RatMan

usually when i build character playlists im doing it with two goals in mind - choosing music that they would listen to, and lyrical significance

with norah in particular, despite her being a flautist and generally meek, quiet and non confrontational, she has desires and needs that aren't being met that are best represented through grungy rock and slow paced, meticulous melody; especially through acoustic picking. most of this playlist is very guitar forward, and often have a blown out, crunchy sound, or a disconnected floaty ambience that feel very deadwood to me. there's also influence from genres that i think the other characters would have introduced to her.

equally important to me, the lyrics have to represent the character in mind. obviously not every song will be 100% perfect, but there's often very obvious calls to her. ill give a few examples:

ANYONE CAN PLAY GUITAR - RADIOHEAD I want to be in a band when I get to heaven And anyone can play guitar and they won't be a nothing anymore

i've always associated this with her attempt + how unfulfilled she feels on her academic track. there's a lot of songs in this playlist that reference suicide, but i think this one is most representative of her escapist fantasy of joining a band and dropping the perfect student persona

DAGGER - SLOWDIVE The world is full of noise yeah I hear it all the time And me I am your dagger You know I am your wound I thought I heard you whisper It happens all the time

specifically i associate this with her and william. mostly to do with the words noise + whisper, but also her tendency to be at the head of physical danger because of her difficulty with communication

entire songs sometimes completely align with her or the entire UPP team, for example: Gnaw - Alex G: descriptions of childhood, occult, and communal secrecy (especially from adults)

Mass Anesthesia - Mediavolo: this is how i imagine UPP feels about the general population of deadwood's lack of awareness to the horrors they've encountered

Music Box - Leith Ross: despite this song's exterior being a calming lullaby, the lyrics stuck with me and have always been twisted into a creepily-calm recounting of mysteries they've solved

Free Treasure - Adrianne Lenker: yes, do you want to go to the river is maybe the most brutal way to start this song and a large part of why it was an immediate choice, but it also captures the calm and good of norah's life and interests- the love and care she found in her only group of friends and the importance of community, when otherwise occupied with unhelpful thoughts and feelings

15 Step - Radiohead: i mean man. what can i say. the pressures of being a perfect student and overachiever combined with depression, anxiety, late diagnosed autism and self doubt. being suddenly hit with every roadblock imaginable and going "what happened to the old me, where did i go wrong?"