Romanticism soundtrack - We Are Golden, We Are Not

We Are Golden, We Are NotThe soundtrack is meant to start off quick-paced and optimistic, and then it slows down into more peaceful and thoughtful songs, and then the paces quickens once more near the end. The themes focus, mainly, on how one lets other people affect them -- whether they let someone else build them up or tear them down. I chose

songs that elicit emotional responses from me specifically in hopes that they’ll have the same effects on anyone else who listens.

By: Hannah Discenza

We Are Golden by MikaI was a boy at an open doorWhy you staringDo you still think that you know?Looking for treasureIn the things that you threwLike a magpieI live for glitter, not you

We are not what you think we areWe are golden, we are goldenWe are not what you think we areWe are golden, we are golden

Teenage dreams in a teenage circusRunning around like a clown on purposeWho gives a damn about the family you come from?No giving up when you’re young and you want some

It glorifies how the only thing that matters about someone is who they are, not what others think of them or where they’re from.

Transcendentalism: non-conformity

Make Them Gold by CHVRCHESWe are made of our longest daysWe are falling but not aloneWe will take the best parts of ourselvesAnd make them gold

We are made of our smallest thoughtsWe are breathing and letting goWe will take the best parts of ourselvesAnd make them gold

It’s a song about taking the most unique parts of oneself and glorifying them.

Transcendentalism: non-conformity

Looks Like Rain by Passion PitAll the rivers are bendingAnd the mountains are peakingAnd the flowers are bloomingAnd the meadows are rollingInto waves, they wash up on the shoreAnd barely touch your toesThe clouds are crowding around usFor some reason, no one knows

And I said, "Hey, looks like rain"Then you lifted your hands and prayed"Go away, you can come back some other day"But they stayed and you soaked under all of the greyAnd the rain washed all our cries and pleas away

He uses aspects of nature to describe the beauty of him and his relationship to whomever the song is about, and then he uses the aspects of nature to describe how its no longer beautiful.

Transcendentalism: Nature

Landslide by Fleetwood MacI took my love and took it downI climbed a mountain and I turned aroundAnd I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hillsTill the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?Can the child within my heart rise above?Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Stevie Nicks sings about how nature inspired her to think about the changes in her life.

Transcendentalism: Nature

The Way by FastballThey made up their minds And they started packing They left before the sun came up that day An exit to eternal summer slacking But where were they going without ever Knowing the way?

They drank up the wine And they got to talking They now had more important things to say And when the car broke down they started walking Where were they going without ever Knowing the way?

The song is about two people who up and leave their lives behind without thinking of the consequences it’d have on them or the people around them.

Transcendentalism: Intuition over reason

Lampshades on Fire by Modest MouseWell, the lampshade’s on fire when the lights go outThe room lit up and we ran aboutWell, this is what I really call a party nowPacked up our cars, moved to the next town

Well, the lampshades’s on fire when the lights go outThis is what I really call a party nowWell, fear makes us really, really run aroundThis one’s done so where to now?

Our eyes light up, we have no shame at allWell you all know what I’m talking’ aboutShaved off my eyebrows when I fall to the groundSo I can’t look surprised right now

Pack up again, head to the next placeWhere we'll make the same mistakesBurn it up, or just chop it downAh, this one's done so where to now?

This song describes people who keep running from their mistakes and themselves; it’s also a song about reckless abandon.

Transcendentalism: Intuition over reason

Black Dog by Andrew Jackson Jihad

Black dog I see

Daily, nightly

Monthly, yearly

Sweetly, dearly

She says

"when you pat me I feel neatly

Rub my paws please, scratch my belly”

In the evening I try songwriting

I'm self loathing, but I love singing

I'll try escaping these evil feelings

But they keep coming, oh they keep

coming...

The song is about two things: one of them being how the narrator relies on someone else for emotional stability, and the other being how much the narrator can’t seem to escape his negative thoughts and feelings when not around the person he relies on so much.

Dark Romanticism: guilt, fear, loneliness

O My Heart by Mother MotherOh my heart, it's a fish out of waterOh my heart, it's a fish on the rocksand it bakes in the bad sun

Oh my heart, it's a rock in the gutterOh my heart, it's a rock and great boulder and stuck in the gutter

And I throw my heart back to the oceanBut it don't go far, it come back floatingAnd I watch it wash it up with the dead fish

But it ain't quite dead, it just is like this

The singer is singing about how he’s self-loathing and how his heart has died over the years from all the negative feelings he feels, like guilt and loneliness and hatred.

Dark Romanticism: guilt, fear, loneliness

Victorious by Panic! At The DiscoDouble bubble disco queen headed to the guillotineSkin as cool as Steve McQueen, let me be your killer kingIt hurts until it stops, we will love until it’s notI’m a killing spree in white, eyes like broken Christmas lights

My touch is black and poisonousAnd nothing like my punch-drunk kissI know you need it, do you feel itDrink the water, drink the wine

The song celebrates the acceptance of the singer’s self-destruction and the way he influences other people to the same self-destructive fate.

Dark Romanticism: sin and self-destruction

Heartilation by Andrew Jackson Jihad

I wanna tear apart my heartGlue the pieces to my carCrash it into a wallI don't wanna feel at allI wanna break apart my heart

Douse it in gasoline'till the fire burns cleanThen flick a cigaretteLike that movie con-airDoused in gasoline

The entire song is about the singer’s self-loathing and how he wants to destroy his own heart and himself so he can stop feeling those things.

Dark Romanticism: sin and self-destruction