"The Handmaid's Tale Told Through Music

The Way Things Go- Beabadobee

This song describes Luke and Offred’s marriage during the start of Gilead in many ways. For example, names are very important in The Handmaid’s Tale. Throughout the story, we learn about many small things from Offred’s life before Gilead, that she took for granted, such as her name. The readers do not know her real name yet, but Luke’s name is known. Something that can be viewed as insignificant, like your name, is being taken away from women in this society, but lots of men have not lost this privilege. This song also relates a lot to Offred’s flashbacks, like the lyric “There’s too much on my mind.” The narrator’s mind wanders a lot, and this is how she tells her story, on her own terms. The lyric “There’s so much left to say” relates to her feelings towards Luke, because they didn’t choose to end their relationship, yet it ended so abruptly, and she didn’t get to say everything that she wanted to say to him. She sometimes catches herself referring to him in past tense, and corrects herself, because to her, he is still real, and such a large part of her life. For example, after her moment with Nick, she thinks to herself that Luke would understand, because he is still constantly on her mind. Throughout this song, the artist Beabadoobee sings about toxic relationships she has had, where when she was in them, she thought this was the norm. During her flashback to when Luke tries to reassure her when she was fired and lost her economic freedom, he says to her on page 179, “You know I’ll always take care of you.” This moment connects to the lyric and common phrase “I guess that’s just the way things go,” because he implies this, because he can’t change it, but he can say what he thinks he is supposed to say to comfort her.

Lyric Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAzq1kS7Euc

Space Song- Beach House

When Luke and Offred are trying to escape with their daughter, they are driving toward their new life. The slow, calming nature of this song fits this moment perfectly, because it is what the two of them need. The anxiety is so high because they don’t know what’s going to happen, but they have left their entire life behind. This song focuses on the connection that two people feel. The lyrics “You held on tight// I’m on your side,” are perfect for this moment, because they know at this moment they only have each other, because they can’t trust others. Even with all of this uncertainty, they both choose to escape together. They don’t truly understand Gilead yet, because it is so new, which reminded me of the lyric “What makes this fragile world go round.” Throughout this entire story, there is so much confusion, and that forces the reader to ask themselves, why is Gilead like this? And what are the similarities with our current society?

Lyric Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDv_oMJXZow

Spring- Antonio Vivaldi

While this classical song doesn’t have any lyrics, the title, and the high paced mood connects to the motif of gardens, which I think represents motherhood. Tending and maintaining the garden consistently can be interpreted as watching out for your child and always being there for them. However, this choice has been taken away from Offred. During her flashback on page 12 of her own garden after she first witnessed Serena Joy’s, she describes “Time could pass more swiftly that way.”: Is she really talking about the garden? Having a garden used to be so normal, she can’t have anything that’s hers. Her garden used to be hers, just like her daughter, but her daughter doesn’t even remember her anymore. This is shown when Serena Joy secretly gave her a picture, she says, “It (time) has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand…Still, I can’t bear it, to have been erased like that.” (page 228) Finally, the fact that this song is not performed by one instrument, but by an orchestra, relates to her strong relationship with her daughter, and how before it was not one-sided.

Link to Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3nSvIiBNFo

Think Fast: Dominic Fike (ft. Weezer)

Throughout the novel, there is a recurring theme of indoctrination, and you don’t know if it’s always Offred talking or it’s Gilead’s ideals that have creeped into her own personal thoughts. In this song, Dominic Fike is trying to find meaning in a confusing world. The lyrics, “She talks and nothing makes sense to me.”//“If it’s not a puzzle, it must be nonsense,” are also related to indoctrination. When she is learning how to become a handmaid and live in this new society, she is extremely overwhelmed, and some of the things the aunts were saying were mixing around in her head, which is shown when sometimes a thought is prefaced by “Aunt Lydia says,” letting us know that it might not really be Offred talking, and all of those opinions are the same category in her head. This indoctrination shows us performative religion, such as doing everything for power rather than faith. An example of this would be the Soul Scrolls, which really just show your wealth and status, not your commitment to the religion. The part of the song where Dominic Fike sings, “Had clues to dead ends, I’d lose them lost faith,” I think is a good representation of how Offred feels, because we do see her praying prior to Gilead on page 225, “It’s going to be all right, I said, prayed in my head.” However, now because she doesn’t pray on her own accord, she makes small changes to feel rebellious, like when she was praying The Lord’s Prayer.

Lyric Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upadCWGCbF0

Happy Now- Kali Uchis This song is Kali Uchis reflecting on a past relationship of hers, which is exactly what Offred is doing when she tells us her and Luke’s story. Many times, Offred admits that she is doing something wrong, but she is always trying to justify it. Her relationship with Luke and her relationship with The Commander are similar in many ways. She is “the other woman” in both. Going to hotels, only together behind closed doors. On page 193 she says, “You have to create an it, where none was before.” That section is her talking about how you have to make yourself believe something is real so that it becomes real, in her case justifying her poor actions. In the song “Happy Now”, the lyrics “It was never their business anyway. Let’s, you and me, start over today, be happy,” for me, describing Offred’s perspective on her relationship with Luke prior to marriage. When he was cheating on his wife with her, because Luke’s wife didn’t matter to her, only the relationship she had with him. Finally, “I’ve gotta free my mind. Don’t wanna think about the pain or the heartaches. Just wanna remember all the good things,” can show how Offred only wants to remember Luke as this amazing man, he was her husband, doesn’t know what happened to him, creating an image of him in her head because she only wants to think positively. She constantly gives us reasons to make us believe that they are good people, because she doesn’t believe it herself.

Lyric Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eixxLxVrh_o