Bloodlust - aeseaes
if I have one Nickimand song and no others, itās this one! Itās this one in a way thatās almost unsettlingly perfect. From the first verseās appeal to the painted figure at the foot of the stage (because A: literal stage, and B: Lestat looms so large over both of them), to the final line being ācut off my hands and watch me try to undressā. How many ships can say thereās literal hand cutting off? I wouldnāt call it a happyĀ song, but I would call it very them.
All the Rowboats - Regina Spector
This one, I feel like, is the fascinating combination of art and the violin references, which are a repeated motif, perhaps unsurprisingly given Nickiās character, but also of the half-mortality. Thereās the āliving deadā line, the āforever, forever and a dayā. That whole verse where it talks about museums feels like it works exceptionally well for the theatre, because in a lot of ways, they theatre is what became of the children of darkness, taken from a graveyard. Itās no less a tomb. Art and a subpar immortality: it sounds familiar.
Valentine - Fiona Apple
This one might, in truth, be making them a little too soft, but once again, I think it captures the sense of stagnation that characterizes a lot of the vampires. Theyāre talented, theyāre beautiful, but theyāre not aliveĀ anymore. And for these two in specific, the āfugitive too dull to fleeā feelsā¦ fitting. Neither Armand or Nicki leave the theatre, even if they could. And itās even canon that they did learn to care for each other, in some way,
Agony (acoustic) - Paloma Faith
I do love the sense of the singer knowing itās a tragedy, that this canāt end well reallyāand amusingly, the āno time to wasteā, despite being a contrast from my focus on the eternal nature of vampirism, works with these two because all things considered, a decade isnātā¦ long. āTake me home and use meā isnāt exactly giving winning romance either, letās be real, and neither are these two.
Home - AliceBanD
My logic for this one is several fold! From the very start you can see the ideas about Nicki and the theatre; Nicki dies in a pyre, and so too, does the theatre go down in flames much later on (āeverything you made will end up brokenā). The rest of the song, with itās increasing tempo feels like it reflects a lot of their dynamic. By the end of the decade, surely they must know of each other, but at the same time, itās created a sort of rising tension that eventually crests. Theyāve spent too long working alongside each other, with all theā¦ complicated aspects that includes. The ācheap thoughts and cheap addressesā just feels like a fun tie in to the fact that the theatre isnāt in aā¦ well-to and well respected part of the city, and the plays arenāt exactly high art, so much as a farce to feed. It all comes to a heard where neither of them will do what the other wants (āI will lay the table but I will not singā), essentially Nicki wonāt capitulate to Armandāsā¦ everything in the wake of the children of darkness.
Cairo - San FerminĀ
Okay, so this one is a bit of a cheat song, in part because it is, quite potentially, just one of my favourite song for Armand his his various complicated relationships. One again, we have to acknowledge the Lestat shaped absence that defines a lot of themābut heās not the one there. It didnāt āturn out rightā, but itās Armand and Nicki who are living together, who are trapped in this, overall, short lived period, the ā28 days of deliriumā or ten years, but itās close enough! The verse about leaching blood is fitting, given part of Nickiās problem was the inconspicuous consumption, the fact that he was drawing attention to them.
Center of the Sun - Conjure One, Rhys Fulber
The violins come back! Referentially at least. Generally, I do not find Nickiās death the most interesting partĀ of he and Armandās relationship (a. Irony given we know next to nothing about the bulk of it in the middle, but I digress). But I think this one worksāitās both the escape from the hurtāon the pyre, nothing can hurt Nicki anymore, and it might not be a sun, but it is a bright ball of purifying fire that kills a vampire.Ā Ā
Between the bars - Elliott Smith
We have to get at least some more of the concerning elements of their relationship in here! I think the songās opening on the unfulfilled potential works for both Nicki and Armand, but especially for Nicki who doesnāt even get the benefit of centuries. And a bit further, that sense of Nicki being kept āseparate from the restā has some truth to it, in part because Nicki, unless like the others, was never a member of the children of Darkness under Armand. He is only introduced at the very end of that era.
Youth - Daughter
I admit, the ādestroy the middle itās a waste of timeā very well might be the thing that really cinched this song on the playlist for me, because, at least in the canon, we know the start and end of their relationship, and very little, all things considered, of the middle. The second half of the song, and the first verse where it mentions the ālovers that went wrongā, as is so often the case with these two, can be a lampshade of Lestat. āAnd one will die before he gets thereā seems a little bit obvious.
In The Woods Somewhere - Hozier
A bit of an expected entry to the list, but one I really like! This one, as opposed to some that re more early Armand and Nickiās relationship closer to the end, this one us the exact opposite, and is their relationship right at the start surrounding Nickiās turning. The theatre becomes the something in the woods.Ā
Narcissistic Cannibal - EarlyRise
More sort of angsty things set nearer to the end of Nickiās life. The cannibal reference is both a fun reference to the fact that theyāre vampires ( along with āgot to bring myself back from the deadā) but also the way that their relationship, at least the pieces we see areā¦ messy. āNothingās good about the hell you put me throughā could be true! And, I suspect, is more so than not. Would any good moments be able to blot out the overwhelming issues that are the start and end of their relationship?
And a few bonus songs that didnāt make the cut onto the playlist itself, but still work in some ways or another:
Lay of the Ashes - SYR
Vampyre Erotica - Inkubus Sukkubus
Curses - The Crane Wives
