Versions of Violence - A Kara Thrace Fanmix
BSG - Kara Thrace - Versions of Violence
Mixer: wand3rlust
Fandom: Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica
Subject: Kara Thrace
Title: Versions of Violence
Tracks: 19
Length: 1 hr 07 mins
Warnings: Spoilers through the finale. There's likely cursing in one or more of the tracks. I don't monitor that kind of thing since it doesn't bother me. Also it's highly likely that I'll curse at some point in the the commentary, too.
Features: Tegan&Sara, Pink, Fiona Apple, Awolnation, Death Cab for Cutie, Mumford&Sons, Guster and more.
Yes I blatantly ripped off the cover art from Pink's "Greatest Hits" album. Hey, I'm lazy and it was easy. Plus it fits for Kara anyway!
summary
I Don't even know where to begin, honestly. I'm pretty sure I've never loved a fictional character as much as I LOVE Kara. The writing of her character for the first couple seasons is just not something I think I've ever seen on TV before, or at least I've never related so much with a character like hers before. Add on top of that Katee Sackhoff's wonderful acting and you get this deeply flawed woman who's strong, funny, angry and vulnerable all in one bad-ass package.
I won't get into too the deeply personal reasons on why I relate to her, but really I think all I have to say is quite a few of the songs in this mix are songs I've had for years and have been on my own personal play-lists over the years. Music helps me deal with my issues, it always has. Ok... anyway onto the good stuff!
DISCLAIMER: No copyright infringement is intended. All music shared here has been legally purchased by me personally, so please feel free to sample the songs and if you like them support the artist and purchase them as well.
tracks, lyrics & commentary
01. Your Girl - Jessica Riddle (♪play sample)
Don't tell her lies / cause she'll believe / boy she's still got baby teeth / and she hears the things you say / when you think she's asleep / she grew up overnight / cause that's your way / and that's not right / to do to your girl
This song is incredibly fitting to Kara's life as it relates to her mother and father, her abandonment and abuse issues. Quite a few of you have already seen the fanvid I did to it (f ound here) and commented how well the lyrics are fitting to Kara. I love that it starts out with piano scales which makes me think of how she used to practice at the piano with her father and then how the lyrics transition into a young girl struggling to live her own life as her mother tears her down.
02. Like O, Like H - Tegan and Sara (♪play sample)
When I was 4 plus a 10 / I was swinging fists / Like nails in a board / pull your hand inside of you / six year 'til I'll be through / I was 4 plus a 10 / I was swinging back / like a race to be sure / S.O.S. to my mother / take the hinges off the door / S.O.S. to my mother / take the hinges off the door
This is one of the very first songs I thought of when I started adding songs to my personal BSG/Kara playlists. I almost didn't include it because I've seen on at least one other fanmix, but I decided last minute to leave it in. The music and lyrics really embody what I think Kara must have felt like as a young girl and teen.
03. Claustrophobe - Katie Todd (♪play sample)
Could it be / I knock on wood / and please I beg you / bring him back here safe and sound / god forbid you catch that / morning flight as it goes / up in flames after you board / one time through / is all it took for you / and I was one exception to this rule
This song from the moment I first heard it on Pandora a couple months ago made me think of that terrible sadness and sense of loss Kara must have felt after Zak died in a the plane crash. You gals that really like Missy Higgins will probably like this song too, she's got a very similar sound.
04. Last of Days - A Fine Frenzy (♪play sample)
The sun is in the east / rising for the beasts and the beauties / I wish that I could tear it down / plant it in the ground / and warm your face / I built myself a castle on the beach / and watched as it slid into the sea / The world carries on without you / but nothing remains the same / I'll be lost without you / until the last of days
Don't think a mix of mine would be complete without a song by A Fine Frenzy. This song makes me think of both Kara watching her father leave and losing Zak. I especially love the line about how she built herself a castle on the beach. I think that's a great metaphor about how she built her dream life on something so unstable as sand and watched as it all fell down around her.
05. Ave Mary A - Pink (♪play sample)
And when I think about it / I just can't think about it / I try to drink about it / I keep spinning / Ave Mary A / Where did you go / How did you know / To get out of the world gone mad / help me let go / of the chaos around me / the devil that hounds me / I need you to tell me / Child be still
Can you make a Starbuck fanmix and not include Pink?? No, I really don't think so. It wouldn't seem right. This song makes me think of how Kara relies on her faith as the world falls apart around her.
06. What I've Done (Acoustic) - Marie Digby (♪play sample)
Put to rest what you thought of me / while I clean this slate / with the hands of uncertainty / So let mercy come and wash away / What I've done / I'll face myself / To cross out what I've become / Erase myself, and let go of what I've done
I almost used the original Linkin Park version of this song, but I really like the different and subtle tone of this acoustic/piano version this gives the lyrics. The song makes me think of how Kara finally tries to forgive herself and let go of her guilt after she admits to Adama how Zak got through flight school.
07. It's Not - Aimee Man (♪play sample)
So baby kiss me like a drug, like a respirator / and let me fall into the dream of the astronaut / for I'll get lost in space that goes on forever / and you make all the rest just an afterthought / and I'll believe it's you could make it better / though it's not / no it's not
Aimee Man is one of my most favorite song writers ever. This song is about a woman who's stuck on repeat in her life. This is something Kara does inadvertently in her personal life. She's so great at getting fighting for and getting what she wants in so many areas of her life, but she doesn't seem to let herself believe that she could be happy, in fact she almost sabotages herself in this area of her life and so she keeps getting stuck. This song also hints at the cynicism of letting people see the real you and how hard it is to believe they will accept you for who you are.
08. Airport Song - Guster (♪play sample)
Glad you made it, welcome to the farm / whos your daddy, I'm your daddy now / I'm here seeking only what I need / In your mind is where ill plant my seed / It's for sure / let me keep you in this place / you'll be better off this way / I will keep you warm and safe / you'll be better off this way / learn to love the price you pay / trust me dear youre better off this way
I DARE you to listen to this song and not be creeped out at how much it relates to the the episode "The Farm" and Kara being stuck in the Dollhouse on New Caprica. It literally gives me chills almost every time I listen to it.
09. Pale September - Fiona Apple (♪play sample)
My heart went cold / and only hollow rhythms resounded from within / But then he rose, brilliant as the moon in full / And sank in the burrows of my keep / And all my armor falling down, in a pile at my feet / And my winter giving way to warm, as I'm singing him to sleep
This song will alway make me think about how for one shining moment Kara let her guard so completely down around Lee and admitted to him that she loved him.
10. Misguided Ghosts - Paramore (♪play sample)
I'm going away for a while / But I'll be back / Don't try to follow me / 'Cause I'll return as soon as possible / See, I'm trying to find my place / But it might not be here where I feel safe / We all learn to make mistakes / And run from them, from them / With no direction / We'll run from them, from them / With no conviction
There's no doubt in my mind that Lee's sudden and boisterous declaration of love, as well insisting that they both suddenly ditch their "long-ish" term partners at the drop of a hat are two of the biggest things that scared her away. As romantic as Lee seems I'm sure most of us know too much/too fast is a very very scary thing to accept in a relationship. Most especially for Kara who's been brought up her whole life to believe she doesn't deserve happiness - or that she will lose it if she does get it.
11. Cath - Death Cab for Cutie (♪play sample)
She stands with a well intentioned man / But she can't relax with his hands on the small of her back / As the flashbulbs burst she holds a smile / Like someone would hold a crying child / .... / It seems that you live in someone else's dream / In a hand-me-down wedding dress / With the things that 'could have been' all repressed / But you said your vows and you closed the door / On so many men who would have loved you more / Soon everybody will ask what became of you / Your heart was dying fast and you didn't know what to do
I can't even listen to this song anymore without instantly thinking of Kara marrying Sam. The lyrics really speak for themselves here. And I'm really truly sorry if you are a K/S shipper, I just can't imagine that even if she really did truly did love Sam that she was in the right frame of mind to be marrying anyone at that precise moment.
12. Hold on to What You Believe - Mumford and Sons (♪play sample)
I ran away / I could not take the burden of both me and you / It was too fast / Casting love on me as if it were a spell I could not break / When it was a promise I could not make / But what if I was wrong? / But hold on to what you believe in the light / When the darkness has robbed you of all your sight /
I'm a huge fan of Mumford & Sons and I have to say that I don't know if I've found or heard a song more fitting for the emotions Kara went through on New Caprica and why she ran away from Lee and back to Sam who was safe. This song also really incorporates that part of her faith/beliefs of making choices and sticking with them. This was the one of the very few parts of the series that I really struggled with understanding Kara on. I got why she was scared but I never understood why she took such a drastic step and married Sam... (other than just blaming the writers for wanting the shock value) but in the end I think that by marrying Sam, it was part of surrounding herself with a "safety net" that he represented to her.
13. Little House - The Fray (♪play sample)
Something is scratching / Its way out / Something you want / To forget about. / A part of you that'll never show / You're the only one that'll ever know / Take it back when it all began / Take your time, would you understand / What it's all about?
Since I finished the series this has been another song that's always in my head as a Kara Thrace song. This could really define her trying to escape from Leoben on New Caprica, but I also think it fits in general to her entire life and how she's always had to fight for what she wants and needs.
14. Damaged - Plumb (♪play sample)
Dreaming comes so easily / 'Cause it's all that I've known / True love is a fairy tale / I'm damaged, so how would I know / I'm scared and I'm alone / I'm ashamed / And I need for you to know / I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say / And you can't take back what you've taken away / 'Cause I feel you, I feel you near me
Again another song that's been on my playlist from the beginning. Plumb is an excellent band that has many songs that just fit for Kara. The mix of emotion/anger, questioning and faith in all their songs is something that ver much defines Kara. This song in particular is about abuse, but makes me think of the horrible torture Leoben put her through on New Caprica. I really feel what he did to her is one of the scariest and most horrible things a person could ever go through. I'm surprised she came back from it with any sanity left at all. Which is why it really bothered me on the show that everyone from Sam to Adama wanted her to "go back to herself" after such a short time. How could ANYONE go back to the person they were before after that kind of mental abuse??
15. Collect Call - Metric (♪play sample)
If the fire's out baby / How you gonna keep me warm / Supposing you let me / With the door wide open no one can leave / I know it's a lie I want it to be true / The rest of the ride is riding on you / Over goodbyes we'll buy some place / For wishing you could / Keep me closer / I'm a lazy dancer / When you move I move with you
This song makes me think of a relationship that is over in all senses of the word, but they're still at that stage of wanting to say it can still be saved. To me this defines that limbo stage that Kara and Sam's marriage is in after they get back from New Caprica.
16. MF - Awolnation (♪play sample)
Mother F**ker let's jump tonight / You can call a taxi / I can ride a bike / Bazooka tube on my shoulder / It's getting colder / I need to hold her / .... / MF are you listening to me / MF are you moving to the beat / MF time to take it to the streets / MF play it on the radio / MF I will see you at the show / MF time to take it to the streets
Awolnation is probably my new favorite band right now. I REALLY wanted to put more songs like this in the mix that are so very STARBUCK, but the mix would've been huge. So, I'm sure I'll make more fun stuff eventually. Anyway, this song sounds like something Kara would listen to to psych herself up to go fly. If you can imagine Beastie Boys meets Pink you'll get a general idea of what this sounds like. ha!
17. Versions of Violence - Alanis Morisette (♪play sample)
These versions of violence / Sometimes subtle sometimes clear / And the ones that go unnoticed / Still leave their Mark once disappeared / This labeling / This pointing / This sensitives unraveling / This Sting I've been ignoring / I feel it way down way down
This song has a very BSG music sound to me in general, but the lyrics make me think of Kara's confusion and stress as she's struggling with finding earth and then her identity after "coming back from the dead"
18. Sally's Song - Amy Lee (♪play sample)
I sense there's something in the wind / That feels like tragedy's at hand / And though I'd like to stand by him, / Can't shake this feeling that I have / The worst is just around the bend / .... / What will become of my dear friend? / Where will his actions lead us then? / Although I'd like to join the crowd / In their enthusiastic cloud / Try as I may, it doesn't last / And will we ever end up together? / No, I think not, it's never to become / For I am not the one
Oh, this song... it makes my heart ache. I listen to it now and imagine this must have been exactly how Kara felt just before that god-awful poof. *sigh*
19. The Parting Glass - Waillin' Jennys (♪play sample)
Oh all the comrades that e'er I've had / Are sorry for my going away / And all the sweethearts that e'er I've had / Would wish me one more day to stay / But since it falls unto my lot / That I should rise and you should not / I'll gently rise and I'll softly call / Good night and joy be with you all
Ok, this is my song that I listen to on repeat a LOT that helps me make some kind of peace with Kara's poof. It's a traditional irish folk song that would generally be sung after a gathering of friends - I'm guessing at a pub ;). So to me It seems a fitting tribute parting song to Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. This female vocal version is very subtle and sad. The lyrics also fit her very well. I listened to it for days after I finished the series.
download
♪Individual tracks from: Box
♫ Full 90MB .zip file from: MegaUpload | MediaFire
extras
+As always, comments are much appreciated. ♥
+You can check out more of my fanmixes HERE
+ If you cross-post or rec this mix please kindly link back to this post.
+ If download links expire, feel free to contact me.
+x-posted @ karathracelives bsg_mix beyond_insane
+ Cover image found through a google search. I forgot to bookmark the link.
+ Mix template was found at halflistening