Soundtracks In The Great Gatsby

I really loved the idea of finding a song about Gatsby, because he is the main character and his life is so interesting. This song really represents what Gatsby is thinking about how he feels. In the song it says “You held me close against your heart” then it goes on to say “Then one day he took you away”. This explains to us what Gatsby feels about Daisy all his life then someone (Tom) took her away. It says, “My life has crumbled since you’ve gone, somehow I must carry on.” This is like Gatsby not knowing how to live life without Daisy and he does not know how to start life again without her. In this quote, it explains how much Gatsby truly wants Daisy but he knows he cannot meet her expectations (money). “Gatsby chased the future. He wanted

Jay Gatsby is an enormously rich man, and in the flashy years of the jazz age, wealth defined importance. Gatsby has endless wealth, power and influence but never uses material objects selfishly. Everything he owns exists only to attain his vision. Nick feels

This song has a line in it that says "I been getting dirty money Jordan Belfort" which relates to the characters Gatsby and Wes Moore. Gatsby attains his money through illegally selling alcohol. Also, both Wes Moores sell drugs and gain their money illegally. This money could be reffered to as "dirty

The music in this film showcase the Art Deco-meets-modern style, classic meets cutting edge, which is the essence of The Great Gatsby film. The themes in the songs include partying, murder and heartache as well as "the story's point home – illusionary love, the excess of the leisure classes, the curse of money. The party scene at Tom’s flat, as Nick starts to drink, the song “Who Gon Stop Me” starts, it’s loud and fast showing the heighten effects of the drinks and drugs and expressing the theme that people at that time took everything to the extreme. The lyrics “I can’t stop” are repeated representing how the wealthy spent money without thinking, buying and buying with no end. The scene is like a daze or dream, they are popping bottles of

“...he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 20-21). The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald, is a story about Jay Gatsby, a popular millionaire, as told by Nick Carraway. Gatsby is deeply in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy and when he finally gets to meet her again, the love isn’t how it was. Gatsby is shot in the end by Mr. Wilson and was accused of the murder of Myrtle. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, is about Equality 7-2521 and his experiences in a society that didn’t allow any individualism. When Equality

Motifs are repeated images or symbols that reoccur in stories to suggest a theme. In literary works, motifs are often used produce other literary aspects such as mood, theme, and foreshadowing. They are a crucial literary technique that writers use to create and convey themes. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narrator, Nick Carraway, relives the story of his stay in the luxurious yet corrupt East, specifically New York. Various motifs and symbols can be found in the story and illustrate key themes to the reader. In the novel The Great Gatsby, the motif of being on the outside and inside works to create the theme of wealth and class throughout the novel.

Have you ever read a novel and the story reminded you of a song? If so its ok because that is why people say their song tells a story. In the book Great Gatsby there are many songs in todays world that verbalize the story Great Gatsby. Whether it is a slow song or fast song in some way it can relate to the book because the Great Gatsby is such a complex book. The song Hurt by Johnny Cash is similar to the book by F. Scoot Fitgeralds because both decompresses determinations, heartbreak, and pain.

In the film of The Great Gatsby, based on the novel, Director, Baz Luhrmann shares the elaborate tale of the infamous Jay Gatsby. Taking place in the era of the 1920’s, also known as the roaring twenties, Luhrmann is able to bring the film to life by constructing breathtaking scenery creating a glamorous environment full of ecstasy in order to make the modern day audience get a feel for what life in that time period would have been like today. Though the story is about the main character, Jay Gatsby desperately trying to rekindle the spark he once had with his past love Daisy, Luhrmann infers that this is more than just another film about hopeless love. Throughout the film Luhrmann there is much evidence that reveal the overall theme of the story. Through the overdramatic characters, who seem oblivious to consequences of their actions, as well as the events that take place toward the end of the film, Luhrmann looks to show the audience the destructiveness of money, wealth, and the American Dream. As the film concludes, the narrator, Nick Caraway, solidifies that the purpose of telling the story of The Great Gatsby is to reveal how hopes of achieving the American Dream can corrupt and degrade the human spirit.

   The beauty and splendor of Gatsby's parties masks the decay and corruption that lay at the heart of the Roaring Twenties. The society of the Jazz Age, as observed by Fitzgerald, is morally bankrupt, and thus continually plagued by a crisis of character. Jay Gatsby, though he struggles to be a part of this world, remains unalterably an outsider. His life is a grand irony, in that it is a caricature of Twenties-style ostentation: his closet overflows with custom-made shirts; his lawn teems with "the right people," all engaged in the serious work of absolute triviality; his mannerisms (his false British accent, his old-boy friendliness) are laughably affected. Despite all this,

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the reader sees a common theme of corruption of the American Dream. In the 1920’s, the times are changing in America and morals are becoming looser and the lifestyle of the wealthy is more careless. New fashion, attitude, and music is what nicknamed this era the “Jazz Age,” greatly influencing Fitzgerald’s writing. He created similarities between many things in pop culture and the journey his characters Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Myrtle are taking to achieve the American dream. Through the use of the lively, yet scandalous, jazz music from the 1920’s, Fitzgerald reflects the attitudes of the characters in The Great Gatsby at the end of innocence and prevalence of

In a review by Brendan Dempsey the soundtrack and specifically the song “No Church in the Wild” was analyzed. In an explanation behind some of the lines Dempsey begins to say, “Rolling in a Rolls Royce Corniche: Gatsby's yellow Rolls convertible is a key symbol in the story.” (Dempsey) This obvious connection between the song lyrics and the novel is undeniable. “Cocaine seats/All white like I got the whole thing bleached/Drug dealer chic” (Jay Z, Kanye West) The drug references and involvement in drug dealing is relative to Gatsby’s past. He goes to say in the novel “'Oh, I've been in several things,' he corrected himself. 'I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I’m not in either one now.” It is easy to see that Jay-Z and Kanye West wrote this song based off the descriptions from the novel. (Fitzgerald) Another line from the song that concerns the characters in the novel is “I live by you, desire/I stand by you, walk through the fire/Your love, is my scripture” This shows the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. We are sure of this relationship in the novel because of descriptions such as the following:

In the “Great Gatsby” movie soundtrack, Jay-Z, the soundtrack’s executive producer, compiled an excellent variety of modern day songs in this movie reflecting the 1920’s era. The songs chosen for this film would be most characterized as songs of love, romance, extravagance, grandeur, high society, mystery and many other qualities. These traits of song themes were chosen for this soundtrack as well as modern day songs twisted into a 1920’s melody. Jay-Z did an excellent job of doing so. Although all the songs were excellent and connected very well to the movie, there were two songs in the soundtrack that really caught my eye for various reasons. “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey, a modern day song, was best chosen for the love scenes and can be a song that tells about Daisy’s perspective. Another piece of music which was composed in the time period of when this story is told is “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin. Its power, grandeur, as well as elements of surprise fit very well in several scenes in the movie.

One of my favorite classic rock songs has always been “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen. I grew up listening to my dad’s music and this is one song that has always stuck with me. When I first found out that it was inspired by the Novel “The Great Gatsby” by F Scott. Fitzgerald I was shocked, I had never really listened to the lyrics before. After Reading the book and listening to the song a few more times, I realized that every verse is loosely based on different main characters. This gave the song new meaning for me, it now makes me picture the characters from the book and also has reminiscent sadness attached to it while still connecting to the idea of the American dream, a theme which is also very prevalent in the great Gatsby. The inspiration of characters for verses in this song makes it connects with the book on a whole new level.

Just as a person who once saw and becomes blind can still see in their minds eye in colors, Gatsby invokes the reader by using descriptions of sounds for objects and feelings to help the reader visualize what is going on in the novel. When he describes the music at one of Gatsby’s parties as “The bar is in full swing and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside until the air is alive with chatter and laughter” and the “yellow cocktail music” (p. 44) you get a feeling of drunkenness and loud music to where you can almost hear and feel the music. He uses the perception of one stimulus to evoke a second perception, stimulus, or emotion to convey a feeling, and draw you into the novel.

Another similar aspect of these two movies is the use of modern music to better capture the attention of younger audiences. Since Moulin Rouge was a musical, Luhrmann decided to intertwine recent hits for the singing scenes. Although the film takes place in 1899, He included songs from music legends such as Elton John, Madonna, and The Beatles. In The Great Gatsby, Luhrmann chose to allow a music entrepreneur, Jay-Z, to take control of the music to be played. Jay-Z used self-produced music, and music of modern super stars that he knew the crowd would fall in love with. He inputted a techno feeling to the music at the parties, because he was able to understand that if he used the jazz music prevalent in the 1920s, the audience would have no way of relating.