1. "Porcelain" By Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Porcelain" refers to the fragile situation of parents struggling with drug abuse while trying to raise their children. "Drifting and floating and fading away" - the parent cannot fully give themselves to their child because of their addiction, similar to Jules with Baby. He is hospitalized and goes to rehab multiple times, leaving Baby without a stable parent figure.
2. "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran
These lyrics represent Baby's struggles as she grows up. "The worst things in life come free to us" describes the violence, neglect and abuse inflicted by Jules & Alphonse. "We're just under the upper hand" represents her overpowering pimp who is able to manipulate her into becoming a prostitute. "Go mad for a couple grams" symbolizes her increasing addiction to drugs which ease the pain of being caught in the world of prostitution.
3. "I Am A Child" by Neil Young
This song illustrates the thoughts of a child. The author of Lullabies For Little Criminals highlights the innocence of childhood through Baby's perspectives and analysis of the world around her, such as her interest in the fake nails left in the soap dish in their apartment at the Ostrich Hotel. The childlike observations and questions that make up the lyrics of this song demonstrate the curiosity of children like Baby.
4. "My Generation" by The Who
This song explains the generational thinking of youth in the 60s which is prevalent in Patti Smith's "Just Kids". There is a sense of anthem to "My Generation". Both the song and Smith's writings promote trust within the generation and how youth at that time felt connected to one another. Patti and Robert felt a strong connection when they would produce art together and felt hopeful that they could make a life out of it.
5. "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
The theme of this song is about embracing one's true self and distancing oneself from those who are not supportive and accepting. Robert Mapplethorpe became a "freebird" once he left his catholic household to pursue his dream of becoming an artist and to explore his sexuality.
6. "Outside The Wall" by Pink Floyd
"The bleeding hearts and artists/Make their stand/And when they've given you their all/Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy" is relevant to artists like Smith who attempts to evoke change through art although she faces obstacles along the way like the loss of many of her friends in the 1970s.
7. "Run For Your Life" by The Beatles
"Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl/Than to be with another man/You better keep your head, little girl/Or I won't know where I am." The threatening lyrics and upbeat tune of this song resemble Arnold's overpowering nature and control over Connie in Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?". They are reminiscent of when he threatens her family if she does not obey him.
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| The Beatles albums in a record store |
8. "No Church in the Wild" by Kanye West and Jay-Z
The basic theme of the song is that you must fight for yourself, as there is not always someone there to save you, hence "no church in the wild". This is relevant to when Connie cries out for her mother when she is in distress, but realizes that she will have to overcome this situation on her own.
9. "Real Men" by Joe Jackson
This song denounces the model of masculinity that society has created for men, much like the one that Roosevelt develops in "The American Boy". Roosevelt believes that men should be tough, courageous and dominant, but Jackson questions if these characteristics describe what it really means to be a man.
10. "I'm Going Slightly Mad" by Queen
This song reflects Freddie Mercury's unstable state at the time when he wrote it. He is an example of a great artist who deteriorated due to illness just as Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" reflects how "the best minds of [his] generation [were] destroyed by madness[...]".
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