Gilead Through Forbidden Sound

Six Feet Under- Billie Eilish

Six Feet Under by Billie Eilish, a haunting song about love and loss, resonates deeply with the themes in The Handmaid’s Tale. The song’s melancholic tone and lyrics reflect the underlying despair and longing that permeate the life of Offred. In this society where women are stripped of autonomy and identity, Offred, like the persona in “Six Feet Under,” experiences a symbolic death - the loss of her past life, name, and family.

The line “Our love is six feet under” particularly echoes Offred’s silent mourning for her illicit relationship with Nick and the burning memories of her husband, from whom she’s been forcibly separated. Both the song and the book explore themes of love’s remnants in the face of oppressive forces, the burial of the characters’ former selves, and their struggle to maintain hope and identity when everything has been taken away. Through this lens, “Six Feet Under” encapsulates the emotional landscape of The Handmaid’s Tale.

You’re somebody else - Flora Cash

You’re Somebody Else by Flora Cash mirrors the internal conflict Offred experiences in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The song’s chorus, “You look like yourself, but you’re somebody else,” reflects the cognitive dissonance Offred undergoes, forced into the role of a Handmaid while remnants of her former self linger. She navigates this by dissociating from her current reality, a psychological defense mechanism poignantly captured as she states, “I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed” (116).

Offred’s dissociation is further evidenced when she forgets portions of her past, her identity blurred and eroded by Gilead’s oppressions. She admits, “I can’t remember what my real name is” (84), signifying her loss of self, similar to the song’s narrative of not recognizing someone once cherished. The line “Well you talk like yourself. No, I hear someone else” from the song echoes Offred’s struggle to connect with who she was before Gilead, her past self becoming a stranger. Both the novel and the song artfully express the haunting journey through loss, adaptation, and the human spirit’s resilience amidst the erasure of identity.

Atlantis- Seafret

The song Atlantis by Seafret captures the profound sense of loss and helplessness. Atlantis parallels the despair in The Handmaid’s Tale, its lyrics about a distant utopia reflecting Offred’s sense of helplessness and her shattered reality in Gilead. Her feeling of confinement is vividly captured, mirroring the song’s narrative of an unreachable haven.

Offred’s overwhelming sadness and sense of loss resonate with the song’s chorus, “I want you to know that I can’t let you go.” She clings to her past yet feels powerless, a sentiment echoed in her poignant realization: “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print” (20). Both the song and the novel encapsulate a longing for what once was, underscoring a shared theme of enduring spirit amidst loss and captivity.

Homesick- Boywithuke

Homesick by Boywithuke resonates with the profound longing and sense of loss that Offred experiences in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The song’s essence of yearning for something unattainable deeply reflects Offred’s internal landscape as she aches for her child and the life she was forcibly untethered from. This intense longing is palpable when Offred painfully reflects, “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable” (127).

Her memories are faint, almost out of reach, yet charged with emotions she cannot suppress. “The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. As long as I lie still,” (52), Offred muses, indicating her silent calls and yearnings for a savior, for a return to her past life — calls that she knows, heartbreakingly, will go unanswered.

The idea of missing something you can’t have in the song mirrors Offred’s helplessness and desire for her previous freedoms, a life that’s now a mere shadow. Her situation in Gilead is a constant reminder of those unreachable memories, making the song’s theme of homesickness an apt metaphor for her emotional exile.

Take me to Church- Hozier

Take Me to Church by Hozier connects deeply with The Handmaid’s Tale, both critiquing institutionalized religion’s corruption. The lyrics “We were born sick, heard them say it” reflect Gilead’s doctrine, where women are inherently flawed and need strict governance. This ideology is evident when the Aunts indoctrinate handmaids: “We learned to whisper almost without sound…We learned to lip-read…our heads flat on the desks, our hands at the sides of our faces to shield our words from the other girls…Aunt Lydia said.” (154).

Similarly, “I’ll tell you my sins, and you can sharpen your knife” from the song captures Gilead’s brutal retribution system, paralleling the fear Offred feels: “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. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely.” (63), underscoring the oppression she endures due to the twisted religious dictates.

The song and the book both serve as stark reminders of the dangerous trajectory when religion is corrupted for power, highlighting the perilous outcomes of blind faith and authoritarian control in society, hinting that such influence rarely, if ever, leads to a just end.