Beowulf; The Musical

Unfortunately, I did not create an entire musical for my project, although that would’ve been amazing. I decided to create various playlists for some of the characters within Beowulf and focus on displaying their thoughts through lyrics. Just a slight note; all the playlists are done in an order of the progression of their thoughts through their course in the piece. The playlists don’t have to be listed in that order, but it’s just a fun easter egg I added. For those who want a deeper read or simply can’t listen to the playlists, I’ve also included excerpts of the songs I think fit best.

Grendel; Fucked By Fate

I approached making Grendel’s playlist first as I felt I had one of the best grasps on his character. He’s also the first character of the four I’ve chosen that we see. In the slight retelling of Beowulf titled Grendel, it’s mentioned that Grendel is a version of a teenager. I used that adapted version of his character for the music vibe and applied it to the mindset of the character we see in Beowulf. Grendel is a lonely creature, cursed by God for what his ancestor did, who hates what people such as Hrothgar and Beowulf represent against his own kingdom; nature. “They were mead-medicated, untroubled by pain, their sleep untainted by sorrow. Grendel hurt, so he hunted” (118-120). In the same vein, Grendel has the fighting nature to the likes of Beowulf, “-desist in dealing deaths, or die himself” (152). I wanted to choose songs to captured his sorrow but also his spite. Naturally, I referred to my old middle school playlist to find that essence.

“I’ve been watching, I’ve been waiting
In the shadows for my time
I’ve been searching, I’ve been living
For tomorrow’s all my life”/ “They say that I must learn to kill before I can feel safe
But I, I’d rather kill myself than turn into their slave” – In The Shadows; Rasmus

“I know nothing of your kind
And I won’t reveal your evil mind” / “So sacrifice yourself and let me have what’s left
I know that I can find the fire in your eyes
I’m going all the way, get away, please” – Breath; Breaking Benjamin

“I’m on the outside, I’m looking in
I can see through you, see your true colors
‘Cause inside you’re ugly, you’re ugly like me
I can see through you, see to the real you” – Outside; Staind

“When something like a soul becomes initialized
And folded up like paper dolls and little notes
You can’t expect a bit of hope
And while you’re outside looking in
Describing what you see
Remember what you’re staring at is me” / “Just listen to the noises
(Null and void instead of voices)
Before you tell yourself
It’s just a different scene
Remember it’s just different from what you’ve seen” – Through Glass; Sour Stone

“But you see, it’s not me
It’s not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fighting” / “Another mother’s breaking
Heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken” – Zombie; The Cranberries (They’re my favorite band I had to put them in somewhere)

“If you ever need anything, please don’t
Hesitate to ask someone else first
I’m too busy acting like I’m not naive
I’ve seen it all, I was here first” – Very Ape; Nirvana

“I’ll carry on until there’s nothing left to lift again
I’ll carry you across my shoulder ’til the end, my friend
I saw another just like me, he stared into my eyes
Completely misunderstood and I’m highly despised” – Lamb; Aberdeen

“It’s over
No longer
I feel it growing stronger
I live to die another day
Until I fade awayWhy give up, why give in?
It’s not enough, it never is
So I will go on until the end
We’ve become desolate
It’s not enough, it never is
But I will go on until the end” – Until The End; Breaking Benjamin

“And as trapped as we are
It’s the devil we know
The exceptions we make
Will never be shown
To the rest of the world
What we touch turns to gold
For a moment, we freeze but” – The Sky Will Turn; The Birthday Massacre

“I’ve been waiting for someone like you
But now you are slipping away
What have you done now?
Why, why does fate make us suffer?
There’s a curse between us, between me and you” – What Have Done Now; Within Temptation feat. Keith Caputo

Beowulf; A Man Among Men

Beowulf’s playlist was the hardest for me to complete because I felt like I kept having carbon cutouts of the same time of song until the last two. Maybe I was putting too much character depth into him. I felt myself trying to give Beowulf more substance than just “I fight I win = victory!” However, if this was going to be done based on Headley’s translation, that’s kind of what we get. Beowulf has no remorse until the dragon. He sees himself as the best type of man. He had no mercy. “No sorrow there for those who’d suffered him, but satisfaction at the marks of misery” (843-844). He grades his success in his violence, and I like to think this playlist portrays that. “Bad To The Bone” is there mainly as his introduction song; full dramatics, sword raised as he meets the first guard. I thought it was funny. “Enemies” I see as a cool number where they could bring the actor/actresses for Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the Dragon out and have them almost taunting Beowulf.

“We come from the land of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow

The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new land
To fight the horde and sing, and cry
Valhalla, I am coming” – Immigrant Song; Led Zeppelin

“I don’t know what you had in mind
But here we stand on opposing sides

Let’s go to war
Let’s go to war / Every feeling in my bones tells me to lash out
And tell you to fuck off” – Go To War; Nothing More

“I’m the hand of God
I’m the dark messiah
I’m the vengeful one” – The Vengeful One; Disturbed

“Some legends are told
Some turn to dust or to gold
But you will remember me
Remember me for centuries” – Centuries; Fall Out Boy

“Another mission
The powers have called me away
Another time
To carry the colors again
My motivation
An oath I’ve sworn to defend
To win the honor
Of coming back home again / I’m an indestructible master of war- Indestructible; Disturbed

“I am a man at war
And I am fighting for
All of the broken people, all of the people thrown overboard / It doesn’t matter if the world has gone mad” – Born For Greatness; Papa Roach

“Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head
Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid
Children roam the streets now orphans of war
Bodies hangin’ in the streets to adore
Royal flames will carve a path in chaos
Bringing daylight to the night (night)
Death is riding into town with armor
They’ve come to take all your rights” – Hail To The King; Avenged Sevenfold

“This is wartime, this is our time
We won’t be denied
Feed the fire that is raging inside
This is go time, this is showtime
We will fight till their wills are broken
This is game time, an insane time
Let the madness fly
Show them strength that just can’t be defied
Find the power to devour
Let the beast inside now be woken” – Immortalized; Disturbed

“Listen up
There’s not a moment to spare
It’s quite a drop from the top
So how you feeling down there?
It’s a cold, cruel, harsh reality
Caught, stuck, here with your enemies

Who do you think you are?
Tearing us all apart
Where did you think you could go?
‘Cause everyone already knows
It’s 20 to 1
Yeah, so you better run” – Enemies; Shinedown

Grendel’s Mother; Sea Wolf

Grendel’s Mother was the playlist I made the quickest. I had the idea to keep her representative music as a mix of Grendel (2000s angst rock?) and the Dragon (folk anger mixed with rock elements). Thinking thematically, it would make the most sense as she’s the bridge between the two other monsters, but also, she has characteristics of both Grendel and the Dragon. She’s Grendel’s blood and family, but she has the rage of the Dragon in which something, in this case, her son, was stolen from her. I tried to make her playlist show her anger lead to her overall acceptance after her battle. “Grendel’s mother, warrior-woman, outlaw, medicated on misery” (1257). Even the description Beowulf gives is a combination of the two characters.

“And so you worked
As you should
While they preyed on all you ached for
And they pounced
As they would / Why aren’t the gods and heroes all around me?
And everyone’s turning their eyes to the ground / And so
Brace, brace yourself
For this reckoning day
I was once
At a loss
Now I stand at the gate” – Reckoning; Alanis Morissette

“In the great hall you drink red wine
You chew meat off the bone
I beat down the new path to the castle
I come naked and alone
I laid my son on the bier, I burned the wreath
Fire overhead, water underneath
You can stand up or you can run
You and I both know what you’ve done” – Grendel’s Mother; The Mountain Goats

“We have the answer to all your fears
It’s short, it’s simple, it’s crystal clear
It’s round about, it’s somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings / O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice” – O Children; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

“Been given 24 hours
To tie up loose ends
To make amends
His eyes said it all
I started to fall
And the silence deafened / And I can’t believe
How I’ve been wasting my time / The sun’s setting gold
Thought I would grow old
It wasn’t to be” – 24; Jem

“If I died
We’d be together /

Ever get the feeling that you’re never all alone?
And I remember now
At the top of my lungs in my arms she dies
She dies (replace she with he)

At the end of the world
Or the last thing I seeYou are never coming home, never coming home
Could I? Should I?” – The Ghost Of You; My Chemical Romance

“Unafraid of the strong magnetism
Of the pain that leaves permanent marks
I dream of a wild raging ocean
And a ship that is tossed on the waves
And the wreckage I find on the shoreline
And what’s left of the ones I can’t save / I am the witch of the water
I come like a thief in the night
Bewitched by invisible forces
To lead you away from the light” – Water Witch; The Secret Sisters & Brandi Carlile

“And you once said I wish you dead you sinner
I’ll never be more than a wolf at your door for dinner
And if I see you ’round like a ghost in my town you liar
I’ll leave with your head oh I’ll leave you for dead, sire /

I know, my way through the night to your door
You know, the blood that I’m owed is all yours
The wishes I’ve made are too vicious to tell
The devil already he knows me so well” – The Wolf; PHILDEL

“And the words on your grave go to show for,
The way you have behaved and I know for,
Holes in your coffin prove,
What you get for being just too playful,
What you get for being so distasteful,
Holes in your coffin fool…” – Holes In Your Coffin; PHILDEL (I see the two PHILDEL songs as being combined and occurring during the actual battle between Grendel’s Mother and Beowulf).

“Might last a day, yeah
Mine is forever
Might last a day, yeah
Mine is forever / Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to
Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to /

And I’m the one with no soul
One above and one below” – Violet; Hole

“Angels have faith
I don’t want to be a part of his sin
I don’t want to get lost in his world
I’m not playing this game

When the shadows remain in the light of day
On the wings of darkness he’ll retaliate
He’ll be falling from grace
Till the end of all his days

From the ashes of hate
It’s a cruel demon’s fate
On the wings of darkness
He’s returned to stay
There will be no escape
‘Cause he’s fallen far from grace / Your way in this madness
Your powers are gone
Your chains have been broken
You’ve suffered so long
You will never change” – A Demon’s Fate; Within Temptation

“I faced destruction and you
Just killed me and walked away / I hope you do
I hope you suffer
I hope you do
I hope you suffer
I hope you do
I hope you suffer
I hope you do
Just like I suffered” – I Hope You Suffer; AFI

“Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know / Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words, I don’t just say
And nothing else matters” – Nothing Else Matters; Metallica

The Dragon; Scar- Skinned Warrior

The Dragon is the last beast Beowulf meets. She, in Headley’s translation, is considered his most formidable opponent. Due to this, I wanted The Dragon’s playlist to be significantly different than Beowulf’s until she started fighting him, in which her playlist turns from more folk focused to more rock. Throughout the piece, Beowulf and The Dragon are described in a similar way, “The winged wringer had no time for survivors. She skywrote her grievances, then rewrote them roughly in land-fire – as she sang insults from the clouds” (2310-2318). She overdoes violence, insults others, and doesn’t leave survivors. However, when we first meet The Dragon, she’s literally asleep. She is, in a sense, peaceful. I wanted to play into her becoming a monster. She was a created monster, and she was the epitome of fire.

“When the fires, when the fires have surrounded you
With the hounds of hell comin’ after you
I’ve got blood
I’ve got blood on my name.
When the fires, when the fires are consuming you
And your sacred stars won’t be guiding you
I’ve got blood
I’ve got blood, blood on my name” – Blood On My Name; The Brothers Bright

“If this is to end in fire
Then we should all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night /

Calling out for the rope
Stand by and we will
Watch the flames burn on and on
The mountain side, hey” – I See Fire; Ed Sheeran

“Through the forest she runs at night.
At the speed of light with her spear.
She leaps over hills and cries and the sound of the hunting spear.

Bloodthirsty, Bloodthirsty, Bloodthirsty here” – Bloodthirsty; Dani Larkin (obviously she’d be flying but I believe the idea still stands).

“Ran down and the lady said it
It got torn down
And the priest just said
It got burned
They give me five years five years
It’s my turn / One more time
I want to see you
And you’re saying you’re busy
I want to stop it
And you said it would be easy
It sure takes time” – Jerusalem; Sinead O’Connor

“D’you breathe the name
Of your savior in your hour of need
And taste the blame
If the flavor should remind you of greed,
Of implication, insinuation and ill will
Till you cannot lie still
In all this turmoil
Before red cape and foil
Come closing in for a kill” – Carnival Of Rust; Poets Of The Fall

“Holy water cannot help you now
Thousand armies couldn’t keep me out
I don’t want your money
I don’t want your crown
See, I have to burn your kingdom down / Seven devils all around you
Seven devils in your house
See, I was dead when I woke up this morning
I’ll be dead before the day is done” – Seven Devils; Florence And The Machine

“From a cage I created, to a hell that heaven made
Can’t let go of the hatred ’cause I love the way it tastes /

Take him out back /

I wouldn’t take back a moment
Not one miserable moment
I’ll give it all till there’s nothing
I’ll walk into the fire, into the fire
I’ll walk into the fire, into the fire
Into the fire” – Into The Fire; Asking Alexandria

“I stood above, another war
Another jewel above the crown
I was the fear of man /

But I was blind
I couldn’t see
The world there right in front of me
But now I can /

Because I lost it all
Dead and broken my
Backs against the wall
Cut me, open I-” – Lost It All; Black Veil Brides

“As days go by, the night’s on fire /

Tell me, would you kill to save a life?
Tell me, would you kill to prove you’re right?
Crash, crash
Burn, let it all burn
This hurricane’s chasing us all underground / No matter how many deaths that I die I will never forget
No matter how many lives I live I will never regret
There is a fire inside of this heart and a riot about to explode into flames
Where is your God? Where is your God?
Where is your God?” – Hurricane; Thirty Seconds To Mars

“I will not hide my face
I will not fall from grace
I’ll walk into the fire, babyAll my life
I was afraid to die
And now I come alive inside these flames” – The Fighter; In This Moment