The Handmaid's Tale Playlist

A playlist for The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood would convey the main themes of womanhood, sadness and hope, similar to the themes in the novel. For this playlist, I selected five songs:

Cloudbusting by Kate Bush, Bigger Than the Whole Sky by Taylor Swift, Back to the Old House by The Smiths, The Man by Taylor Swift, and What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish

Cloudbusting is not a song I would connect to The Handmaid’s Tale for its lyrics, but more so the feeling of the song. Bush says “​​But every time it rains / You’re here in my head / Like the sun coming out”. This song demonstrates the idea of hope. Throughout chapter 18, Offred describes the different ways she imagines what could have happened to Luke. After she plays out these imaginations, she imagines the message Luke would send to her: “I must have patience: sooner or later he will get me out, we will find her, wherever they’ve put her. She’ll remember us and we will be all three of us together. (106)” Offred tells herself these stories to give herself hope and to keep her going. Cloudbusting demonstrates this beautifully, which is why it would be a powerful addition to the playlist.

Bigger Than the Whole Sky is well fitting for Offred and her daughter. As Offred continues to tell her story of life in the ‘before times’, she briefly mentions the daughter she once had, who was taken from her when she got placed into the current system. Bigger Than the Whole Sky is about losing someone who meant more than the whole world. The chorus reads “You were more than just a short time / And I’ve got a lot to pine about / I’ve got a lot to live without” This is Offred’s general feeling about her daughter: she has lots of spare time, lots to spend wondering about what she has lost. “Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?… / So I’ll say words I don’t believe” is one lyric that is directly linked to Offred, as well as the society she is living in. Gilead is centered around religion. If Offred had been more involved in religion, maybe she would still be with her daughter. The second part of the lyric describes Offred’s imagination: “The things I believe can’t all be true, though one of them must be… This contradictory way of believing seems to me, right now, the only way I can believe anything. (106)” She reassures that Luke and her daughter are safe and okay.

Back to the Old House is a song that I would imagine Offred playing in her head while she lays in her bedroom. Back to the Old House is a song about missing what you once had and not appreciating it as it was. I relate this to Offred and the way she reflects on her previous time with Luke and their family. One lyric from the song is: “Are you still there or have you moved away? / I would love to go / Back to the old house” The artist is wondering where their lover is, and hoping to go back, similar to Offred. This song encapsulates Offred lying in bed looking up at the wreath or looking out her window. “I fold back the sheet, get carefully up, on silent bare feet, in my nightgown, go to the window, like a child, I want to see. The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow.(97)” This song plays in the back of my mind during this scene, or even an instrumental version of it, either well fitting the tone of the scene.

The Man connects to the culture of Gilead. The Man is about how much more Taylor Swift could achieve if she had been a man. Men are indifferent to the women in Gilead. When Offred tells the Commander that she doesn’t want him to make anything obvious to Serena, he doesn’t even realize he had. “Did I?” he says. He is paying very little attention to his actions and he doesn’t realize how much is at risk for Offred; if they were caught he would get no blame and she would be an Unwomen. After the conversation with the Commander, Offred thinks “You can see from the way I was speaking to him we were already on different terms. (162)” The Man perfectly portrays how Offred felt in this moment, knowing that they are in two different situations and the Commander has less, if not nothing, to lose.

What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish outlines the feelings of many of the women in Gilead. What Was I Made For? is about identity and place in the world. In the household each woman has their own role and limits. The system for women causes unhappiness for all of them. Serena envies Offred for her fertility, her reminder of what she can’t provide for her family. Offred envies Serena for her freedom, on page 69 she writes “If only I could embroider. Weave, knit, something to do with my hands.” Offred gets the honor of giving birth to a child, but the Marthas get the joy of raising it, even though it is Serena’s kid. The song perfectly connects to the emotion and longing of the many women throughout the novel.

Link to YouTube Song: [https://youtu.be/WataeV4WsI4?si=SI4gY2vvNcgwtei]