Pairing Songs

[teyla]

It's a time-honored fandom tradition to connect your favorite songs to your favorite pairings, whether the two fit together or not. I do it all the time; it's rare that I listen to a new song without trying to somehow fit it into my fandom shipper world. I always feel that these associations are best kept to oneself--pretty much any song can be interpreted from any pairing's perspective, and a lot of the time, the connection is so obscure that it becomes redundant to anyone but the individual making it.

However. (You knew there was one coming, didn't you?) Over the years, I've come across a handful of songs that, I feel, actually do fit a certain pairing or character in more than an entirely subjective way. Songs like that usually end up on my list of "vids I should make at some point". Vids, however, are a lot of work, and I'm lazy, so you're not getting vids, you're just getting the songs, and my thoughts on why they remind me of the character or pairing I listed them under.

• The 10th Doctor


• Unsurprisingly, Ten's getting the most songs in this list. Because I <3 Ten, and he's probably the character of all of fandom ever that I've dedicated the most thought and consideration to. It's a bit sad that two of his three songs are Evanescence songs. Ten, your emo is not so subtle.


• EVANESCENCE - SWEET SACRIFICE
  
  
  
  
  It took me a while to understand the "angry" side of Ten's character. Partly that was because it wasn't all that easy to see in his first couple of seasons, and partly it was because it's a type of anger and resentment that's a bit hard to understand, and very easy to misunderstand. Ten has this mile-wide martyr streak. That's nothing new. He loves sacrificing himself for a cause--but what took me a while to understand was that he doesn't love it unequivocally. He resents the stupidity and narrow-mindedness of the people who "force" him to sacrifice himself--and his reaction is not violence against them, but violence against himself, which explains why he's quite so ready to sign up for suicide missions, even though I don't think he's suicidal or self-hating per se. It's a very Gethsemane kind of rage, and really a bit silly of him, but then, he's not exactly one for the subtle emotional gestures. Sweet Sacrifice always reminds me of that part of his character--the righteous-anger part that turns resentment of others against himself.



• EVANESCENCE - YOUR STAR
  
  
  
  
  This is a song about Gallifrey, to me. Or, well, Ten's Gallifrey. Most of the lyrics are quite self-explanatory. I like the fact that it addresses him in the second person. "I can't see your star." Ten has this tendency to glorify Gallifrey--he talks about it as if it were the most beautiful place in the whole universe, even though he knows it's not. It's not just that it's gone; the way he talks about it and wants to remember it, it never existed. He's the only one who can ever see it that way--which, if you go with the Academy canon of him having tried to reform Gallifrey to be that place he wishes it would have been, emphasizes the biggest failure of his entire life. Had he been successful in his reform, he wouldn't have to lie when he talks about his planet as a beautiful place--and since Gallifrey doesn't exist anymore, he can't even hope for it to maybe someday become that place he wanted it to be.
  
  I actually started vidding this song once, but there are not enough clips of Gallifrey in the show to make it look good. Although I should maybe give it another try now that End of Time has aired.



• A PERFECT CIRCLE - THE NOOSE
  
  
  
  
  Well. I did make a vid to this one. And it took me long enough, so I am shamelessly embedding it here. I love how this song showcases Ten's struggle and failure to live up to his own impossible standards. He tries so damn hard, the poor man. And he doesn't give up, either. I think for him, the point is not whether or not you succeeded, the question is whether you tried your best. Which, you know, puts him out of place in a success-oriented society like humanity's. And Gallifrey's, from what canon tells us.

• Doctor/Master


• It being my OTP, of course I have a bunch of Doctor/Master songs to offer. No Evanescence this time, but I have some Korn and some Slipknot. Their love, it is epic. And emo.


• KORN - MAKE ME BAD
  
  
  
  
  I always feel that this is a Year that Wasn't song, from the Doctor's perspective. He was kept in captivity by his ex-boyfriend/nemesis/last other survivor of his race for an entire year--and he knew that whatever he did during that year wouldn't matter. He was going to reverse it; none of it would be part of the universe's actual time line. All he had to do was wait. Give Martha time to gather followers, and wait for the day when he would be able to defeat the Master. So what do you do, for a year, on the slow path, being held captive by someone who used to be the most important person in your life? I wouldn't be surprised if you developed at least a little bit of Stockholm Syndrome. Because it doesn't matter, does it. All he has to do is survive. The temptation to simply give in and let things happen to him, passively, would be huge. But since he's the Doctor, he would, of course, guilt about it. Which is where this song comes in.



• MATTHEW GOOD BAND - WEAPON
  
  
  
  
  This is an End of Time song to me. In EoT, it becomes clearer than ever how similar the Doctor and the Master are--the background they share, and the blind idealism. The difference between them is the methods they use to achieve what they want--and even that is only a perfunctory difference, since both the Doctor's and the Master's methods are eventually self-destructive. Or not just self, but destructive in general. They both bring death wherever they go, and to the people who die, it's pretty academic whether that was intentional or not. Ultimately, in End of Time, I felt that the bottom line was that the only way they can ever achieve something constructive is when they put their differences aside and accept the fact that they're bound to one another. Which, I think, this song illustrates nicely.
  
  I have actually started vidding this one. We'll see how long this one will take me to complete.



• SLIPKNOT - SNUFF
  
  
  
  
  Have some Slipknot! This is a Master song, and unsurprisingly, I came across it on Jasper's playlist. It expresses sentiments that, I think, fit the Master's unconscious feelings about his relationship with the Doctor. Not only would he never voice these feelings; I don't even think he's aware of them. But the idea of the Master resenting the Doctor for not sticking around and fighting, for not being able to invest as much hate in their relationship as he invested love, well. It makes sense to me. I think my favorite line from the song is "if you still care don't ever let me know". Because that is very Master. Anyone showing fondness, caring or affection towards him, rather than reverence and fear, is usually punished for it. He doesn't want to know, because as long as he doesn't know, he can hate and resent you in peace.

• Doctor/Donna


• RHCP - DEATH OF A MARTIAN
  
  
  
  
  This has been my Doctor/Donna song since The Runaway Bride. I love how it combines nonsensical playfulness with sad and hurtful undertones. It sounds like a song about something "pure" being lost--which, I think, fits the description of the Doctor's and Donna's relationship pretty well. It was uncomplicated and simple, and went beyond the awkward I-have-a-crush-on-you level. I can see them as lovers or as friends--honestly, it doesn't make much of a difference. They seemed to have a mutual non-verbal understanding of one another that you usually only get with siblings whom you're very close with, or with year-long friends you've been through so much with that little things don't matter anymore--or, if you're very lucky, with your significant other. The song, to me, feels like it describes a relationship like that being lost, but still cherished, which fits the Doctor and Donna so very well, because they lost the relationship not because of a misunderstanding, or an incident that came between them, but because they understood one another too well. And the Doctor definitely still cherishes the time he had with her. So, yes. Death of a Martian is absolutely my Doctor/Donna song.
  
  (It is actually a song about Flea's, the RHCP bassist's, dog Martian dying. Which is both a bit odd, and weirdly fitting as well.)

• House/Wilson


• MATTHEW GOOD BAND - SYMBOLISTIC WHITE WALLS
  
  
  
  
  This is season 6 House/Wilson. They have grown so bored with one another. Actually, the entire show has grown so bored with itself. They go through the motions, patient of the week, inter-character subplots, lahdeedah. The characters don't have any space to develop or even only move; it's all on rails and there are no surprises, ever. House and Wilson are the best example. I remember being so excited about the cohab arc in season 2--the one in season 6, so far, has left me cold. And I don't think that's only because I'm less of a fangirl now than I was then. It's simply that they're not coming up with anything new.
  
  Thing is, however, I could totally see this happen in an actual person's life. House and Wilson, they're both so set in their respective roles that they can't manage to break out anymore and actually be individuals. That's where this song comes in--it expresses how, I would image, both of them feel about one another at the moment. Or how they would feel about one another, if the show actually finally acknowledged that it's driven its characters down a dead end.

• Gene/Sam/Alex


• CREAM - BADGE
  
  
  
  
  This is a Gene POV song about Sam from a retrospective perspective in 1981, when he's working with Alex in Ashes to Ashes. Sam's dead, the 70s are dead, and Gene feels like something left over from a brighter and more promising past. He looks back and remembers Sam showing up, completely out of place and off his head, and elbowing himself into Gene's life. And finally, when Gene had managed to accept him and integrated him into his worldview as one of "his", Sam went and died. And now Gene's stuck in a future that's so completely different to what he'd envisioned--but he's Gene, so he works with what he has, and what he has is Alex, who reminds him of Sam.
  
  I actually started vidding this one once, too. I lost the files, though. And I don't know either Ashes to Ashes or Life on Mars well enough to actually vid anything in those fandoms.

• Jack/Daniel


• FRANZ FERDINAND - YOU'RE THE REASON I'M LEAVING
  
  
  
  
  That's Jack/Daniel from SG-1. I went into watching that show wanting to ship them--I knew it was the most popular pairing, and I loved Daniel and wanted someone to pair him off with--but Jack proved to be too much of a dick for me to want to inflict him on poor Daniel. I really dislike Jack O'Neill--he's ignorant, not because of lack of intelligence, but by choice. Chosen ignorance is one of my biggest pet peeves. On the other hand, I could see Daniel starting something with Jack, hoping that he would be able to guide Jack towards a worldview where he wouldn't choose to be a blockheaded idiot. He would end up frustrated, though. There's this one episode, The Menace--long story short, Daniel comes this close to solving a conflict peacefully, when Jack comes in guns blazing and kills everything in sight. You're The Reason I'm Leaving is my Jack/Daniel break-up song, and if I ever were to vid it, it would probably center on that episode. Daniel's a very patient guy, but he does have enough self-respect to not put himself through that kind of disrespect and abuse. More power to him for dumping Jack O'Neill. (And hooking up with Vala later. Daniel/Vala ftw.)

Long entry is long! Hope you found it at least a little bit interesting. Feel free to link me to your favorite character/pairing songs in the comments! :)

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