The Demon Day's of "The Handmaid's Tale" By: Da'Mon Jones

Dirty Hairy - ”Demon Days”, Gorillaz
In “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a reflection on how a group or person can be affected by large changing norms. Offred the main character is subject to these and typically has conflict with her cognition which makes her see. One major part is her relationship with the Commander of the Handmaid’s. A song that can relate to this is called Dirty Hairy which is about war and the effects of it. The reason I’m connecting it to a part is when the feature of Bootie Brown which he says “Maybe to him, I’m just a pawn, So he can advance, All I want to do is dance.” This is one of the easier parallels. Offred feels like a pawn in a big chess game being a force Handmaid to the Commander. I think this can also be seen as something a little bigger. Maybe we can say that the commander is also a chess piece in this game.

All Alone - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
We all have the feeling of being by ourselves, in “The Handmaid’s Tale” this is more apparent. For example, Offred describes to the reader how in this “new world” that there is no one she can really turn to. A job with no emotion or an environment with no feeling. In this “All Alone” This is brought up to the listener with the repeated saying of “All Alone” and the end when Martina Topley-Bird says “Close your eyes and see, When there ain’t no light, All you’ll ever be, Come on save the night, Because I don’t believe, When the morning comes, It doesn’t seem to say, An awful lot to me”. I think this can be related to Offred because both pieces tell the individual on how a character doesn’t change for the next day. They instead reflect on how the world views them as the same without help or change.

November Has Come - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
“November Has Come” is a track that is talking about not losing your train of thought because you will forget if you’re not focused. Many Moments of Offred journey’s depict the chores which Damon Albern sings “Something Has started Today, Where did it go, Want you want it to be, Well you know November has come, When its gone away”. From other moments of the story we don’t get to see Offred experience the joy of speaking her thoughts to others in the book but only to the readers. Most of the connection we get can be confusing but, when we see stuff that caters to her past then we get deep moments. Sadly, like the lyrics in “NHC” see loses them or tends to not reflect on that same event as it never is mentioned to another character or thing in the book but us. Then she forgets and makes the reader wonder “Where did it go?”

Don’t Get Lost In Heaven - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
I feel like for this song its name is more fitting to the Christian vibe that is set in Gilead. The song is the telling of someone ascending to the Gates of heaven and there is a choir that repeats the chat “Don’t get lost in heaven” and “You’ll make a big mistake if you fall over the edge of the clouds. It reminded me of the part when Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale” explains to the reader how the systems of Gilead are. To a test of this Offred even says that “Where I am is not a prison, but a privilege. (pg 8)” which, in the contexts from the state of the book to the middle , see that her “privileged life” is really not what it seems. Similar to how Offred is feeling “Heaven” can be seen as something that is relatable. Paradise is a prison when you can not leave.

Demon Days - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
“Demon Days” is the last song on the album with the same name and is the aftermath of the previous song “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven”. The opening of the song is darker with static from an electric guitar which Alburn (Playing the character in the band 2D) singing about the dark days of his life but also how you should love yourself instead of changing for others. After this at the two-minute mark the song switches slowly into a clam and tropical rhythm with singing chores. The chores, talk about the Demon Days but how you should walk away from everything and start a new day. I think this really models how the Handmaids feel and everyone else who had to change their personalities to fit Gilead. This makes you reflect on the mental strain on the minds of everyone in the story. Most of the people are subject to this in some way shape or form. For example, Offred says “Like other things now thought must be rationed” (pg 8) and “Sanity is valuable possession” (pg 109).