Songs of The Handmaids Tale

What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish
(https://youtu.be/cW8VLC9nnTo?si=G_s9hHk9vsN-npZd)

Lyric: “I used to float, now I just fall down”

Quote: “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure,… Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed… I see despair coming towards me like famine.” (page 74)

The song expresses a sense of emptiness about identity, and this quote reflects this idea of a loss of recognition. Offred reflects on how she lost control of her body and how she no longer exists for herself, but for her reproductive system. Both the song and this quote shows the feeling of being disconnected from her true self. Offred’s sense of self has been replaced by her societal role, just like the lyrics she’s questioning her worth beyond what others expect from her. There is an emotional pain that comes from being defined by external forces.

Freedom by Beyoncé (https://youtu.be/7FWF9375hUA?si=BoR7MafCvkoszkMa)

Lyric: “Imma keep running, cause a winner don’t quit on themselves”

Quote: “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. (Don’t let the bastards grind you down.)” (page 52)

This quote is a latin phrase carved into Offred’s room and this becomes a source of strength for her. The lyric and the quote express determination to keep fighting despite being trapped in oppression. For Offred the carving represents hope and the strength to resist Gilead’s control over her body, similarly to Beyonce’s lyric emphasizing the empowerment of fighting through the struggle. Both show that to get freedom, you can’t give up hope and spirit, even if you’re not physically free yet.

Bad Religion by Frank Ocean
(https://youtu.be/JMpypbtrcCg?si=5JF5lAlPrJhCORAx)

Lyric: “Its a bad religion to be in love with someone who could never love you”

Quote: “I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance.” (page 39)

Frank Ocean sings about needing hope or faith to survive heartbreak. Offred is very similar in the way that she relies on belief as a survival mechanism. She tries to convince herself that her suffering is just a story, to try and hold on to the little hope she has left. Frank Ocean turns to religion for comfort to cope with unreturned love and emotional pain. Between both, faith becomes a form of hope, it offers them temporary relief, but also reveals how powerless and lonely they are.

TV by Billie Eilish (https://youtu.be/_JGGLJMpVks?si=-cIEleova_dyB95g)

Lyric: “The internet’s gone wild watching movie stars on trial, while they’re overturning Roe v. Wade”

Quote: “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print.” (page 57)

This lyric shows how society loses focus on women’s struggles and rights, but instead pays attention to celebrity drama. In Gilead women have no control over their own body and have been completely erased in a sense. Both highlight how choosing not to pay attention allows oppression to happen and to continue to grow. The book and the song emphasize the primary idea that silence can be just as harmful as the system of control.

Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé
(https://youtu.be/LXXQLa-5n5w?si=yqNaAu2w7B28l-eS)

Lyric: “Perfection is the disease of a nation”

Quote: “My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated… I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it.” (page 63)

Women are stripped of their individuality and identity and forced to reach unattainable standards of appearance or roles, and defined by how well they “perform”. Just like the lyrics reveal about the world we live in, Gilead reduces women to objects of appearance and function rather than humans with feelings or freedom. The women in the book are important solely for their fertility, Gilead enforces control over women’s bodies similarly to how society takes control over women’s beauty. Both emphasize the idea the patriarchal power wants to define a woman’s worth through their physical appearance or function.