melpomene: or, the muse of tragedy in five acts.
022 for the record, measuring tapes never lie
first of all, sorry for being so AWOL here, everyone. i have three monthly mixes in the works, and you'll get them before i go back to school in a couple of weeks, i promise. secondly, THIS MIX. it's jack/ianto, from torchwood, because they ate my brain. i fell completely in love with the two of them, and their dynamic, and then bawled my eyes out at the (very, very, very unnecessary) end of it all. i'd been fiddling with the idea of a jack/ianto mix the whole time i was watching torchwood, and then i wanted to do an all-encompassing one for their entire relationship. i got most of the way through this when i got stuck, but now it's finally finished. it DOES contain spoilers for children of earth (sorry you lot who pretend it never happened or just refused to watch, bekah.), so it doesn't end up being entirely happy. melpomene is the greek muse of tragedy, and this pairing is nothing if not entirely tragic. the mix goes through the whole relationship: a period of what i like to imagine was concurrent longing for each other without either of them making a move (ACT I), the first beginnings of romance (ACT II), their full-fledged love affair (ACT III), the uncertainty of being a couple that plagued them through children of earth (ACT IV), and finally, death and everything after (ACT V). there is also a song covering the year that never was (INTERLUDE), and song that i believe, personally, sums it all up (EPILOGUE). feedback is greatly appreciated, since this is the first time i've ever done anything this ambitious (hence it taking me ages). please give hugs, kisses, and possibly your firstborn children to coffee_mill for her stunning work on the coverart. she is a lifesaver and amazing and i wouldn't ever have been able to do anything half so gorgeous. without further ado...
melpomene: or, the muse of tragedy in five acts
ACT I. you leave me numb and i'm not sure why: or, finding it in not-so-subtle glances.
i. spitting games...snow patrol
(...i broke into your house last night and left a note at your bedside, i'm far to talk to you at school, you leave me numb and i'm not sure why, i find it easier to sit and stare, then push my limbs out towards you right there, my heart is bursting in your perfect eyes, as blue as oceans and as pure as skies...)
ii. when you were young...the killers
(...you sit there in your heartache, waiting on some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways, you play forgiveness, watch it now, here it comes, he doesn't look a thing like jesus but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young...)
iii. soundtrack for our movie...mae
(...no, i'm a wreck, i really can't explain it, but i hear the music when i look at you, orchestrating the song to accomodate the moment when i'm so in love with you...)
iv. please don't tell her...jason mraz
(...easier said, easier than done, please don't dare to tell her what i've become, please don't mention all the attention i have drawn, please don't bother, cos she'll feel guilty when i'm gone, because i'm crazy like the rest of us, but i'm crazier when i'm next to her, and it's amazing how she's so self-assured, but i know she'd hate me if she knew my words...)
v. keep me...john ralston
(...i don't want to be in your service, i just want to make your short list, i don't want to wear all your armor, i just want to be in your chest...)
ACT II. you electrify my life: or, the beginnings of something wonderful.
i. so contagious...acceptance
(...oh, no, this couldn't be more unexpected, and i can tell that i've been moving in so slow, don't let it throw you off too far, cos i'll be running right behind you, could this be out of line, could this be out of line, to say you're the only one, breaking me down like this, you're the only one i would take a shot on, keep me hanging on so contagiously...)
ii. stuttering...ben's brother
(...it's been, it's been, it's been s-s-such a long time, long time, long time, since anybody touched me, touched me, touched me the way that you touch me, so if i stutter, stutter, stutter, and i feel so-so-so unsexy, so maybe i'll just keep my mouth shut, at least until you kiss me, so kiss me again, cos only you can stop the st-st-st-st-st-stuttering, kiss me again, and ease my su-su-su-su-su-suffering...)
iii. the luckiest guy on the lower east side...the magnetic fields
(...the day is beautiful, and so are you, my car is ugly, and i'm ugly too, i know you'd never give me a second glance, but when the weather's nice all the other guys don't stand a chance...)
iv. the planets bend between us...snow patrol
(...the shells crack under our shoes like punctuation points, the planets bend between us, a hundred million suns and stars, the sea filled in this silence before you sank those words, and now even in the darkness i can see how happy you are, i will race you to the waterside, and from the edge of ireland shout out loud so they can hear it in america, it's all for you...)
v. starlight...muse
(...my life, you electrify my life, let's conspire to ignite all the souls that would die just to feel alive, i'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away, never fade away...)
INTERLUDE. where in the world are you now?: or, the year that never was.
i. where in the world are you...great lake swimmers
(...i've been looking in churches and looking in bars, i thought that i saw you in the oncoming cars, it was your reflection cast off by the light and into the sky of this dark city night, i looked for you then in the tallest of trees, swayed back and forth in the mid-autumn breeze, when the leaves reddend and left too, i knew then that it wasn't you...)
ACT III. swimming inside the magic hour: or, love and all it's wonder.
i. blood red blood...voxtrot
(...oh, i'm just trying to do my best, i'm not afraid of life, i'm afraid of death, build my love in the things i say, you've got to lift your face to the breaking day, so i ran and i jumped and i flew, til i came to the center of an earth so cold, and the wind picked me up and took me straight to the belly of the fears i hold, and i ran and i ran and i ran and i ran, and then i came right back, threw my arms around you, you were dressed in black, i'm so glad i found you...)
ii. step into my office, baby...belle & sebastian
(...we need to talk, step into my office, baby, a chance of overtime, say, my place at nine...)
iii. crack the shutters...snow patrol
(...it's been minutes, it's been days, it's all i will remember, happy lost in your hair, and the cold side of the pillow, your hills and valleys are mapped by my intrepid fingers, and in a naked slumber, i dream all this again, crack the shutters open wide, i want to bathe you in the light of day, and just watch you as the rays tangle up around your naked body, i could sit for hours finding new ways to be awed each minute, cos the daylight seems to want you just as much as i want you...)
iv. yellow...coldplay
(...look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do, yeah, they were all yellow, i came along, i wrote a song for you, and all the things you do, and it was called yellow, so then i took my turn, oh, what a thing to have done, and it was all yellow, your skin, oh yeah, your skin and bones turn into something beautiful, you know, you know i love you so, you know i love you so...)
v. burning stars...mimicking birds
(...and all we are are burning stars, shining brightly, making sure you don't float too far, i'll keep an eye on you if you keep one on me, and then what happens we'll see, and then what happens we'll see...)
ACT IV. counting stars again: or, uncertainty take its toll.
i. in your own way...caleb kane
(...and take a moment to reflect in your own way, take your time and connect in your own way, i know it's good to be alone some days but you've got a long face in your own way, baby, i know you've got a big heart in your own way, independent and smart in your own way, and even though you get along somehow, you're missing out now in your own way, baby...)
ii. fix you...coldplay
(...tears stream down your face, i promise you i will learn from my mistakes, tears stream down your face and i, lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and i will try to fix you...)
iii. bulletproof weeks...matt nathanson
(...i'm talking to what's left of you, watching what i say, counting all the freckles on your perfect face, you open your window, and i stay on your bed, just hoping the right words will come, so what happened to bulletproof weeks in your arms, what happened to feeling cheap radio songs, what happened to thinking that the world was flat, what happened to that...)
iv. counting stars...sugarcult
(...hey, i want to crawl out of my skin, apologize for all my sins, all the things i should've said to you, hey, i can't make it go away, over and over in my brain again, all the things i should've said to you, counting stars, wishing i was okay, crashing down was my biggest mistake, i never ever meant to hurt you, i only did what i had to, counting stars again...)
v. mystery...indigo girls
(...each time you pull down the driveway, not sure when i'll see you again, yours was a twisted, blind-sided highway, no matter which road you took then, oh, you set up your place in my heart, moved in and made my thinking crowded, now we're out in the back with the barking dogs, my heart the red song, your heart the moon clouded...)
ACT V. across the river styx: or, death and everything after.
i. hold my hand as i'm lowered...noah and the whale
(...hold my hand as i'm lowered, and please don't see me as a coward, for death i do not forsake thee, though your dark stare is always upon me, well, i fell in love with a world in you, well, i fell in love with a world in you...)
ii. biko...bloc party
(...for my sweetheart, the melancholic, you're across the river styx, and the waves have taken you away...)
iii. melpomene...kashmir
(...flutter girl, killing me with her sunshine, sunshine, she's so unaware that she's my melpomene...)
iv. heaven bound and glory be...kevin devine
(...i used to be a conquering king, i watched the slow star shoot and swing, and when i'd wake, the world would sing, but i can't hear anything, so now it's later than it needs to be, and while his stranger family sleeps, the king looks for his castle, heaven bound and glory be...)
v. point me to the west...the indelicates
(...how we danced, you and i, beneath the cut glass sky, with our hands waving, mimicking how other hands were free, life's a beach that you build, a sandpit we filled with the old, cold sweat of our slavery, so tear out my name from the books of lore, i don't want a part of the past anymore, and burn every record in my discography, and don't let me influence no one, pack up my books in the old oak chest, saddle me a horse and point me to the west, fill up my hip flask, load up my gun, and point me to the setting sun...)
EPILOGUE. forever young: or, the hope of one, the curse of the other.
i. forever young...youth group
(...let's dance in style, let's dance for awhile, heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies, hoping for the best but expecting the worst, are you going to drop the bomb or not, let us die young or let us live forever, we don't have the power but we never say never, sitting in the sandpit, life is a short trip, music's for the sad man, can you imagine when this race is run, turn our golden faces to the sun, praising our leaders, getting in tune, music's played by the madman, forever young, i want to be forever young, do you really want to live forever, forever, forever, forever young, i want to be forever young, do you really want to live forever, forever, forever, some are like water, some are like the heat, some are the melody, some are the beat, sooner or later they all will be gone, why don't they stay young, it's so hard to get old without a cause, i don't want to perish like a fading horse, youth is like diamonds in the sun, and diamonds are forever, forever young, i want to be forever young, do you really want to live forever, forever, forever, forever young, i want to be forever young, do you really want to live forever, forever, forever...)
individual tracks // zip