Bloodlust - aeseaes
if I have one Nickimand song and no others, itâs this one! Itâs this one in a way thatâs almost unsettlingly perfect. From the first verseâs 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 âcut off my hands and watch me try to undressâ. How many ships can say thereâs literal hand cutting off? I wouldnât call it a happy 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 Nickiâs character, but also of the half-mortality. Thereâs the âliving deadâ line, the âforever, forever and a dayâ. 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. Itâs 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. Theyâre talented, theyâre beautiful, but theyâre not alive anymore. And for these two in specific, the âfugitive too dull to fleeâ feels⊠fitting. Neither Armand or Nicki leave the theatre, even if they could. And itâs 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 itâs a tragedy, that this canât end well reallyâand amusingly, the âno time to wasteâ, despite being a contrast from my focus on the eternal nature of vampirism, works with these two because all things considered, a decade isnât⊠long. âTake me home and use meâ isnât exactly giving winning romance either, letâs 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 (âeverything you made will end up brokenâ). The rest of the song, with itâs 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, itâs created a sort of rising tension that eventually crests. Theyâve spent too long working alongside each other, with all the⊠complicated aspects that includes. The âcheap thoughts and cheap addressesâ just feels like a fun tie in to the fact that the theatre isnât in a⊠well-to and well respected part of the city, and the plays arenât 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 (âI will lay the table but I will not singâ), essentially Nicki wonât capitulate to Armandâs⊠everything in the wake of the children of darkness.
Cairo - San FerminÂ
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 themâbut heâs not the one there. It didnât âturn out rightâ, but itâs Armand and Nicki who are living together, who are trapped in this, overall, short lived period, the â28 days of deliriumâ or ten years, but itâs close enough! The verse about leaching blood is fitting, given part of Nickiâs 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 Nickiâs death the most interesting part of he and Armandâs 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 worksâitâs both the escape from the hurtâon 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. Â
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 songâs opening on the unfulfilled potential works for both Nicki and Armand, but especially for Nicki who doesnât even get the benefit of centuries. And a bit further, that sense of Nicki being kept âseparate from the restâ 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 âdestroy the middle itâs a waste of timeâ 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 âlovers that went wrongâ, as is so often the case with these two, can be a lampshade of Lestat. âAnd one will die before he gets thereâ 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 Nickiâs relationship closer to the end, this one us the exact opposite, and is their relationship right at the start surrounding Nickiâs turning. The theatre becomes the something in the woods.Â
Narcissistic Cannibal - EarlyRise
More sort of angsty things set nearer to the end of Nickiâs life. The cannibal reference is both a fun reference to the fact that theyâre vampires ( along with âgot to bring myself back from the deadâ) but also the way that their relationship, at least the pieces we see are⊠messy. âNothingâs good about the hell you put me throughâ 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 didnât 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
