A STREETCAR SOUNDTRACK

In the year 2019, a modern cinematic production of the classic drama, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is set to release. As of now, the adapted script has been completed, and some scenes are being prepared for filming. Since I have been placed in charge of drafting and selecting the soundtrack, I have searched for songs that would have lyrics and theme to coincide with occurrences in the original play. These songs that I have pieced together are available on the supplied compact disk turned in with this synopsis. Of course, all lyrics cited belong to their respective writers and owners.

The first song I have selected is “Fake Happy”, written by Hayley Williams and Taylor York, who are two of the three members of Paramore. This piece will be best played during the opening of the film, as Blanche DuBois makes her way to the apartment of her sister and her husband, Stella and Stanley Kowalski. I believe this song would be the best fit to represent Blanche in the beginning for multiple reasons. In the song, Hayley Williams sings right at the beginning, “I love making you believe / What you get is what you see” (H. Williams and York), which can be related to Blanche’s concern with her outward appearance. In the first few moments where she is reunited with her sister, Stella, Blanche says “You haven’t said a word about my appearance” (1170), immediately fishing for a compliment, since she wants to display that her outer looks reflect how she feels inside. Another connection that makes this song favorable would be that both Blanche and Hayley mention dim lights as a way to mask themselves. “See, I'm gonna draw up my lipstick wider than my mouth / And if the lights are low they'll never see me frown” (H. Williams and York). This can be related to Blanche’s blatant fear of bright lights. In the stage directions, it is stated “Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light” (1167). Also related to strong light would be on page 1169, when she nervously instructs her sister to turn off the light, as she can’t stand the glare of it. Both Blanche and Hayley fear that bright lights will break the illusion of their perfect lives.

Next in the soundtrack would be the song “Alright”, written by sisters Lucy and Gwen Giles of the band Dog Party. This song has a slow, eerie vibe about it, almost like a sad waltz. The lonesome vocals seem like the kind of tune Blanche would sing while soaking in a hot bath. Despite this similarity, this song would best be paired with aftermath of Stanley’s fit of rage, in which he hit his wife, in scene three of the play. Lucy sings “Oh please please come back to me / I’m crying big tears falling on the floor / Haven’t got any mercy no / They’re just getting stronger” (Giles and Giles), echoing Stanley’s pleas to get Stella to return down to their apartment, because he knew his previous actions were wrong. “[He breaks into sobs. Then he goes to the phone and dials, still shuddering with sobs.]” (Stanley, 1191). The lines about not having mercy and getting stronger also serve as a bit of foreshadowing Stanley’s future acts towards Blanche, as he only becomes more brutal from this point. The repetition of “I will be alright, alright” (Giles and Giles) can also be related to how Stella brushes off this act in the next scene where she converses with Blanche. She states “Blanche, I’d forgotten how excitable you are. You’re making much too much fuss about this” (Stella, 1194), playing off the whole night. After Stanley’s true colors have been revealed, his actions begin to increase in intensity and aggression.

The Fall Out Boy song, “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)”, written by Pete Wentz, would be the perfect shift of tone, signaling the rise of this cruelty. On page 1201, Stanley begins to question the life Blanche has left behind, expressing that he has a source, and is seemingly taunting her with this knowledge. “Well, this somebody named Shaw is under the impression he met you in Laurel, but I figure he must have got you mixed up with some other party because this other party is someone he met at a hotel called the Flamingo” (Stanley, 1201). He is most definitely trying to instill fear in Blanche with this statement. This lines up with the lyric “And besides in the mean-meantime I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart” (Wentz), as Stanley has been specifically looking for ways to destroy Blanche’s image. The next song I have selected would play alongside Blanche explaining part of her past in Laurel to her new love interest, Mitch.

To give some context to this selection, it is important to know that in a general sense, polka music, which is thoroughly included in the original play, does tend to use brass instruments, which is similar to the genre of the song I have chosen. The song “Emergency”, by ska band Suburban Legends, produced by singer Vincent Walker, includes themes expressed during Blanche’s monologue. The lyric “Huh, now I'm gonna tell you / Every couple minutes the world is gonna end / In my mind” (Walker) can easily represent the anxiety expressed while Blanche is speaking. “[A locomotive is heard approaching outside. She claps her hands to her ears and crouches over. The headlight of the locomotive glares into the room as it thunders past. As the noise recedes she straightens slowly and continues speaking.]” (Blanche, 1211). The loud sounds, and bright lights, scare her, as it takes her into the moment she hears the revolver shot, which her late husband used to take his own life. When the polka music plays, it is presumably the event recurring in her head, in some kind of post traumatic stress related event, which syncs up with the song stating that in Walker’s mind, the world ends every couple of minutes.

From an album already featured, comes the next selection. Paramore’s “Tell Me How”, also written by H. Williams and York, is set to audibly display the turmoil in Stella’s mind as Stanley tells her the new information he has learned of Blanche’s shrouded life in Laurel. Williams sings in the chorus, with despair, “Tell me how to feel about you / Oh, let me know / Do I suffocate, or let go?” (Williams and York), with the contemplation of suffocation lining up with how Stella does not come to the aid of her sister. In just pretending that everything is fine, and continuing to let Stanley trample Blanche, Stella is basically holding her breath out of fear of her husband. When confronted by Blanche, she simply pretends has happened instead telling the truth, while her sister seems to be onto her, saying “[Turning away quickly.] Why, nothing has happened, Blanche” (Stella, 1217).

The next song is as iconic as it is chilling, and would play through the beginning of scene ten, while tensions are rising between Stanley and Blanche. Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” is the perfect representation of the powerful feelings felt once the two characters are left alone. The driving chorus, “I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord / I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord / Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord” (Collins), plays off of how Stanley had been waiting for the right time to strike down Blanche’s illusion and false self-esteem. “So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been / It's all been a pack of lies” (Collins) represents how Stanley sees through Blanche’s mask and knows her past, and what she wishes to cover up. This song came to mind for this part of the play, with the last line of dialogue in scene ten. “Drop it! We’ve had this date with each other since the beginning!” (Stanley, 1231). One could say, he “felt it in the air” that night that it was time to lay the final nail in the coffin of Blanche’s lies.

As a sort of intermission, which I am aware is not actually included in the original play, the song “Runaway”, from the previously mentioned band Suburban Legends, by the same songwriter, would also do well in setting the tone of urgency during the time of Blanche’s rape. It is a short song, but accurately portrays the utter danger of the situation. Walker sings “Runaway runaway / There's no time to waste / As the world's closing in all around you / Don't runaway runaway”, where the feeling of the world closing in can relate to Blanche’s complete loss of control. Her strike with the bottle is a last ditch effort for her to regain a proper standing against Stanley, of which the play reads, “[He springs towards her, overthrowing the table. She cries out and strikes at him with the bottle but he catches her wrist.]” (Stanley, 1231). Once she has the bottle taken from her, she is cornered, and can no longer escape her fate.

Lastly, the final song I have chosen to be on this soundtrack is Lorde’s “Liability”, which manages to break my heart every time I hear it, similarly to the brokenheartedness of the eleventh and final scene, and serves as the most appropriate ending, as it references other painful details of Blanche’s character. Along with writer Jack Antonoff, Lorde writes, “I know that it's exciting running through the night / But every perfect summer's eating me alive until you're gone / Better on my own”. This can be a reference to how Blanche only ever wants to go out during the night when the lights won’t reveal the truth to not only her looks, but her situation. Also, she had just spent the summer with the Kowalskis, and referencing to the season as being perfect is just another lie. In the end of scene nine, Mitch breaks Blanche’s heart, saying “I don’t think I want to marry you anymore [...] You’re not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother” (1226). In the song, Lorde sings, “Baby really hurt me, crying in the taxi / He don't wanna know me / Says he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm / Says it was poison”, which is probably very similar to how Blanche is feeling in that moment. In her last line, Blanche says to the doctor who takes her away, “Whoever you are- I have always depended on the kindness of strangers” (1238), seemingly aware of what is happening to her without clearly saying it. This is alike to the lyric “I'm a little much for e-a-na-na-na, everyone” (Lorde), because she knows that her intense illusion is hard for those who already know her life, everyone, so she looks to strangers who don't know her situation to treat her well.

This soundtrack has taken much thought and analysis of the original script of Tennessee Williams’ work, but if done right, I do believe it will evoke just as much emotion as the scenes themself. Of course, there is no replacing the sounds and songs of prior productions. Music plays such a vital role in the story of Blanche, and the other characters, and this is merely an adaptation, not a replacement. I hope that this soundtrack does justice to the earliest material.