Jeremiah Song List
Mar. 12th, 2024 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereI cribbed this idea from Brightknightie's Forever Knight playlist, with the same criteria: Putting together the seven fanvids I know of, plus a number of other songs which are all tied up in my head with the show. Instant theme! I arranged the result as a playlist and had a great time with it, so I figured I might as well post the songs here, on the off chance it's enjoyable for anyone else.
But then I decided to rewatch all the vids. And take notes on why they're all so damn good. And say a few words.
It got long and fangirly, basically.
Woodstock - Joni Mitchell
On AO3. Everything I love about this show in five minutes. To me, Jeremiah is an ensemble show. Therefore I have watched this gorgeous ensemble vid for it a countless number of times. Lyrics filled with Biblical imagery of apocalypse and salvation, an atmosphere at once somber and breathtakingly beautiful, with the editing perfectly paced to every swoop and dive of the song. It's cinematic and deeply heartfelt, capturing the show's idealism and best of all? All of the main players are accounted for, including my beloved fandom unfavorites. I can't really stress enough how happy this makes me. It's also got my favorite piece of editing: Jeremiah having a Michael flashback when Markus gets shot, which wasn't in the episode but should have been.
Gotta Get Thru This (acoustic version) - Daniel Bedingfield
AO3 link. This one is a showcase for Kurdy during the events of the first season, and pays as much attention to Elizabeth as it does to Jeremiah, which is super extra appreciated. Kurdy is the beating heart of the story, willing to believe and invest, and reaching out to the people around him with an ease Jeremiah never has. Having a tribute to the first half of that journey is delightful. And the real magic is that I don't find this song very resonant on its own - but the editing makes every single line hit like an absolute hammer and I adore it.
Because I Told You So - Jonatha Brooke
The only undiluted shipping vid for this fandom. AO3 link. It's every lovelorn stare Jeremiah and Kurdy ever sent each other's way artfully arrayed, reducing me to mush, and with a delightfully heavy dose of season two (where my heart lies in all things). In the first season, they were both learning who the other was, for better and worse. Season two is full of illusions, and it's a key point of contrast that Jeremiah and Kurdy get back on the road without holding any about each other. The relationship, having fallen apart, is stronger and more mature once repaired. Just lovely.
Inside - Sting
AO3 link. This is a particularly epic, apocalyptic song with gorgeous lyrics, and thus imagery of war abounds throughout this vid, which follows Kurdy's viewpoint closely, while also featuring some quality Markus/Meaghan (since she ended up a weapon of war, this is inspired). It's also got the Paul and Ezekiel story, and Jeremiah's guilt over Michael, and Kurdy's struggle over his dual nature (the third and fourth lines of the song juxtapose closeups of Kurdy's hands as he finds the glass swan and as Constance pulls him off of beating a thug) and packs it all into a tiny space with grandeur.
Building a Mystery - Sarah MacLachlan
I do appear to be somewhat out of step with every other Smith fan in existence, in that I see him less as a teddy bear cuddlemuffin and more as an eerie giver of portents and Biblical smitings, a tool in the hands of something vast and unknowable. But he's also a sweetheart and a good guy who wants to help people, and these solid four minutes showcase that aspect of him very nicely. The man with neither footprint nor history, working always for others, never for himself.
I Am the Highway - Audioslave
First (and for a very long time only) Jeremiah vid I could find on the web. Tightly focused on Jeremiah and the bleak world he drifts through (Thunder Mountain and Markus do not feature here at all, which is an interesting choice). The darkness of any of these vids can usually be judged by how long it takes for Kurdy to show up - here it's nearly halfway, giving plenty of time to wallow in Jeremiah's lonely guilt-stricken memories, before the visuals alter to reflect him taking an active, heroic role as the world begins to change for the better.
Spooky - The 3Ds
I can't link to the vid here, since it was never uploaded to AO3 and is private on Vimeo. It could be summed up as an angst-trauma-abandonment vid with a highly first season focus. One by one, everybody leaves - family, friends, lovers. Kinda grim! :D
Unlike all the other songs on this list. *sarcasm*
Born Under a Bad Sign - Albert King
Changing gears, this song was featured in an excellent Highlander crossover. It's the bluesy chorus of everybody, major to minor, hero to villain, in this hardscrabble world teaming with violence and (somewhat poorly demonstrated) illiteracy. I think they meet one person who can't read in the entire show, and that only because he's dyslexic. Still a perfect song choice, though.
She Moves Through the Fair - Fairport Convention
Given I named my first Jeremiah story the past tense version of this song, it had to appear on this list. It's less about the specifics of the lyric for me and more the emotional sweep, standing for Libby, Elizabeth and Meaghan, as each represent someone's hope for the future and haunt the narrative after that hope is lost.
Scherzo (Symphony no.7) - Dvorak
While working on the same story, I needed a classical music association for Libby to freak out over. Symphonies tend not to be my thing, but I found the Scherzo gloriously dramatic and swoonworthy, so it seemed like something Libby might realistically appreciate. I listened to the entire symphony a lot while working on the follow up and it became intrinsically linked to that world.
The rest of these songs I associate with various characters or themes, and have been known to use to jumpstart my brain when the writing is not cooperating.
Serenity - Godsmack
The ever-present quest for meaning and connection, feeling suitable to each of the characters, depending on mood and focus.
Straw Foot - 16 Horsepower
Smith as I see him. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.
Haw - 16 Horsepower
Definitely and entirely Sims.
Rope on Fire - Morphine
Jeremiah and Kurdy. Their conflicts and pain, diverging paths and unbreakable bonds as they navigate a chaotic world and find things to fight for.
The Way It Will Be - Gillian Welch
To me, this lyric summons up season two's parallel stories of illusory devotion as the verses drift from Jeremiah to Erin to Sims, taking them all to unpleasant evenings of revelation and free fall.
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Libby in all her beautiful wrongness encapsulated. It's Jeremiah seeing her clearly, it's her view of Sims, it's her dissolving identity. I wrote a scene where Libby seduces Erin using this song, Erin's black dress, and some manipulative commentary about the men in their lives, which cements its shameful place on this list even if that story is probably doomed to be drawerfic.
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
A world of orphans. Like Serenity, this song applies to the entire generation as well as all of the main players.
Cinder Alley - 16 Horsepower
Apocalypse. War. Prophecy. Heaven and hell, blood and fire. Crossing Jordan. That time Jeremiah straight up dared God to send down the angel of death...
Hand of Kindness - Richard Thompson
And the flipside to all this darkness. Beyond the broken promises and the brewing violence, they are attempting to build something which will last out of the rubble and what keeps all these characters from falling to pieces on the way is how they support and reach out and fight for each other, even when they've only just met. It is this which makes the show so beautiful.
But then I decided to rewatch all the vids. And take notes on why they're all so damn good. And say a few words.
It got long and fangirly, basically.
Woodstock - Joni Mitchell
On AO3. Everything I love about this show in five minutes. To me, Jeremiah is an ensemble show. Therefore I have watched this gorgeous ensemble vid for it a countless number of times. Lyrics filled with Biblical imagery of apocalypse and salvation, an atmosphere at once somber and breathtakingly beautiful, with the editing perfectly paced to every swoop and dive of the song. It's cinematic and deeply heartfelt, capturing the show's idealism and best of all? All of the main players are accounted for, including my beloved fandom unfavorites. I can't really stress enough how happy this makes me. It's also got my favorite piece of editing: Jeremiah having a Michael flashback when Markus gets shot, which wasn't in the episode but should have been.
Gotta Get Thru This (acoustic version) - Daniel Bedingfield
AO3 link. This one is a showcase for Kurdy during the events of the first season, and pays as much attention to Elizabeth as it does to Jeremiah, which is super extra appreciated. Kurdy is the beating heart of the story, willing to believe and invest, and reaching out to the people around him with an ease Jeremiah never has. Having a tribute to the first half of that journey is delightful. And the real magic is that I don't find this song very resonant on its own - but the editing makes every single line hit like an absolute hammer and I adore it.
Because I Told You So - Jonatha Brooke
The only undiluted shipping vid for this fandom. AO3 link. It's every lovelorn stare Jeremiah and Kurdy ever sent each other's way artfully arrayed, reducing me to mush, and with a delightfully heavy dose of season two (where my heart lies in all things). In the first season, they were both learning who the other was, for better and worse. Season two is full of illusions, and it's a key point of contrast that Jeremiah and Kurdy get back on the road without holding any about each other. The relationship, having fallen apart, is stronger and more mature once repaired. Just lovely.
Inside - Sting
AO3 link. This is a particularly epic, apocalyptic song with gorgeous lyrics, and thus imagery of war abounds throughout this vid, which follows Kurdy's viewpoint closely, while also featuring some quality Markus/Meaghan (since she ended up a weapon of war, this is inspired). It's also got the Paul and Ezekiel story, and Jeremiah's guilt over Michael, and Kurdy's struggle over his dual nature (the third and fourth lines of the song juxtapose closeups of Kurdy's hands as he finds the glass swan and as Constance pulls him off of beating a thug) and packs it all into a tiny space with grandeur.
Building a Mystery - Sarah MacLachlan
I do appear to be somewhat out of step with every other Smith fan in existence, in that I see him less as a teddy bear cuddlemuffin and more as an eerie giver of portents and Biblical smitings, a tool in the hands of something vast and unknowable. But he's also a sweetheart and a good guy who wants to help people, and these solid four minutes showcase that aspect of him very nicely. The man with neither footprint nor history, working always for others, never for himself.
I Am the Highway - Audioslave
First (and for a very long time only) Jeremiah vid I could find on the web. Tightly focused on Jeremiah and the bleak world he drifts through (Thunder Mountain and Markus do not feature here at all, which is an interesting choice). The darkness of any of these vids can usually be judged by how long it takes for Kurdy to show up - here it's nearly halfway, giving plenty of time to wallow in Jeremiah's lonely guilt-stricken memories, before the visuals alter to reflect him taking an active, heroic role as the world begins to change for the better.
Spooky - The 3Ds
I can't link to the vid here, since it was never uploaded to AO3 and is private on Vimeo. It could be summed up as an angst-trauma-abandonment vid with a highly first season focus. One by one, everybody leaves - family, friends, lovers. Kinda grim! :D
Unlike all the other songs on this list. *sarcasm*
Born Under a Bad Sign - Albert King
Changing gears, this song was featured in an excellent Highlander crossover. It's the bluesy chorus of everybody, major to minor, hero to villain, in this hardscrabble world teaming with violence and (somewhat poorly demonstrated) illiteracy. I think they meet one person who can't read in the entire show, and that only because he's dyslexic. Still a perfect song choice, though.
She Moves Through the Fair - Fairport Convention
Given I named my first Jeremiah story the past tense version of this song, it had to appear on this list. It's less about the specifics of the lyric for me and more the emotional sweep, standing for Libby, Elizabeth and Meaghan, as each represent someone's hope for the future and haunt the narrative after that hope is lost.
Scherzo (Symphony no.7) - Dvorak
While working on the same story, I needed a classical music association for Libby to freak out over. Symphonies tend not to be my thing, but I found the Scherzo gloriously dramatic and swoonworthy, so it seemed like something Libby might realistically appreciate. I listened to the entire symphony a lot while working on the follow up and it became intrinsically linked to that world.
The rest of these songs I associate with various characters or themes, and have been known to use to jumpstart my brain when the writing is not cooperating.
Serenity - Godsmack
The ever-present quest for meaning and connection, feeling suitable to each of the characters, depending on mood and focus.
Straw Foot - 16 Horsepower
Smith as I see him. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.
Haw - 16 Horsepower
Definitely and entirely Sims.
Rope on Fire - Morphine
Jeremiah and Kurdy. Their conflicts and pain, diverging paths and unbreakable bonds as they navigate a chaotic world and find things to fight for.
The Way It Will Be - Gillian Welch
To me, this lyric summons up season two's parallel stories of illusory devotion as the verses drift from Jeremiah to Erin to Sims, taking them all to unpleasant evenings of revelation and free fall.
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Libby in all her beautiful wrongness encapsulated. It's Jeremiah seeing her clearly, it's her view of Sims, it's her dissolving identity. I wrote a scene where Libby seduces Erin using this song, Erin's black dress, and some manipulative commentary about the men in their lives, which cements its shameful place on this list even if that story is probably doomed to be drawerfic.
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
A world of orphans. Like Serenity, this song applies to the entire generation as well as all of the main players.
Cinder Alley - 16 Horsepower
Apocalypse. War. Prophecy. Heaven and hell, blood and fire. Crossing Jordan. That time Jeremiah straight up dared God to send down the angel of death...
Hand of Kindness - Richard Thompson
And the flipside to all this darkness. Beyond the broken promises and the brewing violence, they are attempting to build something which will last out of the rubble and what keeps all these characters from falling to pieces on the way is how they support and reach out and fight for each other, even when they've only just met. It is this which makes the show so beautiful.
