Spotify

Sorry in advance for the very strange formatting as well as the text changes.  Lesson learned, never type your blog post in gooogle docs then try to copy and paste in into blogger! :(

When looking at the character of Macbeth, throughout the play we see him transition from this glorious respected fighter to this cynical cutthroat that does whatever it takes to secure the throne.  It's a very drastic jump and I feel that many of the driving emotions of Macbeth are lost as the plot develops.  And since the plot is developing so quickly, as a reader it is sometimes hard to see the comparison of the two versions of Macbeth from the beginning to the end.  So I thought, what better way to show the inner machinations of a characters mind than to create him a Spotify mixtape.  Lets Right On In!

 

Best Friends - Harry Nilsson:

            The song, Best Friends, by Harry Nilsson, in my opinion best highlights the relationship that Macbeth has with Banquo quite early in the play.  Both of them go hand in hand in their adventures, attacking the castle of Macdonwald, laying siege in glorious valor.  Both Macbeth and Banquo is seen in this great friendship where everything is almost perfect.  This is where this song comes into play.  Where especially in this verse he says, "People let me tell you 'bout my best friend, He's a warm hearted person who'll love me till the end".   This statements holds true to the play because before the witches essentially corrupt Macbeth with their unclear prophecies he displays a lot of positive emotion.  Talking highly of Banquo and how great of a person he is, before a later shift where he calls Banquo a liar and a fraudulent friend.  Another way that this song portrays the mindset of Macbeth is the fact that this song is only about 57 seconds long.  So the brevity could also act as a symbol of the short lived emotional friendship that he has with Banquo, as well as highlighting the short and erratic emotional changes he has later in the play.

 

Superstition - Stevie Wonder:

            Next comes the song Superstition, by Stevie Wonder.  This song was mainly chosen for its strong ability to relay Macbeth's obsession with the supernatural since the beginning of the play.  Because after he was given his prophecy of holding the throne and becoming King his mind ran mad.  All of his actions were dictated by the words that he was given believing that no matter what he did that it would he justified by the supernaturals predictions and that he was not to blame.  This would have been a song that Macbeth would have listened to right after his encounter with the three witches and once he arrived back at camp.  Being to himself at in his own thoughts it can be reasonably inferred that he was obsessing over these unknown force that had given him this future.  So that was most likely the only thing that was on his mind at the time.  This also starts his descent into madness.  Because as he beings the obsession, because obsession is the main reason that Macbeth begins to take drastic and violent actions in order to secure the throne for himself.  However this obsession in unknown powers ultimately leads to his downfall toward the end of the play.  This can be shown in the verse, “When you believe in things That you don't understand when you suffer.”  This single quote can kind of summarize the central message of the play in that because Macbeth was not able to understand and subsequently control these forces he suffered greatly.  So in conclusion this song would have been chosen by Macbeth in his increasing fixation on the supernatural as well as the cryptic message that they hold in their prophecies.

Everybody’s Talkin’ - Harry Nilsson:

            Another Harry Nilsson for Macbeth from the 1960’s is the great Everybody’s Talkin’, to highlight the feelings that Macbeth has after he murdered King Duncan in order to make his prophecy come true.  After Macbeth stabbed Duncan, killing him in the darkness of night, the day after was incredibly chaotic for him and Lady Macbeth.  Mainly for Macbeth as he contemplates it he really did make the right choice in trying to control the supernatural and essentially become his own man.  And during this scene Macbeth is increasingly defensive and wary of the people around him.  Because he believes that the blood of Duncan will never truly leave his hands, and it will be this weight of murder and death that he will carry forever.  So the song would mainly be chosen by Macbeth during this time in order to convey the confused and lost nature of himself during this time.  Where the world keeps moving but he just stands there like a boulder in a stream.  Letting time and the different attributes of life move past him.  This idea can be seen in the verse,“Everybody's talkin at me I don't hear a word they're saying only the echoes of my mind”.  This shows the lost nature of Macbeth in that he is trying to find himself after just doing one of the most unthinkable deeds, be never thought he would ever think of doing.  This would mainly be on his playlist to highlight the how he has lost himself in this world. And that now as this monster he almost has to reinvent himself in a way that reflects the least most suspicion and the most amount of sanity that he can muster.

All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix:

           All Along the Watchtower, by Jimi Hendrix is a classic piece that shows the main pathetic fallacy of the environment surrounding the Macbeth’s castle after the killing of King Duncan during the night.  This is mainly due to the fact that after Duncan was killed the whole environment was thrown into chaos. This was due to the idea that was common during this time, “The Great Chain of Being”.  A simple ideology in that is something is altered or changed in some way in the world, mainly due to supernatural causes, then the world world will essentially reap the consequences. We can mainly see this as the horses of Duncan being to eat each other, there is no more day, only night, and how violent earthquakes shook the earth.  So Macbeth would have chosen this song in order to show his documentation of the setting after killing Duncan. This is because all of this offset of the balance in the world was because of his actions. So Macbeth would have found this song in fear of what he had done and to highlight the many changes to his life that would soon be coming to his life.  Showing also how the supernatural has plagues his mind because if he had not believed in the chain then these environmental changes would have had no effect on his sanity levels at this point in the play.

Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones:

        Sympathy for the Devil, is the main song that Macbeth would have listened to after the killing of Macduff’s family as he cements his power and the throne of Scotland.  During this time Macbeth is becoming more and more like a monster; killing his best friend, slaughtering innocent women and children, and numerous other atrocities in his quest for power.  So he would have most likely listened to this song in that he is providing some pity and resonance with the devil and his actions. Because during this song the actions of the devil are also played in a way that makes his actions seem justifiable.  So Macbeth would have also listened to this song in order to grant some form of justification for his actions as well as the things that he still has yet to do. This mainly shows how Macbeth as a character needs constant support in his life for whatever he might be doing in order to convince himself that what he is doing is what he really wants, not what someone else *Cough* Lady Macbeth *Cough* really wants.  Thus showing Macbeth’s weak nature of his character as well as his character action.