Just for fun, I made a playlist of songs that are connected to the book. It’s probably not what you expect: none of these songs convey the dark, suspenseful atmosphere of actually being in the Old State Hospital. These are songs that:
- are quoted by characters
- a chapter is named after them
- or after the album the song is from
I mixed in songs from an earlier list I had made, of leitmotifs or themesongs, for various characters.
Explanations:
| Slot | Track | Artist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch. 1 | Know Your Onion | The Shins | Claire’s theme |
| ch. 2 | Little Sister | Queens of the Stone Age | Myst’s theme |
| ch. 3 | November Rain | Guns N’ Roses | The chapter’s title is a line from the song |
| ch. 5 | Are You Gonna Be My Girl | Jet | Anna’s theme |
| ch. 5 | Dope Nose | Weezer | Nikki’s theme |
| ch. 8 | Everything in Its Right Place | Radiohead | Liz’s theme |
| ch. 8 | Ana Ng | They Might Be Giants | The song is mentioned in the chapter |
| ch. 8 | Complicated | Avril Lavigne | The chapter is named after the song. |
| ch. 12 | Short Skirt, Long Jacket | Cake | Susan’s theme |
| ch. 13 | Wraith Pinned to the Mist | of Montreal | Becky’s theme |
| ch. 13 | Misty | Ray Stevens | Song is mentioned in the chapter |
| ch. 14 | You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere | Bob Dylan | Chapter title is a modified version of the song title |
| ch. 15 | No Surprises | Radiohead | Chapter is named after song |
| ch. 19 | Busted | Ray Charles | Chapter is named after song |
| ch. 23 | Desire | U2 | Julie’s theme |
| ch. 24 | Little Green | Joni Mitchell | Chapter named after song |
| ch. 24 | Under Pressure | Queen & David Bowie | Song is quoted in chapter |
| ch. 24 | The Final Countdown | Europe | Song is quoted in chapter |
| ch. 24 | Nights in White Satin / Late Lament | The Moody Blues | The “late lament” part is quoted in chapter |
| ch. 25 | Talking in Your Sleep | The Romantics | Chapter title is a line from the song |
| ch. 26 | The Weight | The Band | Chapter named after the album the song is from |
| ch. 28 | (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me | Naked Eyes | Chapter named after song |
| ch. 31 | Helpless | Diamond Head | Chapter named after song |
| ch. 32 | Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) | Green Day | Chapter title is line from song |
| ch. 32 | Put on a Happy Face | Tony Bennett | Song quoted in chapter |
| ch. 33 | Respect | Aretha Franklin | Song quoted in chapter |
| ch. 33 | Hey Nineteen | Steely Dan | Song quoted in chapter |
| ch. 33 | Hey You | Pink Floyd | Chapter title is line from song |
| ch. 34 | Old Blue | Joan Baez | something in chapter is named after song |
| ch. 35 | I Will Possess Your Heart | Death Cab for Cutie | Mary’s theme |