References in Modern Media to Classic Literature Pt.2

By Serena Wang, Sabrina Whenman and Julia Scarfe

Hope you all haven’t been waiting too long! In honor of the upcoming Loreto Music Festival, we’ve decided to bring you a music-themed part two for this series. I began to research a little before we decided on the edition but I thought I’d recruit some of my friends who have had more experience with musicals and such. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Released just 10 years before the book is set, “1984” by David Bowie is entirely based on “1984” by George Orwell, originally created for a musical adaptation of the book. It features a strong, driving beat and is mainly guitar centered. It references the changing of rules and the forceful conforming to them in the book, as well as propaganda inserted by Big Brother to lessen the intelligence and ability of citizens. Julia’s potential lobotomy has also been referenced in these lyrics.

“Someday they won’t let you, now you must agree,

The times they are a telling, and the changing isn’t free,

You’ve read it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on TV,”

“They’ll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air,

And tell that you’re eighty, but brother you won’t care,”

He also describes the relationship between Winston and Julia in the chorus in the perspective of Winston, referring to his defiant conversations with her as a ‘movie role’ and asks if she remembered him. The term highlights how performative his relationship with her is for the Thought Police and Big Brother, as well as the entertainment of the audience. The chorus ends with Winston’s acknowledgement that despite how much they both wanted the relationship to last, their society would never allow it to.

“Come see, come see, remember me? 

We played out an all night movie role,

You said it would last, but I guess we enrolled

In 1984,”

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One of the most iconic Taylor Swift songs, “Love Story” explicitly uses the story of “Romeo and Juliet” in its lyrics. Taylor Swift is known for her romantic and upbeat music, which is perfect for this (later tragic) Shakepearian play. She recounts the secret meetings of Romeo and Juliet upon their balcony in her chorus: 

“Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone

I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run

You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess

It's a love story, baby, just say, ‘Yes’.”

Later, she also twists the story, altering the last chorus of the song.

“...He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring

And said, ‘Marry me, Juliet

You'll never have to be alone

I love you and that's all I really know

I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress

It's a love story, baby, just say, ‘Yes’.”

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“Royal We” was created by Janani K. Jha, about a toxic relationship, but contains many references to Greek mythology. Most heavily, she references the idea of the ‘royal we’, which is to use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’, when speaking as a person of royalty or a sovereign. In the case of this song, she uses it to describe how her independence has completely faded away and she has become dependent on a person, then becoming part of a plural pronoun instead of a singular one. It is somewhat reminiscent of Hera and Zeus’s relationship, as Hera previously was completely independent, then fell in love with Zeus, only to be forced to stay in the relationship while Zeus became disloyal.

“I put you on pedestal,

Let you love me skeletal,

We got so inseparable,

I almost forgot how,” 

“Before I had you, I was free,

Took my kingdom come,

Traded it for loyalty.

Did it all for love,

Now I’m running all my dreams

By the king and queen,

I used to speak for me,

But now I use the royal ‘We’.”

There is also the mention of the Trojan War, in the second chorus. It is meant to be similar to the story of the Trojan Horse, where the Greeks pretended to surrender and sent the Trojans a wooden horse. As Janani K Jha puts it, “Trojan citizens debated whether or not to actually bring the horse into their walls, but, ultimately, they decided it was worth it…And later that night, the Greeks emerged from the horse where they were hiding, and laid waste to the city of Troy, and destroyed it.” She mentions that it is symbolic of a past relationship, letting down her walls only to become betrayed and hurt.

“Before I had you, I was free,

Let my walls come down.

I looked up and Troy was breached,

And you won my crown.”

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Another song relating to “Romeo and Juliet”, “Exit Music (For a Film)” by Radiohead is in the perspective of Verona’s lovebirds. They plot to escape, with Romeo telling Juliet to take her belongings quickly, before her father finds them. Thom Yorke, the singer and songwriter of Radiohead, tells us that he has had a long-time interest in “Romeo and Juliet”, commenting at his first watch that Romeo should have escaped with Juliet.

“Pack and get dressed,

Before your father hears us,

Before all hell breaks loose.”

Later, Romeo begs Juliet to “keep breathing”, most likely struggling to survive away from their homes. He tells her that he cannot do “this” alone, likely referring to escaping from his family and the warring House of Capulet. This is further emphasized by the line, “A song to keep us warm.” 

“Breathe, keep breathing,

I can’t do this alone.”

“Sing us a song,

A song to keep us warm,

There’s such a chill, such a chill.”

Soon after, both are alluded to have died, telling us that they are “one in everlasting peace,” and directs the last verse to their families.

“And you can laugh a spineless laugh,

We hope your rules and wisdom choke you.

Now we are one in everlasting peace,

We hope that you choke, that you choke. (x3)”

Musicals

“Epic the Musical” is a musical concept album composed of nine sagas and forty songs, split into two acts. It’s written by Jorge Rivera Herrans and is based on the Greek Epic Poem, “The Odyssey”. It explores concepts and themes such as ‘ruthlessness’ and ‘being just a man’ throughout the story. The musical moves through the Epic starting with the Troy saga and the moral conflict Odysseus faces in the battle, and ending with the Ithaca saga where Odysseus arrives home after 20 years at war and gets back to his wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus. As this is an actual story, go listen to it (or watch the animatics on youtube) if you don’t want spoilers.

This musical is a new representation of an old story and it perfectly weaves the themes into each song, using repetition of lyrics and musical motifs, as well as traditional instruments. It first introduces the idea of Odysseus being ‘Just a Man’ when he faces a moral decision in the first saga and the idea is referenced throughout the rest of the musical. Later in the musical this theme is contradicted with the idea of ‘when does a man become a monster’ as Odysseus questions just how far he has to go to make it home. In the last two sagas he embraces the Ruthlessness that he has been told to use for so long. 

When he finally reaches home he knows that he isn’t the same person and begs for forgiveness from his wife Penelope. In the lyrics “Would you fall in love with me again, if you knew all the things I’ve done?” and he asks for her to love him even after the journey that changed him. Her response is “Don’t tell me you're not the same person, you're always my husband, and I’ve been waiting, waiting.” This shows that despite how Odysseus feels about himself and his actions, love prevails. 

Overall, “Epic the Musical” is a great representation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” and embodies the themes and story in an easy to listen to and interesting way. You get to see Odysseus’ character arc and the way he changes as well and meeting different heroes, gods and monsters from Greek Mythology.

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As the newest musical in Theatre Royal Sydney’s showing, “Hadestown” is a wonderful retelling of the classic story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology. In case you were wondering, Orpheus and Eurydice are star-crossed lovers in its original story, Orpheus being a musician and talented with the lyre, and when Eurydice dies fleeing from a man looking to court her, Orpheus went deep into the Underworld to retrieve Eurydice, succeeding to find her, but met with Hades.

Orpheus then decided to play for Hades, a moving tune that convinced the King of the Underworld. However, Hades then challenged him to bring her back with her trailing behind him, and for Orpheus to not be allowed to look at her. However, in his journey to bring her back to the living, was tempted by the Fates to look back at her, to check if she was truly there, and instead found a distraught Eurydice that fades away once he looks. 

Hadestown uses all the key characters of the original story, but puts them into the setting of a dark, smog-filled world where Persephone rarely comes to visit (and therefore, spring doesn’t either) and people work till their deaths in the area that is the Underworld, just stations away from where Orpheus works, in a bar. Eurydice, who, similar to all the other residents of the area, is deep in poverty, decides to work in the Underworld, leaving Orpheus to come get her out of hell itself. Each piece is a wonderful song on its own and together, a tear-bringing work of art. “Hadestown” is absolutely at the top of my would-watch list, and I highly recommend that you go and check it out, while it’s still showing around here.

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Last year, our whole grade had an excursion to the Sydney Lyric to watch David West Read’s “&Juliet”. It was definitely one of our favourite excursions we’ve had so far, and sparked our interest in acting and musicals!

“&Juliet” is a musical about self-discovery and second chances, a rendition of Shakespeare’s famous play, “Romeo and Juliet”, where instead of killing herself after seeing Romeo dead, Juliet chooses to keep living and discovers that there’s more to life than her love for Romeo. This play has used modern songs like Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” to display how Juliet changes and discovers her identity, moving away from her past. 

Cleverly, “&Juliet” utilises the dramatic element of “Romeo and Juliet” to create an emotional yet comedic story, introducing new characters to the story using the environment and giving Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway a secondary plot line, working out their relationship and Shakespeare’s self-centeredness. The renowned musical first premiered to broadway in America in 2019 and came to Australia in early February 2023, at the Sydney Lyric theatre.

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In Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton”, telling the story of the American politician Alexander Hamilton and his personal life and his role in the civil war, there’s a clever reference to one of Shakespeare’s plays, named after the protagonist, named Macbeth. In the song, “Take a Break”, in which Hamilton is writing to his wife, he mentions Macbeth in the lines,

“My dearest, Angelica

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

I trust you’ll understand the reference to another Scottish tragedy

Without my having to name the play,

They think me Macbeth, ambition is my folly.”

The mention of this Shakespearian play goes against a common premonition of actors to never say Macbeth on stage, under the superstition that this will curse the play. This superstition started when many playhouses that performed “Macbeth” went out of business. Lin Manuel Miranda references this in his song as to foreshadow that something will go wrong, as this song is sung before Hamilton is exposed by his coworkers, is divorced by his wife, Elizabeth, and his son is killed in a duel.

This was a really long one to write, and my thanks goes out to the people who have helped us make this series. Have a great Music Festival and wishing you all well for the term break!