Prompt: Pretend you get to create the music soundtrack for what you’ve been reading. What five songs would you include? Write an explanation for each song: why would you include it, how does the song connect to events.
The Boy In the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones
Pages read: 173-finished
The first song I would pick would be "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. When Billie Joe Armstrong (the lead singer of the band) was just 10 years old his father passed away. This song was written because of his lost. In the book The Boy In the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones the main character, Jim Hawkins' father also died. In the book Jim is about 12 or 13, and his father died two years before which made him about 10 or 11 when his father died. The song connects to this event, because they both lost their fathers around the same time. One quote in the song is, "As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost." This means that he is coping with the fact that his father died, but he will never forget his father. In the book Jim is starting to accept that he will never see his father again, but he still misses him, and doesn't forget about him. In the end Jim and his mother have more closure by having a proper funeral.
The second song I would add to the music soundtrack for the book would be "Don't Ask Me" by OK Go. I think this song is perfect for the character Father Fisher in the book. Father Fisher is Ruth Rose's step father, the church's priest, and the man who killed Jim's father. In the middle of the book Ruth and Jim are almost positive that Father Fisher killed Jim's father. Father Fisher is very sneaky and knows that Jim and Ruth knows what he did. Every time he visits Jim's mother or spots Jim he is always fake, acts like he doesn't know what Jim is thinking, and acts friendly. In reality he is a lying killer. In the song it say things like don't act friendly when you're actually not. A lyric in the song is, "Quit acting so friendly...don't think I've forgotten...don't sit there and play just, so frank, so straight, so candid, so thoughtful, so gracious, so sound, so even-handed." This is something Jim would definitely say to Father Fisher, because he knows that he had something to do with his father's death. I also think Ruth Rose would also say this to him, because she doesn't like her step father to begin with. Ruth is a troubled girl who hears voices in her head, and Father Fisher tells people that she is crazy which gave her an even more bad reputation. It seems like he won't let people forget that she is messed up. The song relates to this book, because Father Fisher acts all friendly, and many people believe it, because he is a priest, but really he is the bad guy.
The third song I would pick is "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Fall Out Boy. In the book Ruth and Jim have gone through very hard times. Ruth has lost her father, and unborn little brother or sister in a car crash, and now has to deal with her evil step father. Jim lost his dad, and now his mother relies on him to do many things. A lyric in the song is, "Don't you know that the kids aren't all, kids aren't all right." This connects to the events, because Jim and Ruth are the kids who aren't all right. They have both gone through emotional times, and now both have to deal with Father Fisher, and the horrible things he has done. Also many people just know that Ruth Rose is a crazy person, and doesn't think much other than that of her. A lot of the people, don't know that she has lost her family, and why she is the way she is. Another lyric in the song that relates to the book is, "All those people in those old photographs I've seen are dead." This can relate to how Ruth, Ruth's mother, Jim, and Jim's mother all lost someone important. They have a lot of lost loved ones that they lost a long time ago which could be shown in old photographs.
The fourth song I would choose would be "House of Gold" by Twenty One Pilots. This song talks about how the singer's mother tells him that when she grows old and his father dies will he take care of her. This relates to the book, because since Jim's father has died his mother relied on him for things to be taken cared of. She feels bad that he has to be put in this situation, because he is still a kid, but he doesn't mind, because he feels bad for her as well. A lyric in the song is, "She asked me, 'Son, when I grow old will you buy me a house of gold? And when your father turns to stone, will you take care of me?'" Jim's mother feels bad, but she and Jim know that she can't do all of the work alone. Jim tries his best to keeps her happy, and not too stressed. I think Jim is doing a really good job in keeping everything stable, because right now they are still doing okay with everything going on, but if Jim weren't there Jim's mother would be in trouble.
The last song I would pick would be "Thriller" by Fall Out Boy. I think this song best connects to Ruth's life. The song is written by Pete Went, and the song shows his gratitude toward the people who have stuck by his side through his tough times. The song also adds in the critics on the band and the people who put labels on the band. One song lyric in the song is, "Make us poster boys for your scene, but we are not making an acceptance speech." This means that people have made put the band in positions that they didn't intentionally put themselves into, so they won't admit that they are what people said they were. This relates to Ruth Rose, because Father Fisher has told people that she has problems, and that she is just plain crazy. People now know her as crazy, when really she is not going through a good time. She admitted that she does hear voices in her head, but she knows she is not all what Father Fisher says she is. Another lyric that relates to Ruth Rose that is in the song is, "So long live the car crash hearts." The "car crash hearts" are the people she lost that were in a car accident. Ruth lost her father, and unborn brother or sister. Her mother was crippled after the accident. The lyrics say "long live the car crash hearts" several times over and over again, and Ruth rose constantly remembers the ones she lost.
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