A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Soundtrack

1. The Magnetic Fields, “The Dreaming Moon”: While this first track does not correspond to a particular scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it embodies some of the play’s major themes, not only through its title (both dreams and the moon are both prominent elements, frequently mentioned in the text) but also lyrically.  The lyrics are a bit difficult to hear over the instrumentals, which manage to mimic the principles of both the rigidity of Athenian law (the melody continues steadily throughout the song – neither a chorus nor bridge interrupts it) and the Fairy World (the inclusion of the xylophone creates a “tinkling” or “chiming” sound that works both with and against the melody, just like the Fairy and mortal worlds).  The following lyrics are particularly powerful when interpreted within the context of the play: “with the dreaming moon / I’ll begin again / with another new name / and a whole new life,” echoing the play’s sentiment that the world changes at night and allows transformation, if not rebirth.

2. Belle & Sebastian, “Asleep on a Sunbeam”: This song also contains some of the play’s more pervasive themes (e.g., the joys and frivolity of summer), but I included it in this soundtrack to support Lysander and Hermia’s planning to elope at the end of Act I, Scene 1.  The song is musically upbeat and optimistic, representing the pair’s hopes for a better life, one outside the rules and regulations of Athenian law.  While the lyrics “I’m waiting for you to get out of your situation / with your job and with your wife” do not directly echo the constraints Lysander and Hermia struggle against, they do appeal to the idea of escaping societal expectations and social norms (i.e., the ultimatum Hermia faces — mary Demetrius, become a nun, or die).  The first verse of the song includes the line, “I could watch the dreams flicker in your eyes,” which is not only a beautiful and romantic sentiment but is also textually relevant — Oberon’s love potion is applied on the lovers’ eyelids, and the four lovers come to believe that their time in the woods is but a dream, one that perhaps flickers in their eyes.

3. She & Him, “You Really Got a Hold on Me”: I chose this song to counteract the previous track, which is upbeat and hopeful, representing Lysander and Hermia’s love for each other; this track, however, is Helena’s theme and is applicable not only to her soliloquy at the end of Act I, Scene 1, but also her interaction with Demetrius in Act II, Scene 1.  The lyrics “You treat me badly / I love you madly” directly mirror Helena’s love for Demetrius — “The more you beat me, I will fawn on you” (II.i.204) — despite his treatment of her and his telling her that “I am sick when I do look on thee” (II.i.212).  Yet, Helena claims that his hold on her remains.  While this song was originally recorded by The Miracles (1962) and performed by The Beatles, I chose this version because not only does a woman (Zooey Deschanel) sing it, but the vocals and musical composition are much more melancholic.

4. The Kinks, “Everybody’s A Star”: This track embodies the actions of Act I, Scene 2, in which the mechanics prepare for their show – I am tempted to alternately title the track “Bottom’s Theme,” as the song discusses power over others, supported musically by the power chords and general “noise” of the music.  The lyrics “No matter what your occupation is / Everybody’s in show-biz” are particularly relevant in that the “actors” are not actors but mechanics; thus their occupations are irrelevant.  Other lyrics mention the use of make-up to become someone other than oneself, reinforcing Bottom’s questioning what type of beard he will have and the transformation of Flute and Snug into Thisbe and the lion, respectively.  The song also appeals to the idea of multiple plays within a play, practically paraphrasing Shakespeare’s aphorism that “All the world’s a stage / And all the men and women merely players” (As You Like It, II.vii.139-140): “We all read lines, / And we all act a part, / We all need a script / And an audience to play to.”

5. The Velvet Underground, “Femme Fatale”: In my soundtrack, this song plays at the very beginning of Act II, Scene 2, serving as Titiana’s entrance and theme.  The use of the tambourine throughout the song is very magical, supporting Titiana’s role as the Queen of Fairies, which is very similar to the power the femme fatale wields in the song, especially in the context of Titiana’s treatment of Oberon — she does “break his heart in two” and “play him for a fool,” and the Fairy King is aware of this: “Why should Titiana cross her Oberon?” (Act II.i.119).

6. The Clovers, “Love Potion #9″: Although a bit silly, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate song to reinforce all of the confusion resulting from Oberon’s decision to act as Cupid and take love into his own hands.  While a rather funny and dated song, there are a few lines that are highly relevant to Act III, Scene 2, when Demetrius and Lysander have both been placed under the spell and have transferred their attentions from Hermia to Helena: “I didn’t know if it was day or night / I started kissin’ everything in sight.”  These lyrics are akin to the general chaos of that scene, especially the idea of “falling in love” with the first thing that comes into sight (e.g., Titiana’s falling in love with an ass/Bottom), and also emphasize the play’s mystification of what is day and night, reality and fantasy.

7. Van Morrison, “Moondance”: This song revisits the motif of the moon that the first track of this soundtrack introduces; however, it is different in that it is upbeat and “dance-worthy.”  The mention of romance and frivolity deem it appropriate of celebration, or “revels and new jollity” (V.i.356) — that is, the triple wedding of the two pairs of lovers and Theseus and Hippolyta.  It also addresses the magic that night inevitably introduces to the world: “And the night’s magic seems to whisper and hush.”  This lyric also supports Theseus’ claim that it is “almost fairy time” (V.i.350), when the world becomes silent and the fairies take the reigns, and thus nature overpowers mortal law, one of the predominant themes of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.