My Masque Playlist

I am sure we've all been there, you're reading a book and certain characters, or scenes make a song jump into your head.

Here are a few of the songs I associate with Masque of the Red Death.

1 Something I Can Never Have by Nine Inch Nails

As soon as I interviewed Bethany and she mentioned this song I listened to it again. It may be the power of suggestion, but I totally think it fits. Each characters is kind of wishing for something they can't have. A world without the plague, someone who has died to still be alive, a reprieve from their own guilty conscience, etc. The fact that the world has crumbled leaving fading reminders of how it used to be.

2 Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars

This sort of reminds me of Will and Araby. The melody is very haunting as well which fits the story. The lyrics "you only know what I want you to" remind me of Will and his double life. His persona at the Debauchery Club and his real home life. The refrain of "I don't love you but I always will" also reminds me of Araby fighting her feelings. She is beginning to feel things for both Will and has had a crush on him for awhile, even though she's sworn to not feel these things.

3 Anthem for the Year 2000 by Silverchair

This song really reminds me of Elliott. His disillusionment of how the city is being ran, and the desire to stand up and so something about it. The lyrics allude to innocence and it being fragile "maybe we don't want to live in a world where innocence was so short" could also apply to the children who come into this ravaged world. They can't have a typical childhood due to the disease, they either die young or end up being very shut away from the world.

4 Gloomy Sunday by Kronos Quartet




Really I think the instrumental version is the best for what I am talking about. The melody of this song is so haunting and melancholy. I think it fits perfectly with Poe's writing and in turn this novel. The song is also about being so sad that a loved one died, and wanting to join them that it, I am sure, fits a lot of characters in Bethany's world.

5. Damned If She Do by The Kills

I feel like this is a very Araby song. "She come alive when she dying" is fitting because while everything is dying and crumbling around her she finds something to fight for. Her hazy time at the Debauchery Club fit the distorted melody as well. I also love the lyrics

"There's been a perception
Of sweet hearts passing through
Some of them left no trace at all
Some left her black and blue"

Sort of reminds me of Araby and how much her brother's death hurt her.

*some of the songs have coarse language if you are looking to download them*

Be sure to come back tomorrow where I will be talking about finding clues for book two in Poe's original story.