Tune Tuesday: The ‘Clockwork Prince’ soundtrack
The soundtrack for Clockwork Prince was a little challenging because I found that I was listening to songs about London, or that mentioned London, over and over, so I decided to do a soundtrack of just London songs. But of course there are a lot of songs about London (“London Calling”, etc) that while fine and dandy on their own didn’t really fit the mood or the narrative. So in the end these are the thirteen that I did pick.Cemeteries of London, Coldplay This seemed perfect for a book that starts off with a scene in a cemetery! And the lyrics: At night they would go walking ‘till the breaking of the day The morning is for sleeping Through the dark streets they go searching Seemed to me to fit Will and Jem and their nightly searches for demons: So we rode down to the river where Victorian ghosts pray For the curses to be broken We go underneath the arches where the witches are and they say: There are ghost towns in the ocean. Good Life, One Republic The song actually begins “Woke up in London yesterday” but it was these lyrics I thought fit: Hopelessly, I feel like there might be something that I’ll miss Hopelessly, I feel like the window closes oh so quick Hopelessly, I’m taking a mental picture of you now ‘Cause hopelessly, the hope is we have so much to feel good about Tessa, Jem and Will are all deserving of happiness, and trying hard to be happy, but timing and mortality get in their way.
England, the National
Put an ocean and a river
Between everybody else,
Between everything, yourself, and home
Put an ocean and a river
Between everything, yourself, and home
This one makes me think of Tessa, so far away from where she lived and was born. It gets at that disassociated feeling of being an expat.
Winter Winds, Mumford and Sons
As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts
Oh the warmth in your eyes swept me into your arms
Was it love or fear of the cold that led us through the night?
For every kiss your beauty trumped my doubt
Loving someone you shouldn’t — this could really go for most of the cast! It could be about Tessa and Will – or Tessa and Jem.
There is a magic world parallel
So leave your daily Hell,
He said welcome to England
Welcome to my world.
Well, parallel magical worlds, what else could you ask for? This one actually makes me think of Nate, being drawn into the dark underworld of London by Mortmain.
London Belongs to Me, Saint Etienne
Do you ever wonder where we’ve been?
Do you ever wonder where we’re going?
Just close your eyes.
This song is really about knowing a city so well it becomes part of you. And of course everyone in CP is wondering where they’re going and what they’re doing half the time! Used to play this while writing about the Lightwoods.
Dirty old river, must you keep flowing
Flowing into the night
This is originally a Kinks song, but I prefer the Damon Albarn cover. It’s a deceptively soft and pretty song about loneliness. “But I don’t need no friends — as long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset.” Makes me think of Will, wandering around, especially as the Thames is such a big character in the books.
I am not the kid, to tell you how to love or how to live
And if you think that I am just a bridge, then I’ll be leaving now
This bridge is falling downLondon Skies, Jamie Cullum
Will you let me romanticize,
The beauty in our London skies,
You know the sunlight always shines,
Behind the clouds of London skies.
A song about finding beauty in unusual places. I would say this is a song for Henry and Charlotte, who don’t get nearly enough love!
This is a really beautiful song and for me, a quintessential Will song. It’s all about past mistakes, about wandering in the dark, about love and regret and missing your home. I especially like “You’ve got a knife-throwing kind of love!” I honestly don’t know if I think this song is more about him and Tessa or him and Jem, but it doesn’t really matter.
Walk London’s windy streets
Go anywhere but home
‘Cause I’m looking for the secrets
That only cobble stones hold
Only the cobble stones know
And I’ve never been so sure
That after all these years, I’ll never learn
That heavenly creatures never come
You’ve got a knife-throwing kind of love
But your silence cuts the deepest
And I know I’ve made a mess of things
And I’m sorry for all that
Wish we could get the time back
London Rain (Nothing Heals Me Like You Do), Heather Nova
So keep me in your bed all day
Nothing heals me like you do
And when somebody knows you well
Well there’s no comfort like that
And when somebody needs you
Well there’s no drug like that
And this one is a quintessential Jem song to me. It’s about sickness and healing, about needing to be needed. Parts of it seem to me to be about him and Tessa and other parts, about the comfort of someone who knows you well, seem to be about Will. Either way its about the effect love has on sickness of the spirit.
I don’t know if this one is cheating or not. It does contain the line “Stupid on the streets of London.” Like all Killers songs, there are about fifty things it could be about. But since I choose to believe that it’s about a guy who’s in love with someone who treats him badly, I’m going to say this one is for Magnus and Camille. 
She’s got her halo and wings
Hidden under his eyes
But she’s an angel for sure
She just can’t stop telling lies
But it’s too late for his love
Already caught in a trap
His angel’s kiss was a joke
And she is not coming back
Because heaven sends and heaven takes
Werewolves of London, Warren Zevon
I think this one is kind of a gimme.
He’s the hairy handed gent who ran amok in Kent,
Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair.
You better stay away from him,
He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim,
Huh! I’d like to meet his tailor.
I’ll say it’s about Woolsey Scott, who you’ll meet in CP and of whom I am very fond and who has an excellent tailor.
TMI Source 
Wow I haven’t even read The Infernal Devices but I love the picture of Will and Jem at the top
reading the books now there really awsome 😦 poor james