1. borrowing misery from future

2. carrying grief of the past

why of course :)

i have a pretty epic withnail and i playlist (about 5 and a half hours) but it's highly imprecise--a lot of songs that just give me the right vibe or i was listening to a lot while while writing a fic or something. so these are specifically the songs that i hear and say to myself "how is this song not literally written about them??"

Bar Italia by Pulp

it's literally a song about being stuck in a dreary cycle with someone who enables you. switch out the reference to cafes and clubs for pubs and you've literally got a precise description of marwood and withnail's relationship.

Coffee and TV by Blur

song about feeling unable to exist in society so you numb your mind with popular vices? "I've seen so much, I'm going blind / and I'm braindead virtually" is marwood at the beginning of the movie. there's a whole verse about trying to escape to the country and finding it hostile!

Come Back to Camden by Morrissey

a guy laments that his friend(?) won't come back to (admittedly gross) camden town while reminiscing about their relationship. this is not only the plot of probably ten post-canon withnail and i fics but also the story of come back to camden. also, pretending withnail and morrissey are the same person just makes sense.

I'm So Tired by the Beatles

this song is the exact vibe of the opening credits scene, including the aimless ideas of getting drink or having a cigarette to take one's mind off something.

Like A Friend by Pulp

listen. i don't know if jarvis cocker ever saw withnail and i. but i do think the divine spirit of the movie possessed him while writing this song. it is about them. it is a song about them. no one can deny or take this away from me. just go listen to it (and then watch this edit to it) and try to tell me im wrong.