a narnia playlist

I know I have been a bit MIA this month, (1) and for that, apologies. But I do not have the mental fortitude nor the ability to get over my blogger's block (2) to write a real post, so here is a playlist of Narnia songs! Here is a link to a handy Spotify playlist.

I curated this playlist a few years ago, and I must admit some creative license was taken in relating certain songs to the book I claim they talk about. My arguments for such choices are defended in the footnotes. One last disclaimer: The songs are not listed in publication order, though I am a strong proponent that the books be read this way. I honestly don't quite remember why I arranged them this way, other than it seemed to work better for the overarching narrative of a playlist from Narnia's beginning to its end. (Don't come at me pls.)

The Magician's Nephew
The Call by Regina Spektor
Digory's Regret by Sarah Sparks
The Bell and the Hammer by Eine Blume
Music from a Garden by The Gray Havens
The Planting of the Tree by Eine Blume

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
Into the Lantern Waste by Sarah Sparks
Lucy's Tale by Sarah Sparks
Gifts and Signs by Sarah Sparks
Endless Summer by The Gray Havens
Blood for Blood by Sarah Sparks
A Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time by Eine Blume
Shadows of the Dawn by The Gray Havens (3)

The Horse and His Boy
Shasta's Complaint by Sarah Sparks
Paradise by The Gray Havens

Prince Caspian
The New Song of Trumpkin by Sarah Sparks

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Wide Awake by The Gray Havens
Inheritance by The Gray Havens (4)
The Voyage by Brentwood Stair
Diamonds and Gold by The Gray Havens (5)
The Lament of Eustace Scrubb by The Oh Hellos
Tread the Dawn by The Gray Havens
Sirens by The Gray Havens (6)
Courage, Dear Heart by Brentwood Stair
Real by Meg Sutherland

The Silver Chair
Silver by The Gray Havens (7)
A Song for Jill by Sarah Sparks
Puddleglum's Anthem by Sarah Sparks
Pale Moonlight by The Gray Havens
I Still Believe by Meg Sutherland

The Last Battle
Come Further Up by Sarah Sparks
Further In by Grace Stailey (8)
The Call by Regina Spektor

Enjoy, and comment your favorite Narnia book if you so desire! (My top three in no particular order are The Silver Chair, The Magician's Nephew, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)

(1) Let's ignore the fact that I only have two readers currently, because they're the only two people I've told that this little place exists, and that they live with me and therefore have not had an absence of me this month ;)

(2) A term I just coined meaning I don't have just general writer's block, but instead I am too lazy to get in touch with my thoughts and my feelings on aforementioned thoughts to form coherent sentences.

(3) The Gray Havens being so steeped in Narnia, I have always imagined this song to be playing as Lucy and Susan are crying over Aslan's dead body in the shadows before the dawn comes.

(4) Inheritance is another unusual pick, but just listen to the faint creaking of the ropes holding the sails in the opening moments of the song and tell me Caspian isn't the one hanging from the rails of the ship pulling those ropes.

(5) Diamonds and Gold is the real difficulty to relate, but it's refrain of "Diamonds and gold and soul, they fight" seems to exemplify the struggle Eustace has with his flesh and desire for materialistic gain.

(6) Sirens likely was not written to directly relate to VOTDT, but it definitely exemplifies the sirens of the book.

(7) Apparently I read Narnia into everything The Gray Havens write (though am I wrong?). This one requires a bit more backstory... Silver was originally written based off the conversation between J.R.R. Tolkien, Hugo Dyson, and C.S. Lewis about myth where Tolkien argued that Christ is the "True Myth," which soon led to Lewi's conversion to Christianity. The name "silver" was taken from a quip Lewis made in the conversation that Christianity was "lies breathed through silver," meaning that Christianity was too good to be true. Tolkien immortalized this phrase in the dedication to a poem he wrote shortly after that fateful walk with Lewis and Dyson, "Mythopoeia." Now, my argument for including Silver as a song about TSC focuses on the themes of the two: continuing to believe in something that sounds too good to be true. Also, they literally used the phrase "that tied us to our silver chairs" so I'm right, right? And basically this was just a ploy to make you read Mythopoeia...

(8) I just recently came across this song, and I debated where it best fit in the narrative: at the end of TLTW&TW or at the end of TLB. Ultimately, like The Call, I decided it was a beautiful farewell to Narnia as we return home changed by what we have learned and loved.