fiercelydreamed (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fiercelydreamed) wrote2008-05-12 09:59 pm
fiercelydreamed) wrote2008-05-12 09:59 pm
Entry tags:
Music post: songs about Rodney McKay.
So, after talking soundtracking with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tropes, I decided it was time for a fannish music post. Even when I don't have time to write, I'm still telling myself stories all day long, and one of the ways I fix them in my brain for the weeks (or months, sigh) before I have time to bang them out is by linking them to music. I have a document cataloging about ten to twelve mixes and soundtracks at any given time, many of which are linked to specific WIPs. Right now, at the bottom of that document, I have a list of songs not yet committed to other soundtracks; they're labeled "Misc. SGA" but are, in fact, five songs about Rodney McKay.
Listen to the music.
1. Eliza Gilkyson, "Is It Like Today?" Four of the five songs on this list are related to science, but this one gives the broadest view of what it means to really ask those bigger questions -- not as some cool, dispassionate rationalist, but as a person living in context, motivated by curiosity and anxiety and emotional investment in what's happening in the world. And the images are so Rodney: learning to measure the stars, the furrowed brow that never left his face, fixing the problems in space and coming face to face with God.
Many years ago he looked out through a glass-less window
All that he could see was Babylon
Beautiful green fields and dreams and learn to measure the stars
But there was a worry in his heart
He said, How could it come to this?
We're really worried about living
How could it come to this?
Yeah we really want to know about this
Is it like today?
Then there came a day.
It moved out 'cross the Mediterranean.
Came to western isles and the Greek young men.
With their silver beards they laughed
At the unknown universe.
They could sit and guess God's name.
He said,
How could it come to this?
We've been living in a landslide!
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this.
Is it like today?
Then there followed days of Kings, Empires and revolution.
Blood just looks the same when you open the veins.
But sometimes it was faith, power or reason as the cornerstone.
But the furrowed brow has never left his face.
Is it like today?
How could it come to this?
We've been living in a landslide!
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this.
Is it like today?
Then there came a time, man packed up,
Flew off from the planet.
He went to the moon, to the moon,
Now he's out in space,
Hey, fixing all of the problems.
He comes face to face with God.
He says,
How could it come to this?
I'm really worried 'bout my creation.
How did it come to this?
You 're really killing me, you know.
It isn't just today.
Is it like today?
Is it like today?
2. Andrew Bird, "Fiery Crash." One of the things I love about Rodney as a character is that his brilliance and science doesn't place him above the circumstances of life -- he's so embodied, so swayed by physical and emotional immediacies. I think his ability to pull off eleventh-hour miracles stems from the fact that none of the consequences of failure are abstract to him -- he can picture them much, much more vividly than I think he'd like. But as the show itself points out (in "Quarantine," for instance), living in that state of anxiety and pessimism takes a definite toll.Much more superficially, the line "close your eyes and you wake up/ face stuck to a vinyl settee" makes me picture him waking up in "Duet," and I crack up every time.
turnstiles on mezzanine
jet ways and Dramamine fiends
and x-ray machines
you were hurling through space
g-forces twisting your face
breeding superstition
a fatal premonition
you know you got to envision
the fiery crash
oh close your eyes and you wake up
face stuck to a vinyl settee
oh the line was starting to break up
just as you were starting to say
something apropos I don't know
beige tiles and magazines
Lou Dobbs and the CNN team
on every monitor screen
you were caught in the crossfire
where every human face
has you reaching for your mace
so it's kind of an imposition
fatal premonition
to save our lives you've got to envision
and to save all our lives you've got to envision
the fiery crash
it's just a formality
why must I explain?
just a nod to mortality
before you get on a place
oh close your eyes and you wake up
face stuck to a vinyl settee
oh the line was starting to break up
what was that you were going to say?
3. Interpol, "Rest My Chemisty." This song makes me think of Rodney during his worst moments -- running on fumes in "The Siege" and "Adrift," guilty and wrecked in "Miller's Crossing" and at the end of "Trinity," wired to the gills in "The Hive," hollowed out at the end of "Sunday." He's happy on Atlantis, he has friends -- family -- there, but still we see him tapped out and exhausted far more often than we see him actually at peace.
I haven't slept for two days
I've bathed in nothing but sweat
And I've made hallways scenes for things to regret.
My friends they come.
And the lines they go by
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
I live my life in cocaine
Filled with rage and three kinds of yes
And I've made stairways
Such scenes for things that I regret
Oh, those days in the sun
They bring a tear to my eye
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
But you're so young
You're so young
You look in my eyes
You're so young. So sweet. So surprised
I saw a sign says "OK"
Gotta take a ride just recline in the faraway
Got to take some time to realize
That my friends they come
And the lines they go by
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
But you're so young
You're so young
You look in my eyes
So young. So sweet. So surprised
You look so young like a daisy in my lazy eyes
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
4. Wolf Parade, "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts." And for all that, he still keeps going -- next idea, next plan, next project, next mission, next save, next reload, next argument, next act of last-ditch defiance. Because God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he, and he's trying to keep the roster short for the sons and daughters of hungry ghosts.
Well I've got a hand
So I've got a fist
So I've got a plan
It's the best that I can do
Now we say 'It's in god's hands'
But god doesn't always have the best god damn plans does he?
I ain't quite the beauty
Who holds up two guns and shoots at the pretty pretty pure white
And god I keep thinking things of hunter and kings
To block out the view
I gotta get a new bell to ring
A new song to sing
A steady hand to ring
A readiness of things
A new plan to bring to the people
People I can trick 'em into thinking anything
'Cause you know
Rust it just right in the light it's gold it's gold
And you know
I got watering holes in my hand
I'm a digger of holes in the land of holes
and you know
It's the easiest way
And you know
It's the easiest way
And you know
It's the easiest way
You know it's the easiest way
Hey
So I go
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
I got water and I got holes oh
La la la la la la
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts oh
La la la la la la
I got water and I got holes oh
La la la la la la
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts oh go go
La la la la la la
I got water and I got holes oh
La la la la la la
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts oh go go
I got a hand (La la la la la la)
So I got a fist
So I got a plan it's the best I can do
Say is it in god's hands? (La la la la la la)
But god doesn't always have the best god damn plans does he?
Say La la la la la la
I can't believe in the guns I can't believe in the view
I say (La la la la la la)
I can't believe in those hunters and kings
You know
Say La la la la la la
I got a new plan to bring
I got a new song to sing it goes
La la la la la la
I got a new plan to bring and you know
And you know
It's the easiest way
You know
It's the easiest way
You know
It's the easiest way
You know
It's the easiest way hey
So I go
5. The National, "Slow Show." I think this is the first song that ever associated itself to SGA for me, way back when I barely knew any canon. I had to include a John/Rodney song on this mix, and I think that this sums up Rodney so perfectly -- his insecurities, his social awkwardness, his over-compensation. The way he handles his relationship with John -- alternately sarcastic and tentative, offering up gadgets and Batman trivia, feeling both improbably lucky and terrified that he's going to blow it. But all that said, the last verse makes me think of Atlantis. I think from the first time science opened a door in Rodney's mind, decades before he knew the Stargate or the Ancients or the Pegasus galaxy even existed, he was dreaming of Atlantis.
Standing at the punch table swallowing punch
can’t pay attention to the sound of anyone
a little more stupid, a little more scared
every minute more unprepared
I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning
I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it
Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can I get a minute of not being nervous
and not thinking of my dick
My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins
I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in
You could drive a car through my head in five minutes
from one side of it to the other
I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it
You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years
You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years
By the way, if any of these songs should inspire any of you to write or vid or make art, or even just to post more music? I wouldn't mind a bit, and I'd be much obliged if you'd come back here and tell me where to find the results.
tropes, I decided it was time for a fannish music post. Even when I don't have time to write, I'm still telling myself stories all day long, and one of the ways I fix them in my brain for the weeks (or months, sigh) before I have time to bang them out is by linking them to music. I have a document cataloging about ten to twelve mixes and soundtracks at any given time, many of which are linked to specific WIPs. Right now, at the bottom of that document, I have a list of songs not yet committed to other soundtracks; they're labeled "Misc. SGA" but are, in fact, five songs about Rodney McKay.Listen to the music.
1. Eliza Gilkyson, "Is It Like Today?" Four of the five songs on this list are related to science, but this one gives the broadest view of what it means to really ask those bigger questions -- not as some cool, dispassionate rationalist, but as a person living in context, motivated by curiosity and anxiety and emotional investment in what's happening in the world. And the images are so Rodney: learning to measure the stars, the furrowed brow that never left his face, fixing the problems in space and coming face to face with God.
Many years ago he looked out through a glass-less window
All that he could see was Babylon
Beautiful green fields and dreams and learn to measure the stars
But there was a worry in his heart
He said, How could it come to this?
We're really worried about living
How could it come to this?
Yeah we really want to know about this
Is it like today?
Then there came a day.
It moved out 'cross the Mediterranean.
Came to western isles and the Greek young men.
With their silver beards they laughed
At the unknown universe.
They could sit and guess God's name.
He said,
How could it come to this?
We've been living in a landslide!
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this.
Is it like today?
Then there followed days of Kings, Empires and revolution.
Blood just looks the same when you open the veins.
But sometimes it was faith, power or reason as the cornerstone.
But the furrowed brow has never left his face.
Is it like today?
How could it come to this?
We've been living in a landslide!
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this.
Is it like today?
Then there came a time, man packed up,
Flew off from the planet.
He went to the moon, to the moon,
Now he's out in space,
Hey, fixing all of the problems.
He comes face to face with God.
He says,
How could it come to this?
I'm really worried 'bout my creation.
How did it come to this?
You 're really killing me, you know.
It isn't just today.
Is it like today?
Is it like today?
2. Andrew Bird, "Fiery Crash." One of the things I love about Rodney as a character is that his brilliance and science doesn't place him above the circumstances of life -- he's so embodied, so swayed by physical and emotional immediacies. I think his ability to pull off eleventh-hour miracles stems from the fact that none of the consequences of failure are abstract to him -- he can picture them much, much more vividly than I think he'd like. But as the show itself points out (in "Quarantine," for instance), living in that state of anxiety and pessimism takes a definite toll.
turnstiles on mezzanine
jet ways and Dramamine fiends
and x-ray machines
you were hurling through space
g-forces twisting your face
breeding superstition
a fatal premonition
you know you got to envision
the fiery crash
oh close your eyes and you wake up
face stuck to a vinyl settee
oh the line was starting to break up
just as you were starting to say
something apropos I don't know
beige tiles and magazines
Lou Dobbs and the CNN team
on every monitor screen
you were caught in the crossfire
where every human face
has you reaching for your mace
so it's kind of an imposition
fatal premonition
to save our lives you've got to envision
and to save all our lives you've got to envision
the fiery crash
it's just a formality
why must I explain?
just a nod to mortality
before you get on a place
oh close your eyes and you wake up
face stuck to a vinyl settee
oh the line was starting to break up
what was that you were going to say?
3. Interpol, "Rest My Chemisty." This song makes me think of Rodney during his worst moments -- running on fumes in "The Siege" and "Adrift," guilty and wrecked in "Miller's Crossing" and at the end of "Trinity," wired to the gills in "The Hive," hollowed out at the end of "Sunday." He's happy on Atlantis, he has friends -- family -- there, but still we see him tapped out and exhausted far more often than we see him actually at peace.
I haven't slept for two days
I've bathed in nothing but sweat
And I've made hallways scenes for things to regret.
My friends they come.
And the lines they go by
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
I live my life in cocaine
Filled with rage and three kinds of yes
And I've made stairways
Such scenes for things that I regret
Oh, those days in the sun
They bring a tear to my eye
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
But you're so young
You're so young
You look in my eyes
You're so young. So sweet. So surprised
I saw a sign says "OK"
Gotta take a ride just recline in the faraway
Got to take some time to realize
That my friends they come
And the lines they go by
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
But you're so young
You're so young
You look in my eyes
So young. So sweet. So surprised
You look so young like a daisy in my lazy eyes
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
Tonight I'm gonna rest my chemistry
4. Wolf Parade, "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts." And for all that, he still keeps going -- next idea, next plan, next project, next mission, next save, next reload, next argument, next act of last-ditch defiance. Because God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he, and he's trying to keep the roster short for the sons and daughters of hungry ghosts.
Well I've got a hand
So I've got a fist
So I've got a plan
It's the best that I can do
Now we say 'It's in god's hands'
But god doesn't always have the best god damn plans does he?
I ain't quite the beauty
Who holds up two guns and shoots at the pretty pretty pure white
And god I keep thinking things of hunter and kings
To block out the view
I gotta get a new bell to ring
A new song to sing
A steady hand to ring
A readiness of things
A new plan to bring to the people
People I can trick 'em into thinking anything
'Cause you know
Rust it just right in the light it's gold it's gold
And you know
I got watering holes in my hand
I'm a digger of holes in the land of holes
and you know
It's the easiest way
And you know
It's the easiest way
And you know
It's the easiest way
You know it's the easiest way
Hey
So I go
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la
I got water and I got holes oh
La la la la la la
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts oh
La la la la la la
I got water and I got holes oh
La la la la la la
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts oh go go
La la la la la la
I got water and I got holes oh
La la la la la la
Sons and daughters of hungry ghosts oh go go
I got a hand (La la la la la la)
So I got a fist
So I got a plan it's the best I can do
Say is it in god's hands? (La la la la la la)
But god doesn't always have the best god damn plans does he?
Say La la la la la la
I can't believe in the guns I can't believe in the view
I say (La la la la la la)
I can't believe in those hunters and kings
You know
Say La la la la la la
I got a new plan to bring
I got a new song to sing it goes
La la la la la la
I got a new plan to bring and you know
And you know
It's the easiest way
You know
It's the easiest way
You know
It's the easiest way
You know
It's the easiest way hey
So I go
5. The National, "Slow Show." I think this is the first song that ever associated itself to SGA for me, way back when I barely knew any canon. I had to include a John/Rodney song on this mix, and I think that this sums up Rodney so perfectly -- his insecurities, his social awkwardness, his over-compensation. The way he handles his relationship with John -- alternately sarcastic and tentative, offering up gadgets and Batman trivia, feeling both improbably lucky and terrified that he's going to blow it. But all that said, the last verse makes me think of Atlantis. I think from the first time science opened a door in Rodney's mind, decades before he knew the Stargate or the Ancients or the Pegasus galaxy even existed, he was dreaming of Atlantis.
Standing at the punch table swallowing punch
can’t pay attention to the sound of anyone
a little more stupid, a little more scared
every minute more unprepared
I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning
I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it
Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can I get a minute of not being nervous
and not thinking of my dick
My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins
I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in
You could drive a car through my head in five minutes
from one side of it to the other
I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it
You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years
You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years
By the way, if any of these songs should inspire any of you to write or vid or make art, or even just to post more music? I wouldn't mind a bit, and I'd be much obliged if you'd come back here and tell me where to find the results.