Season 1:

Swan Lake, Op. 20 Act 1: Introduction - No.1, Scene.Allegro giusto (A.K.A The Swan Lake introduction song).

I think that Jon's narrative and the Black Swan narrative are extremely similar. For those who haven't seen the movie Black Swan, the story is about a young woman, Nina, who becomes obsessed with perfecting the duality of portraying the White Swan and the Black Swan. She essentially destroys herself in pursuit of her darker side, a side that was brought out by her dance director. I think if you put Jon Sims in this situation, he would act the same as her. Both individuals are desperate to be seen as competent and perfect and there is something to be said about transformation and the pain of transforming yourself into a being that can no longer revert back to purity. There is only black, but there is also perfection.

Spellbound - Siouxsie and the Banshees

The lyrics, the goddamn lyrics. Just the entirety of the archives, they are all caught in the spell, the web of games, and the dance. They have to dance along or else they'll get hurt. I also think Siouxsie songs have a very TMA-esque sound to them in general, in that these songs could fit in my film adaptation of TMA (the one I'm making in my mind constantly).

Season 2:

Let It Happen - Tame Impala

Like I said, my mind has been conjuring up a TMA film adaptation since I first started listening and this song would definitely play in a scene with all the avatars speaking "let it happen" to Jon. I also love how the song talks about something trying to get out of the narrator's body, something that they can't fight against much longer, because it's closer and closer and it will get out. Jon Sims, as the closest thing to an important person, could be said to be the capsule for the Eye. And all of the other avatars know this, because they're the same, but Jon refuses to let it happen. He can't give up. He doesn't want to give in. Eventually, he does, but his struggle to maintain humanity causes him pain and suffering and a coma. Should've just let it happen, bud.

Boys Don't Cry - The Cure

Literally the most S2 Jon song. The narrator says he's gone too far, he's laughing at the hysterics, he's at a cliff's edge of emotions, and he wants other's forgiveness but it's far too late and he knows it's all gone to shit. Jon, at the height of his paranoia, knew it was wrong to stalk and interrogate and suspect nearly every single one of his friends, but forgiveness was never in the cards anyway, he knew that. He just needed to know he wasn't gonna fucking die. His friends and their emotions came second, and that's what tore them apart.

Season 3:

Your Body, My Temple - Will Wood (For Camp Here & There)

Not really a Jon song, so much as it is about Jon from Elias's POV. The song features a narrator who is viewing the object of their affection with religious fervor. They speak about how they'd die at the object's hands if only to have their name on their final breath. The main line as well, "your body, my temple," highlights how the narrator views the object as a holy spectacle, assigning divinity to them, even when it is not wanted. Elias certainly assigned godhood to Jon and his expression of love and admiration bordered on worship, or, arguably, was worship. After all, Jon was the harbinger of the new world. The man who brought in fear in all its glory and gave Elias his throne. Worthy of worship? I think so.

Cat People (Putting Out Fire) - David Bowie

S3 Jon was a man putting out fire with gasoline, no question about it. He went forward and met various dangerous avatars just for the chance at learning more and more about the new world he was wrapped up in. Some of these lyrics also scream Jon Sims. For example, "See these eyes so green / I can stare for a thousand years / Just be still with me / You wouldn't believe what I've been through." The narrator, additionally, sees himself as a monster of sorts, the kind that people look away from. There is a passion so fiery in his eyes that it makes them look red, and then people close the blinds on him. S3 was the season where Jon was just beginning to understand his abilities, and the people surrounding him hated them. It made him other. It made him something to be feared.

Season 4:

Chin Music For The Unsuspecting Hero - Foster The People

The opening lyrics to this are literally the most S4 Jon Sims lyrics I've ever heard in my entire miserable life. "Today I walked through the door and fell down on my floor / Got all of my papers out and read them." Which is then followed by the chorus, with another round of Jon lyrics: "Where are my friends now? / They're not around when I need them / I cannot pretend / Yeah, I find myself against all the odds again." The narrator follows up the first chorus with lyrics talking about how they have to wake up and go to work, get screamed at, go home to sleep, and scream at their god that they're doing what they can. This is just so S4 Jon moving through the motions like a ghost, wondering where his friends have gone, the people he could trust. They are all gone. He'll never see them again. He's all alone. Basira sees him as a weapon, Melanie is far too angry to be polite to anyone anymore, Daisy is a shell of herself, Tim is dead, Sasha is dead, and Martin might as well be dead. Tragic!

All I Think About Now - Pixies

Like the one above, but a bit less sad. Not really. This song is all about staying stuck in the past and wondering if going back to the beginning would allow the narrator to find another way. Reminiscing on the happier times, lamenting on how happiness is nonexistent now. Trying to thank the people from the past. Once again: tragic!

Season 5:

I start off S5 with a different season break song. The playlist is sectioned off with a different Swan Lake song. S5 starts with:

Starman - David Bowie

I've always imagined this as the outro song for 160. There is a starman (Eye) waiting in the sky and he would really love to meet Jon. This world is theirs now. They don't want it to end, not really. It's too beautiful.

Komm, Susser Tod - Arianne (For Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion)

Now. This is one of the most Jon Sims songs ever. The narrator is crushed to see that their actions have let so many people down, but they know that by killing themselves, or leaving forever, their world might turn out better. Of course, this isn't true. The world is ending either way. Regardless, they wish to go back in time and fix things, trust again, love again. Very MAG200. The world is tumbling down, returning to nothing, and the narrator believes it's all their fault. Their love is worth nothing. They have nothing in the world. Except, maybe, Jon had his own love that mattered most. It helped. A bit.

Gilded Lily - Cults

This is one of the last few songs and it hit me so hard the first time I heard it, honestly. The narrator knows it was, in some way, their fault for not seeing things as clearly as they should've. The chorus repeating "Haven't I given enough?" remains as one of my top Jon lyrics. He gave so much to stop these powers from spreading, from infecting other worlds with their fear and destruction. No one person should have to do that. He was young, really, in the grand scheme of things. There was no instruction manual.

There's also a line here that is very JonMartin: "Always the fool with the slowest heart / But I know you'll take me with you / We'll live in spaces between walls." I really do truly hope the narrative was kind to them and they're living somewhere else, living in spaces between walls.

Well. That's the end of that. I included the ending of Swan Lake as the final song to the playlist, because I am crazy about the parallels. Playlist attached now. Thank you if you've read this far. I ramble. I hope you liked the ramble.