NoFP as a Song-Fic

[Mantis]

It just hit me that NoFP, or at least its first chapter, can be read as a song-fic. Specifically, a song-fic on Blue Oyster Cult's "Veteran of the Psychic Wars." See for yourself:

You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars.
I've been living on the edge so long,
Where the winds of limbo roar,
And I'm young enough to look at
And far too old to see...
All the scars are on the inside.
I'm not sure if there's anything left of me.

Don't let these shakes go on,
It's time we had a break from it!
It's time we had some leave!
We've been living in the flames...
We've been eating up our brains...
Oh, please, don't let these shakes go on!

You ask me why I'm weary, why I cant speak to you.
You blame me for my silence,
Say it's time I changed and grew...
But the war's still going on dear,
And there's no end that I know...
And I can't say if we're ever...
I can't say if we're ever gonna be free!

Don't let these shakes go on,
It's time we had a break from it!
It's time we had some leave!
We've been living in the flames...
We've been eating out our brains...
Oh, please, don't let these shakes go on!

You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars.
My energy is spent at last,
And my armor is destroyed.
I have used up all my weapons, and I'm helpless and bereaved.
Wounds are all I'm made of...
Did I hear you say that this is victory?

Don't let these shakes go on,
It's time we had a break from it!
Send me to the rear,
Where the tides of madness swell,
And been sliding into hell...
Oh, please, don't let these shakes go on...
Don't let these shakes go on...
Don't let these shakes go on!

Does that sound anything like Harry at the beginning of the fic to you?

[Comosicus]

Who ever wrote that kind of hit the nail in the head.

[viridian]

I think Ed mention this song a while back on the yahoo group.

And yeah, I am quiet familiar with BOC.

[jedifanatic]

I'll have to play it in the background next time I reread NOFP.

[Essex]

When I think of NoFP, I hear "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance:

When I was a young boy,
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band.
He said,
"Son when you grow up, will you be the saviour of the broken,
The beaten and the damned?"
He said
"Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non believers, the plans that they have made?"
Because one day I leave you,
A phantom to lead you in the summer,
To join the black parade."

When I was a young boy,
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band.
He said,
"Son when you grow up, will you be the saviour of the broken,
The beaten and the damned?"

Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me.
And other times I feel like I should go. Through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets.
When you're gone we want you all to know We'll Carry on,
We'll Carry on
Though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on
Carry on
We'll carry on
And in my heart I can't contain it
The anthem won't explain it.

And we will send you reeling from decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all
So paint it black and take it back
Lets shout it loud and clear
Do you fight it to the end
We hear the call
To carry on
We'll carry on
Though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated Your weary widow marches on

And on we carry through the fears
Ooh oh ohhhh
Disappointed faces of your peers Ooh oh ohhhh
Take a look at me cause
I could not care at all Do or die
You'll never make me
Cause the world, will never take my heart
You can try, you'll never break me
Want it all,
I'm gonna play this part
Won't explain or say I'm sorry
I'm not ashamed,
I'm gonna show my scar
You're the chair, for all the broken Listen here, because it's only..
I'm just a man,
I'm not a hero
Just a boy, who's meant to sing this song
Just a man,
I'm not a hero
I -- don't -- care
Carry on
We'll carry on
Though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated Your weary widow marches on
We'll carry on
We'll carry on
We'll carry on
We'll carry on

[ShonenHero]

Everytime I listen to Three Doors Down 'When I'm Gone', I think of NoFP.

Lyrics:

There's another world inside of me
That you may never see
There're secrets in this life
That I can't hide
Somewhere in this darkness
There's a light that I can't find
Maybe it's too far away...
Or maybe I'm just blind...

Or maybe I'm just blind...

[Chorus]
So hold me when I'm here
Right me when I'm wrong
Hold me when I'm scared
And love me when I'm gone
Everything I am
And everything in me
Wants to be the one
You wanted me to be
I'll never let you down
Even if I could
I'd give up everything
If only for your good
So hold me when I'm here
Right me when I'm wrong
You can hold me when I'm scared
You won't always be there
So love me when I'm gone

Love me when I'm gone...

When your education X-Ray
Cannot see under my skin
I won't tell you a damn thing
That I could not tell my friends
Roaming through this darkness
I'm alive but I'm alone
Part of me is fighting this
But part of me is gone

[Chorus]

Or maybe I'm just blind...

[Chorus]

Love me when I'm gone...

Love me when I'm gone
When I'm Gone
When I'm Gone
When I'm Gone

[viridian]

Of course, Linkin Park is one of my guilty pleasures too... especially for writing fight scenes. I don't care if I'm bloody forty, it still gets my blood moving. (The older stuff, anyway.)

[Greybane]

Huge LP Fan, both of the old and the new!

[Mantis]

Of course, Linkin Park is one of my guilty pleasures too... especially for writing fight scenes. I don't care if I'm bloody forty, it still gets my blood moving. (The older stuff, anyway.)

"In The End" could be a summary of Harry's feelings toward Dumbledore after coming back in time:

Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me (in the end)
You kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter....

[ewuvi]

The song that never ends. Just kidding. Seriously though, whenever Harry is planning something L's theme starts up in my mind.

[viridian]

In the End definitely matches the desolate theme of the Nightmare Future. Picture this playing in the background as future-Harry sets up the temporal transit field within the burned-out shell of Privet Drive.

That alone could justify NoFP-The Musical.

[ShonenHero]

In the End definitely matches the desolate theme of the Nightmare Future. Picture this playing in the background as future-Harry sets up the temporal transit field within the burned-out shell of Privet Drive.

That alone could justify NoFP-The Musical.

='( Dammit Matt, you really know how to tug at a guy's heartstrings. Now I'mma hafta read the first chapter again with 'In The End' blaring in the background.

[bibliophile20]

In the End definitely matches the desolate theme of the Nightmare Future. Picture this playing in the background as future-Harry sets up the temporal transit field within the burned-out shell of Privet Drive.

That alone could justify NoFP-The Musical.

='( Dammit Matt, you really know how to tug at a guy's heartstrings. Now I'mma hafta read the first chapter again with 'In The End' blaring in the background.

You mean you haven't already?

[runsamok]

Hello,

Some of the music that makes me think of Harry in NOFP are Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden and King of Pain by Sting & Police. Harry is so broken in so many ways, yet he keeps going, regardless, because he wants to make things better for the others.

Lyrics follow:

Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

In my eyes
Indisposed
In disguise
As no one knows
Hides the face
Lies the snake
The sun
In my disgrace
Boiling heat
Summer stench
'Neath the black
The sky looks dead
Call my name
Through the cream
And I'll hear you
Scream again

Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain
Black hole sun
Won't you come
Won't you come

Stuttering
Cold and damp
Steal the warm wind
Tired friend
Times are gone
For honest men
And sometimes
Far too long
For snakes
In my shoes
A walking sleep
And my youth
I pray to keep
Heaven send
Hell away
No one sings
Like you
Anymore

Hang my head
Drown my fear
Till you all just
Disappear

-----------------------------------------

King of Pain by Sting & Police

There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag-pole rag and the wind won't stop

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a blue whale beached by a spring tide's ebb
(That`s my soul up there)
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
(That`s my soul up there)

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread

King of pain

There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack
There's a black-winged gull with a broken back
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain

King of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain

[viridian]

The King of Pain parallel was pretty obvious, but the Soundgarden song never even occured to me. Very nice, wife!

Most of the major action scenes have some sort of soundtrack running in my head as I compose them. The unveiling of "Prongs, Mk.2" had a short snippet from the chorus of Carmina Burana. (When I was at university, guys in the honors dorm used to head-bang to that piece of classical music. Just thinking about it still makes me snicker, but the music really kicks arse.)

And every scene with Harry and Snape (where the latter is speaking) should be played with "One Step Closer" playing very softly in the background... (The general tone of building frustration, rage, and betrayal just fits so well.)



I cannot take this anymore
I'm saying everything I've said before
All these words they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Less I hear the less you'll say
But you'll find that out anyway

Just like before...

Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Cause I'm one step closer to the edge
And I'm about to break

I find the answers aren't so clear
Wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts they make no sense
I find bliss in ignorance
Nothing seems to go away
Over and over again

Chorus

Shut up when I'm talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up (2x)

I’m about to break!

Chorus

[Joe]

I stumbled across 'Time of Dying' by Three Days Grace a while ago, and I've only just recently realized how perfectly it fits the part where Harry is lying on his bed half dead (after Vernon's beating) thinking about Ginny and wondering if he's going to die;

'Time of Dying' by Three Days

On the ground I lay
Motionless in pain
I can see my life flashing before my eyes
Did I fall asleep
Is this all a dream
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare

I will not die (I will not die)
I will survive

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

On this bed I lay
Losing everything
I can see my life passing me by
Was it all too much
Or just not enough
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare

I will not die (I will not die)
I will survive

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I will not die, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

[Greybane]

I just found a good one; "From Yesterday" by 30 seconds to Mars

He's a stranger to some
And a vision to none
He can never get enough,
Get enough of the world

For a fortune he'd quit
But it's hard to admit
How it ends and begins
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
From yesterday, it's coming!
From yesterday, the fear!
From yesterday, it calls him
But he doesn't want to read the message here

On a mountain he sits, not of gold but of sin
through the blood he can learn, see the lives that it took
From council of one
He'll decide when he's done with the innocent

On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)
On his face is a map of the world
(A map of the world)

From yesterday, it's coming!
From yesterday, the fear!
From yesterday, it calls him
But he doesn't want to read the message here
But he doesn't want to read the message here
But he doesn't want to read the message here

On his face is a map of the world

From yesterday, it's coming!
From yesterday, the fear!
From yesterday, it calls him
But he doesn't want to read the message here
From yesterday,
From yesterday,
From yesterday, the fear
From yesterday,
From yesterday
But he doesn't want to read the message here
But he doesn't want to read the message here
But he doesn't want to read the message here

[Joe]

You know, we should keep suggesting appropriate songs and then put together a NOFP soundtrack.

[Greybane]

I say each chapter needs it's own theme song.

[ewuvi]

Hey just found a song that fits while listening to Ok Go. It's called Invincible

When they finally come to destroy the earth, they'll have to go through you first.
I bet they won't be expecting that.
When they finally come to destroy the earth, they'll have to deal with you first,
and now my money says they won't know about the
thousand Fahrenheit hot metal lights behind your eyes. Invincible.

invincible oh oh oh
You're invincible.
oh oh
invincible
invincible oh oh oh

you're invincible
(invincible, invincible, invincible.(background singers)) That crushing, crashing, atom-smashing, white-hot thing yeah.. invincible.


When they finally come, what'll you do to them? Gonna decimate them like you did to me? Will you leave them stunned and stuttering? When they finally come, how will you handle them? Will you devastate them deliberately?

'Cause I'm gonna guess they won't be prepared for thousand Fahrenheit hot metal lights behind your eyes. invincible

invincible oh oh oh
You're invincible.
invincible oh oh
invincible oh oh oh

youre invicible
(invincible, invincible, invincible.backup singers)) That crushing, crashing, atom-smashing, white-hot thing... invincible.

So please, use your powers, for good. please use your powers for good.

You're invincible

invincible oh oh oh
invinvible
invincible oh
youre invincible
invincible oh oh oh
your invincible
invincible (oh oh oh)
invincible
oh your're invincible.

na na na na na na, na na na na na na na, na na na na na nan na na

(oh oh oh oh, your invincible)

(invincible, invincible, invincible.) That crushing, crashing, atom-smashing, white-hot thing... invincible.

[viridian]

Interesting video of that on Youtube... but "Invincible" is the last word I'd use to describe merged-Harry. He's got a bad case of "Brust Syndrome", AKA Glass Cannon-itis.

[ewuvi]

Well he's definitely not invincible, but the line that made me think NoFP was this:

When they finally come to destroy the earth, they'll have to go through you first.
I bet they won't be expecting that.
When they finally come to destroy the earth, they'll have to deal with you first,
and now my money says they won't know about the
thousand Fahrenheit hot metal lights behind your eyes.

Especially with the merged Harry.

[Darkarma]

Never really been partial to Song-fics myself but I felt this song goes remarkably well with NoFP, especially when I was rereading the end of Year 2 all the way to most recent chapter.

This song is from .hack//Sign by Yuki Kajiura, excellent anyways and remarkably completely in English like many of the .hack//Sign songs.

"To Nowhere"
Can you hear the calling of the raving wind and water?
We just keep dreaming of the land 'cross the river
We are always on the way to find the place we belong
Wandering to no where, we're paddling
Down the raging sea

Who can cross over such raving wind and water?
On the rolling boat we sit, shivering with coldness
Come by an island, come by a hillock,
It's just another place, we paddle on down the raging sea

But in the morning we'll see the sun
Bright shining morning dew singing
They who will search will find the land
of evergreen

Can you hear the calling of the raving wind and water?
We just keep paddling down the sea, up the river
No destination, but we are together
In the silent sadness we're paddling
Down the raging sea
Down to no where

[Mantis]

You know, we should keep suggesting appropriate songs and then put together a NOFP soundtrack.

I say each chapter needs it's own theme song.

I did something like that in my own fics, opening each chapter with a quotation that had some connection to the events of the chapter, though not all of them come from songs, some are from poems, plays, or movies.

Interesting video of that on Youtube... but "Invincible" is the last word I'd use to describe merged-Harry. He's got a bad case of "Brust Syndrome", AKA Glass Cannon-itis.

Heh. I like David Weber's term for that, in reference to Honorverse Light Attack Craft (at least before the Shrike-class LAC completely changed the paradigm) -- "eggshells armed with sledgehammers."

I think Pat Benatar's "Invincible" might be a better fit:

This bloody road remains a mystery.
This sudden darkness fills the air.
What are we waiting for?
Won't anybody help us?
What are we waiting for?
We can't afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the enemy.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!

This shattered dream you cannot justify.
We're gonna scream until we're satisfied.
What are we running for? We've got the right to be angry.
What are we running for when there's nowhere we can run to anymore?
We can't afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the enemy.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!
And with the power of conviction there is no sacrifice.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!

Won't anybody help us?
What are we running for when there's nowhere...

Nowhere we can run to anymore?
We can't afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the enemy.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!
And with the power of conviction there is no sacrifice.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!

We can't afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the enemy.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!
We can't afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the enemy.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible!

I've been listening a lot to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" lately, since seeing Watchmen:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

[To Rita Skeeter and the Daily Prophet]
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

[To the Ministry]
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

[To Dumbledore and Molly and Arthur]
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

[To the Wizarding World in general]
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

[unknown10937]

"High Hopes" by Pink Floyd to me accuratly portrays merged Harry's feelings.

Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun

Along the Long Road and on down the Causeway
Do they still meet there by the Cut

There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
To a life consumed by slow decay

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide

At a higher altitude with flag unfurled
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
There's a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we've been so many times

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river

Forever and ever



"Goodbye Blue Sky" by Pink Floyd is also good for depressed pre-time jump Harry

Did you, did you see the frightened ones?
Did you, did you hear the falling bombs?
Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter,
When the promise of a brave new world,
Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?

Did you, did you see the frightened ones?
Did you, did you hear the falling bombs?
The flames are all long gone,
But the pain lingers on.
Goodbye, blue sky.
Goodbye, blue sky.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.