Soundtrack to Bastard Out of Carolina:
“Concrete Angel” by Martina McBride
Glen beats Bone. She constantly has
to deal with the shame and guilt it brings her as she hides it from others. Bone
becomes convinced that it’s her own fault. Bone “did not know how to tell
anyone what [she] felt, what scared [her] and shamed [her]”(Allison 109).
Similarly, the song is about a girl who hides her bruises from being beat and
feels ashamed due to what she’s put through. The song is heartbreaking, but
gives a glimpse of hope by talking about her being an angel who can fly away
from it all.
“I Smile” by Kirk Franklin
Bone experiences a period in the
novel where she feels very inspired by gospel music. She goes with her friend
Shannon to church to listen soulful gospel music that they sing. The gospel
music to her “became an obsession”(Allison 137). The song “I Smile,” conveys very powerful
gospel. The song is uplifting and serves as a means of escape of the real
world. I feel this is appropriate for the text as Bone uses gospel music as a
means to escape from her problems.
“Stand” by Rascal Flatts
Bone is constantly shoving back
what happened to her. She ignores it even though it consumes a large part of
her. However, towards the end of the novel Bone finally stands up for herself
and tells her mom she isn’t going to live with Glen anymore. Even though this
means not getting to live with her mom and sister, Bone sticks to what she
says. This reminds me of the song when it says, “on your needs you look up
decide you’ve had enough (Flats). Bone decides she doesn’t want to endure the beating
and live like that anymore so she sticks up for herself once and for all!
“Walk Away” by Christina Aguilera
Bone’s mother, Anney, is conflicted
by two choices. She is aware of what Glen is doing to Bone and doesn’t want him
to do it, yet she doesn’t really do anything to stop it. Anney doesn’t want to
walk away from Glen’s love, which is the only way to for sure ensure Bone’s
safety. She loves both bone and Glen and can’t decide what to do. She is in
conflict with which decision to make when she should know to walk away from
Glen. Bone even realizes this struggle as she “[wants] her to love [her] enough
to leave him”(Allison 106). This reminds
me of the song Walk Away because like the lyrics “what do you do when you know
something’s bad for you and still can’t let go”(Aguilera), Bone’s mother knows
what Glen is doing to Bone is wrong yet she still can’t walk away. The song is
very relevant to the struggle Bone’s mother is internally facing.
“Here Come the Tears” by Judas Priest
Bone feels alone and unloved. She
blames herself for Glen beating her. She feels like she has nobody to turn to
at one point in the novel. This reminded me a lot of “Here Come the Tears,” as
it is a sad song about feeling unwanted and repeats several times “I just want
to be loved.” The song would play well to reflect the sadness that Bone is
facing.
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