The Connection between Death of a Bachelor and the Great Gatsby

Have you ever had an idea so crazy, so stupid, and so undeniably dumb that it makes complete sense to you that it could work. That’s this idea for me. This idea should have never come to fruition. How can a Alt-Rock album from 2016 and a standard high school reading from the 1920’s be connected? All I can say to that is to listen to this album with the idea in your head.

The album opens with the song “Victorious,” a party anthem that feels like what a modern Gatsby party would be. It would be an all-out bash with a feel of the Baz Luhrmann Gatsby film and eccentric partying happening all around. The party goes on beyond the opening song with “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time” being a recollection of the party mentioned in “Victorious.”  The third song on the album, “Hallelujah,” is the beginning of the fall, as the character is going to a church and confessing his sins and getting a second chance. This could be Gatsby’s second chance to win back Daisy after waiting for years. The fourth song on the album  “Emperor’s New Clothes” could show Gatsby trying to win back Daisy by hosting a party with her as the guest of honor. The jumping around begins here with song six, “Crazy = Genius,” where the connection I found was how both Daisy and Tom have affairs with other people. The idea is a bit extreme, as Daisy does it to show Tom she can, and Tom has not learned from his mistake which has a huge role in this song in particular. The 10th song on the album, “House of Memories” could tie in with the perspective we get from Jordan on why Gatsby wants Daisy so much and can’t live without her. The metaphorical house of memories could also show Gatsby remembering only good times with Daisy and not the bad. The 9th song, “The Good, The Bad, and the Dirty,” really symbolizes the argument that Gatsby and Tom get into on the extremely hot day when they go to the city and everything falls apart in the friendship. Tom calls out Gatsby as what he truly is, a gangster, showing that he is the dirtiest of all the people in the group. The 7th song, “LA Devotee” shows Daisy getting back with Tom the following line: “And a black car that matches your blackest soul; I wouldn’t change ya, oh; Wouldn’t ever try to make you leave, no.” It symbolizes Tom to me, as a no good, dirty, rotten person that Daisy still ends up with. The 5th song, “Death of A Bachelor” comes into play here, as Gatsby is the bachelor who died. The two songs that I haven’t covered, “Impossible Year”, and “Golden Days” make up the end as “Impossible Year” shows how Nick couldn’t stay in New York any longer after Gatsby’s death, and “Golden Days” feels like it could show Nick stumbling onto his old possessions and writing the story, the same story many high school students read.

If you’d like to investigate here is a album link for Spotify, you can figure out the order yourself: https://open.spotify.com/album/6twKQ0EsUJHVlAr6XBylrj

Photo Credit: Wikipedia