of course. The strong kicks are his vibe.”

miragecoordinator (zts) Associated with: Gertrude Comments: “I’d say this track is a sinister interpretation of Gertrude, in which she is an accomplice in Claudius’s schemes. “Mirage coordinator” indicates that she is helping Claudius put up the illusion of everything being well in Denmark and cover up the fratricide. Also, the song’s chant samples and dissonant melodies give a sinister vibe overall.”

ÅMARA(大未来電脳) (Amaracus, computer of the grand future) (sasakure.UK) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “Okay, disclaimer, I don’t even comprehend much of this song’s lyrics, but I think it represents Hamlet’s messed-up mind and “infinite space” pretty well. Some bits that I can understand: “Truth or fabrication – no one knows what the future will be” (現実か虚構か、誰にもその先は解らない) – uncertainty, indecision “Even the name of the person who poems are waiting for has been forgotten” (詩が待つ彼の名も忘れて) – something about Hamlet being a poet and slowly losing his identity throughout the play “From the corridor where the poison of dreams is spat out, to the fracturing of the celebration of resurrection – dwell in heaven, in this night!” (夢の毒吐く回廊/再生の祝祭が千切れるまで/天国を這う、夜に！) – I suppose “poison of dreams” can refer to how Hamlet died and “good night, sweet prince”, and the rest is religious imagery about how Hamlet and the people he killed would all end up in purgatory rather than heaven”

Tie me down gently (溝口ゆうま feat. 大瀬良あい) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Another song of Horatio towards Hamlet. I interpret the title to be Horatio recognising and accepting that Hamlet is “tying him down” – i.e. binding him into the tragedy. Especially relevant lyrics: “If these dreams are so sweet, let me never awaken” (甘い甘い夢ならば覚めないでよ) – an extension of “good night, sweet prince” “This city is threatening whenever, and there is nowhere to run” (街はいつも時間に怯えて逃れる場所は何処にも無い) – Elsinore as a dangerous prison “Merely our distance fills me with dread” (君との距離ですら不安になってくる) – self-explanatory “Slave becomes a knight” – multi-layered meaning in this one. Although Hamlet is of a higher social class than Horatio, he often refers to himself with phrases like ‘a rogue and peasant slave’. Horatio may be considered the archetypal ‘knight by a prince’ character. From all this we get the sense that Hamlet and Horatio are truly inseparable and even not distinguishable at some points. “Even though I am so weak, I remain by your side to show you love, love, love” (弱い弱い僕だけど君の傍で Show you love, love, love) – also self-explanatory.”

Vital (Masaaki Endō) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “This is actually the OP of the anime “Angels of Death”, but I feel like it also describes Hamlet right after his meeting with the ghost. This is a relatively more noble and less sinister interpretation of the play. “Locked fabrications and the sacrificed future” (鍵をかけた虚構と/捨てられた未来が) – expresses determination despite uncertainty “boring words and obscured fates adorn the cold knife with rationale” (下らない言葉と/正体不明の運命か/冷えたナイフに理由を付着ていく) – Hamlet knows what he’s doing and why he’s doing it “If woe befalls me too much, I will slice it into pieces” (何万と積もった懸念を/線状に切り裂いていく) – again, determination “Uncertain resolve, pure prayers, honest words – promise to forgive none” (逡巡なこの心を/純粋な祈りを/単純な言葉のまま/誓う誰が赦さなくとも) – I guess this is pretty self-evident”

Nyarlathotep's Dreamland (Raimukun) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “A representation of Hamlet’s so-called “infinite space”, which is surreal and perhaps eldritch in nature.”

Random (Silentroom) Associated with: Polonius Comments: “Polonius will say the most random shit ever in the most random tone, pitch, and cadence ever, just to keep rambling. This is represented pretty well in the song.”

キミとボクへの葬送歌 (A Requiem to You and Me) (ROKINA) Associated with: Hamlet and Laertes Comments: “Simply a representation of how Hamlet and Laertes both die in the duel. The descending chords further manifest the tragedy.”

Ultimatecalifragilisticexpialidocious (t+pazolite) Associated with: Polonius Comments: “Polonius would definitely pick one of the longest words in the language (supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) and make it EVEN LONGER. Bless that old man.”

The Survivor (Taishi) Associated with: Horatio Comments: “What else is Horatio if not The Survivor? Again, trance vibes with Horatio pretty well. The song somehow manages to stay calm with a bunch of chainsaw kicks, which is essentially Horatio lowkey downplaying Hamlet’s murders.”

狂言綺語 (False Embellishment) (影虎。& ikaruga_nex) Associated with: Polonius Comments: ““False Embellishment” is essentially gaslighting with fancy words, which is one of the most Polonius things ever. This song also has a lot of distorted vocal samples throughout – a.k.a. rambling. Finally, the melody is definitely something a stuck-up, fancy noble would listen to.”

Now Is The Time, Do It (Roy Mikelate) Associated with: Hamlet Sr. (the ghost) Comments: “Hardstyle song with a bunch of vocal samples from a horror game is definitely Hamlet Sr.’s vibe as a ghost. The title fits his presence when Hamlet is in Gertrude’s room – he is urging Hamlet to kill Claudius right then.”

F1055 (Silentroom) Associated with: Polonius Comments: “Irregular rhythm, dissonant melody, heavy psy kicks and reverb – definitely the vibe of Polonius’s droning. The title is a convoluted version of the word “flow”, which fits both Polonius speaking in needlessly convoluted phrasing and his speech flowing on.”

Promising Light (Iron & Wine, The Creek Drank the Cradle) Associated with: Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “This song feels like it's about Hamlet realizing and admitting to his mistakes (and hopefully making up with Ophelia).

White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes) Associated with: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Comments: “This song feels like the end of RAGAD. Man... they're just going along with what they're being told and it always ends the same :(”

Blood // Water (grandson) Associated with: Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonius; Hamlet, Laertes, and Ophelia Comments: “"The price of your greed is your son and your daughter, what you gon' do when there's blood in the water?" These kids deserve a chance to call out their parents for not doing something more to stop this tragedy!”

tous les mêmes (Stromae) Associated with: Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “This feels like an over-the-top Hamlet & Ophelia argument (possibly performed for Polonius and Claudius to throw them off Hamlet’s trail- he’s gone mad over a lover’s quarrel, not because he knows about the murder of Hamlet Sr.)”

A Great Design (Black Marble, A Different Arrangement) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “vibes. also, the song talks about "a great design", which I think fits the themes of Hamlet as it also says "we don't have a long time, a great design." This relates to Hamlet, I think, because there seems to be a plan afoot, even if it is only the hand of the author, dictating this must be a tragedy. Therefore, Hamlet is doomed to tragedy and I think this song expresses that.”

Haunt You (X Lovers feat. Chloe Moriondo) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “In the song the singer talks about how someday when he dies, and turns into a ghost, he's going to come back to haunt the other person, because he doesn't want anyone else to have them. "Can't picture my life without you by my side... can't let you go... never let you go..." If this isn't Hamlet to Horatio, I don't know what is.”

Fourth of July (Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “vibes. Also, it talks about an evil that spread and a celebration and how we're all going to die. It also talks about someone dying, and how everything was fiction and prediction. To me, it's about Hamlet and the end of his life.”

Bad Decisions (The Strokes) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “vibes. Also, Hamlet makes a lot of bad decisions, and it shows how sometimes he can be harsh with Horatio, and I think it sums up their relationship pretty well.”

Everybody Just Wants To (Johnny Goth) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “The song talks about "playing pretend" like Hamlet does and asks "when will it end" and I think the song is ultimately about death, which is something Hamlet is fixated on. also, vibes”

christian death (Ekkstacy) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “The song is about suicide, and wanting to commit it, wanting to rip other people to shreds and losing perspective on other people. It's about despair and desperation and being stuck, which I think resonates with Hamlet.”

We’ll Be Together (In Love With A Ghost) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “The song itself has no lyrics, but I think the title says it all. If you look at it from a Hamlet perspective, the song is about Hamlet and Horatio wanting so bad to be together, then vowing that someday they'll be togther after death. They'll find each other, no matter what.”

Barking Dog (Dizzy) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Just... listen to the lyrics. I can't decide if it's from Hamlet's or Horatio's perspective, I think it's Hamlet, but it's about pain and letting go and how love can't take the pain away. "We're bound by blood and gore...", "darkness reaps what darkness sows"... agh it makes me wanna cry”

Why Am I Like This? (Orla Gartland) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “The whole song is questioning why the singer has to be this way, why she can't change. It talks about her coming across everyday sadness and regretting not helping, and that just... reminds me of him. It talks about never being in the moment, going out to shout the words we never said, and how those words are stuck on a loop inside her head. It's an angry song at times, the singer is clearly angry at herself for the way she is, but equally frustrated that she can't change. It questions everything, questions others' love for her, questions her own soul, and it's just... Hamlet. To me.”

Love Like Ghosts (Lord Huron, Strange Trails) Associated with: Hamlet and Ophelia Comments: “Ophelia and hamlet song, song about love and ghosts. they have tenuous relationships with both.”

Hello My Old Heart (The Oh Hellos, Oh. Hello.) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “the sound/vibes”

Meet Me in the Woods (Lord Huron, Strange Trails) Associated with: Hamlet; Ophelia Comments: “hamlet goes to horatio and talks about seeing his ghost dad”; “ophelia madness song”

Seneca (Novo Amor) Associated with: Horatio Comments: “vibes... there's a sadness to it, a sense of what could've been, but also pride in the love they've had. "I can make it all feel far away..." Horatio wants to take Hamlet's pain away, but he knows it's not that simple, and even if it were, Hamlet wouldn't listen. "Ain't it funny how we went nowhere?" Horatio is talking about how they pushed and pushed, but stayed in the same place... no real closure, no real revenge that could be celebrated, just more dead bodies.”

What A Heavenly Way To Die (Troye Silvan, I’m Not Afraid Anymore) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “horatio in love with hamlet, but i feel like he knows the play can only end in tradedy”

Planets and Stars (PAVVLA) Associated with: Ophelia Comments: “vibes”

Light (Sleeping At Last) Associated with: Hamlet and Horatio Comments: “Horatio song for hamlets death again. horatio sings this to hamlet as hes dying, again hes crying, and hoping that hamlet can go to heaven, even if he knows that is imposible with what hamlet has done. he still hopes. he has to. hes broken by hamlets death but he loves him and need hamlet to know that. he hopes hamlet hears him. he hopes its not too late.”

Haunted (Laura Les) Associated with: Hamlet Comments: “This song is very much a Hamlet kind of losing it a bit: "I've been up for three days, everything is haunted, everyone is evil and there's bugs inside the carpet". Like, him losing perspective on who he is and who the villain is and I don't think he was sleeping much either.”

Upward Over the Mountain (Iron & Wine, The Creek Drank The Cradle) Associated with: Hamlet and Gertrude Comments: “Hamlet looks back on his relationship with his mother just before he dies. "Mother don't worry, I killed the last snake that lived in the creek bed" is a GREAT line about Claudius' death and the rest of the song feels like a retrospective on Hamlet's friendships, relationships, birth, and death. The singer compares himself to a bird (like Hamlet's "fall of a sparrow" line!) and talks about flying "upward over the mountain," perhaps hanging on to dreams of going to heaven.”

Macbeth:

Rattlesnake (Kabaret Sybarit, The Poodle) Associated with: Lady Macbeth Comments: “THIS IS HER SONG. IT'S HERS! completely by coincidence, the whole plot of the play is there and i love it.”

Notos (The Oh Hellos, Notos EP) Associated with: Malcolm Comments: “it has the vibe. maybe post-canon or act 5 specifically?”

Miss Macbeth (Elvis Costello, Spike) Associated with: Lady Macbeth Comments: “Once again. Just. Just look at the title for a second”

Shia LaBeouf Live (Rob Cantor, single) Associated with: The whole show Comments: “I was in Macbeth and we were all super normal about this song and it was a cast in joke”

Thus Always to Tyrants (The Oh Hellos, Dear Wormwood) Associated with: Macduff and Lady Macduff Comments: “I picture these lyrics as their separate thought processes as they say goodbye for the last time (not aware it's the last, of course) through the end of the play.”

Caesar (The Oh Hellos, Dear Wormwood) Associated with: Malcolm Comments: “This is how I picture Malcolm's coronation going down. It's bittersweet but has an air of power about it and takes place in the early springtime ("feel how the winter succumbs to the spring"). I imagine Macduff is the speaker here, ordering the Thanes (now Earls) and soldiers to gather and watch the heir be crowned. Malcolm ignores his uncertainty and takes the crown.”

I Will Survive (Cake, Fashion Nugget) Associated with: Lady Macduff Comments: “She *won't* survive, but I think she'd like this song after getting abandoned by Macduff.”

Romeo and Juliet:

Rose (The Oh Hellos, Boreas) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “this has a little bit of romance, a little bit of existentialism, and a little bit of everyone else watching this teenage shitshow play out. (and it's also a great song, when taking for its metaphorical meaning, about oppression by christian nationalists)”

Things We Lost in the Fire (Bastille, All This Bad Blood) Associated with: Benvolio Comments: “i just,,,, he lost a lot of things yk? not in a fire necessarily but still i personally think romeo and juliet is very dumpster fire core”

The Diver (Bastille, VS (Other People’s Heartache Part III)) Associated with: Mercutio Comments: “A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSESSSSS ^ legitimately one of the lyrics”

Kill the Director (The Wombats, A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation) Associated with: Romeo Comments: “this reminds me of when romeo falls in love with rosaline and/or juliet haha the irony is that it is not a romcom as matthew 'murph' murphy says”

Johanna (Sweeney Todd 2012) Associated with: Romeo Comments: “you have captured a theatre kid congrats anyways this song is romeocore to me. no clue why”

I’ll Follow You Into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “listen to the song. you'll get it. basically it's "if you die i'm following you"

Creep (Radiohead) Associated with: Romeo Comments: “This is what I imagine Romeo singing/screaming in the woods at the start of the play after his pseudo-breakup with Rosaline. Like I like to think Benvolio hears SHEEEE RUNNNSS OUT THE DOOOOOOOOOOR in the distance and is like "oh there he goes"

Kiss Me (Sixpence None The Richer, Songs of Love & Romance) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “This song feels like what Romeo and Juliet's relationship feels like to me. Like it's secretive and sweet and there's that lovely emphasis on the safety of night and it's like awwww man”

Time In A Bottle (Jim Croce) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “it's a beautiful and melancholic song about loving someone deeply but not being able to spend enough time with them due to the fact that you aren't gonna be around with them forever....hey I can think of two zany teens who love each other and then get very little time together before their demise! It just really feels right. Also a lovely song in general.”

The Bitch Is Back (Elton John) Associated with: Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio Comments: “They are ALL the Bitch that is BACK”

A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton, Be not Nobody) Associated with: Romeo Comments: “he loves kinda crappy love poems and he thinks this is THE most romantic song of all times, BAR NONE.“

Come To My Window (Melissa Etheridge, Yes I Am Melissa) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “This song is just the balcony scene, and I think it captures the kinda cheery sweet energy of Romeo and Juliet's whole relationship”

Heart Of Glass (Blondie, Parallel Lines) Associated with: Romeo Comments: “it's a song about feeling a lot of feelings over love and being kinda led around by it, for better and for worse! That sounds a lot like my guy Romeo in my mind. It also just feels like a song he would like”

Wonderwall (Oasis, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?) Associated with: Romeo Comments: “Romeo is kinda annoying/enough into art and poetry that I think he is 100% one of those guys who starts learnign guitar and brings it around when he hangs out with his friends and is like "hey guys look what I learned to play" and then he plays wonderwall (a song he finds VERY romantic)”

War (Edwin Starr, War & Peace) Associated with: The Capulets and the Montagues Comments: “A GREAT song about how war and violence SUCKS and ends up harming people senselessly with no benefit to the actual people. That sounds a bit like my favorite sensless feud between two households, both alike in dignity...”

On My Own (Les Misérables) Associated with: Romeo (about Rosaline) Comments: “This is what Romeo is doing before he makes his first appearance in the play. Dramatic little bitch.”

See You Again (Tyler, The Creator feat. Kali Uchis, Flower Boy) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “Romeo goes bonkers about Juliet while she "prepares" for her wedding to Paris”

make me wanna die (lovelytheband, if we’re being honest) Associated with: Romeo and Juliet Comments: “I think the song is written about them, but I think it's a modern rendition with flawed protagonists. They both have mental health issues and modern problems, but they still love each other despite it and somehow it's a strange dependence that seems to fixate on death and seems to spiral towards its inevitable end.”

Othello:

Chemical Overreaction / Compound Fracture (Will Wood and the Tapeworms, Everything is a Lot) Associated with: Othello Comments: “it's a hard song to read but it's all about ANGER and VIOLENCE and OOOOH KILL KILL FIGHT which is like Othellocore, not to mention Othello has always given spaghetti western vibes to me (don't ask me) so this is fits for me :)”

Julius Caesar:

Little Dark Age (MGMT) Associated with: The whole show Comments: “The death of the republic as the death of an already rotting corpse. The cospirators kill Caesar as if he was a parasite poisoning the body of the state. Little do they know that the venom has already infected everything. I see it almost a a background song for scheming/preparing for the war.”

Exit Music (For A Film) (Radiohead) Associated with: The whole show Comments: “After the assassination. Cospirators red with blood, Anthony enters the scene (breathe keep breathing, dont loose your nerve) he fakes civility, he gives them his hands, staining them with blood. Brutus convinces Cassius to keep him alive. Then Anthony is alone. At the crescendo he breaks on Caesar's corpse”

Cassius (Foals) Associated with: Cassius Comments: “Nothing too philosophical it's very Cassius core”

Love It Dissipates (Mother Mother) Associated with: Brutus and Cassius Comments: “After the fight in the tent scene. Almost a lullaby for codepending love. Yes you're everything to me, but you're also all the things that poison me. I'd be your anything, baby. The frame to your picture, the pain to your wound. I'd give my heart too to you”

Brutus (The Buttress) Associated with: Brutus Comments: “Uh. Trans Brutus??? (“What’s more wrong, that I too wish to be great or my mother wished she’d had a son?”) Also, great use of a Macbeth line.”

King Lear:

I’m Not That Guy (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) Associated with: Edmund Comments: “Idk man the. The vibes. Not all of it fits but that sure is him. Yeah.”

my tears ricochet (Taylor Swift) Associated with: Cordelia Comments: “hands down”

Comedies:

Twelfth Night:

Never Love an Anchor (The Crane Wives, Coyote Stories) Associated with: Antonio and Sebastian Comments: “Ocean theme! "Unrequited" love angst! I think this is the song that a modern Antonio would listen to on his way home from Sebastian's wedding. (And then Olivia hopefully realizes that she's actually in love with Viola and Seb and Antonio get their happily ever after a few months later)” “HI DIANTHUS putting this here bc of your post! 10000/10 fully agree also ive seen people apply this song to multiple ships on tumblr when i was looking this song up which is great. amazing. let’s keep doing this! (which makes sense bc. anchor… ship…. hey i am normal.) also i am p sure someone has already submitted this here! hi!”

Community Gardens (The Scary Jokes, BURN PYGMALION!!! A Better Guide To Romance) Associated with: Viola Comments: “its giving make me a willow cabin at your gate TONS, also it's so cute and I feel like it's got the kind of edge that I just KNOW Viola has”

Cloud 9 (Beach Bunny) Associated with: Viola Comments: None

True Trans Soul Rebel (Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues) Associated with: Viola Comments: None

Much Ado About Nothing:

Hello, Goodbye (The Beatles, Greatest Hits) Associated with: Benedick and Beatrice Comments: “This is their entire relationship.”

Champagne (Machinery of the Human Heart) Associated with: Benedick and Beatrice Comments: “Song is about being in love and hating it hating love and that you love and ooough”

Sweet Talk (Saint Motel) Associated with: Benedick and Beatrice Comments: “THE benedick Beatrice song”

She Wants Me (To Be Loved) (The Happy Fits) Associated with: Benedick Comments: “After he is tricked into believing that Beatrice loves him. Sue me.”

I Want You To Want Me (Letters to Cleo, 10 Things I Hate About You) Associated with: Benedick and Beatrice Comments: “This song is playful and teasing and both Benedick and Beatrice definitely DO want the other person to want them. It just feels right man”

Barracuda (Glee cover) Associated with: The whole show Comments: “It just fits lol”

say no to drugs (lovelytheband, if we’re being honest) Associated with: Benedick Comments: “I see the song as being from Benedick's perspective. He is lamenting how people always taught him the things to watch out for, but never warned him about falling in love, which I think fits his actual arc in the play where he unexpectedly falls in love and finds it "strange.”

Over You (HOLYCHILD, The Theatrical Death of Julie Delicious) Associated with: Beatrice, Benedick, and Hero Comments: “This song to me, is so like Beatrice talking about herself "I'm a bitch, modern witch, student in the failure of love" and then about Hero "if it's done, he's not the one" and then Benedick "do you know what your love meant to me" (because I think it's implied that Beatrice and Benedick were together briefly before the events of the play). "I'm so hopeless and over you, want you to know it too" is SO Beatrice talking about Benedick about their "merry war" of words.”

The Taming of the Shrew:

Tongues and Teeth (The Crane Wives, The Fool in Her Wedding Gown) Associated with: Katherina Comments: “I mean cmon. cmon. cmon. cmon.”

Measure for Measure:

Ribs (The Crane Wives, Foxlore) Associated with: Isabella and Juliet Comments: “Fuck men sometimes, man...”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

Rude (MAGIC!, Don’t Kill The Magic) Associated with: The whole show Comments: None

Trolius and Cressida:

Achilles (Dhimira) Associated with: Achilles and Patroclus Comments: “Well the song is named after Achilles and I think it's already about Achilles and Patroclus without me analyzing it, but basically it's about Patroclus' death, and about how Patroclus and Achilles will follow each other anywhere.”

HYACINTHUS (Aidoneus) Associated with: Achilles and Patroclus Comments: “This song is supposed to be about Apollo and Hyacinthus, but I feel like it applies to Achilles and Patroclus too. "See how flowers grow beneath where your head once lay... they are crying for you still". Essentially, Achilles mourning Patroclus' death towards the end of the play.”

Histories:

Henry VI:

The Night We Met (Lord Huron) Associated with: Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI Comments: “— but not really as it doesn’t fit their Shakespearean characterisation at all! It’s a Margaret who really actually loved Henry panicking after everything begins to go to shit in the early 1450s :)”

Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2):

Down the River (The Crane Wives, Foxlore) Associated with: Prince Hal, Henry IV, Falstaff Comments: “this sounds like a Henry IV lecture to Hal in song form (also, Falstaff at the end of part 2???)”

Romances:

The Tempest:

Part of Your World (The Little Mermaid) Associated with: Miranda Comments: “sighs. Look it's just the vibes. It's like if Miranda was a fish lady.”

Lost! (The Lightning Thief) Associated with: The Tempest Act 2, Scene 1 Comments: “Group of dumbass men who have no idea what's going on and at least half of them qualify for every national parks discount”

Other:

Comedy, Tragedy, History (Akala, Freedom Lasso) Associated with: The entire Shakespearean canon Comments: “It’s a song that’s trying very hard to name every shakespeare play and it does a pretty good job at it”

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