Hamlet Soundtrack

Hamlet Soundtrack

Act 3

Act 5

Act 1

Ophelia - The Lumineers

The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison

Ten Cent Pistol - The Black Keys

Yesterday - The Beatles

Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-A-Lot

Jeremy - Pearl Jam

At Ophelia’s funeral in Scene 1, Hamlet leaps into Ophelia’s grave and professes his love for her in front of his family and Laertes. The song “Ophelia” by The Lumineers speaks about a man’s love for a woman, how he’s loved her for a while and that she loved him back. The same situation happens between Hamlet and Ophelia, they both loved each other for a while, but both have yet to admit it.

“Yesterday” is a song about falling into a depression after losing a loved one. Hamlet has fallen into a depression following his father’s death and his mother and new step father tell him he must get over his father’s death. In “Yesterday” they say “I'm not half the man I used to be, there's a shadow hanging over me,” this relates to Hamlet because he feels as if his life has no more meaning anymore and that he is living in the shadow of his father’s death.

Ten Cent Pistol is slang for drugs laced with a lethal amount of some form of poison, such as Hebenon. Everyone except Horatio is killed with poison in the very last scene of the play. The song “Ten Cent Pistol” is a song about getting revenge on someone by killing them with poison. Laertes and the King try to get revenge on Hamlet by poisoning his drink, Hamlet tries to get revenge on Laertes by poisoning his sword and revenge on the King by poisoning his drink and sword.

Jim Morrison says “and only one of all the rest to dance and save us from the divine mockery of words… when the true kings murderers are allowed to roam free.” Hamlet is the one to save the rest of the people from his uncle- the true kings murderer’s- deceivement and divine mockery of words. This song is also called “The Ghost Song,” and in Act 1, Hamlet is told by the ghost (his father and former king) that the king was killed by Hamlet’s uncle.

In the song "Baby got Back" Sir Mix-A-Lot says “But I gotta be straight when I say I want to (girl moan) Til the break of dawn”. This ties with the play by Hamlet by making sexual jokes to Ophelia. Ophelia replies to his jokes with “ohh, you’re sharp," and Hamlet replies “ Yes, pointy, but you could take the edge off me— though it might make you moan a little.”. Hamlet is being quite flirtatious with Ophelia, as Sir Mix-A-Lot with the woman he is writing about in his song.

In act 3, Hamlet recites his famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, contemplating whether killing himself was worth it. “Jeremy” is a song about a 16 year old kid who killed himself because he felt that no one in his family or friends cared. In his soliloquy Hamlet says: “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, th' oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised love,” which is parallel with the lyrics “Daddy didn't give attention to the fact that mommy didn't care, King Jeremy the wicked ruled his world.”

Move Along - The All American Rejects

The King Must Die - Elton John

1-800-273-8255 - Logic

“Move Along” by The All-American rejects gives people advice on how they should act when life or other people may knock them down. This relates to Polonius’ advice to Laertes, before Laertes embarks on his journey to France, his father gives him advice on how to be a respectable and responsible man.

Act 4

In the second scene of act 5, Hamlet tells Horatio how he survived England by rewriting the document to tell the English men to kill Guildenstern and Rosencrantz instead of Hamlet. In Elton John’s “The King Must Die,” he says “And I'm so afraid your courtiers cannot be called best friends,” Claudius spoke to his courtiers as if they were good friends but would always use them as pawns in dangerous situations, ultimately resulting in their death. Later, Elton John says “Widows had to cry while mercenaries in cloisters sing and the king must die,” Claudius’s wife- a widow- and Claudius, the king- die at the final scene of the play.

Throughout the song, Logic speaks about he wants to die and how he doesn't see where his place is in the world. In the chorus, he says “I feel like I’m out of my mind, I feel like my life ain’t mine,” which goes with how Hamlet is feeling throughout the play. He feels like he’s going crazy and is indecisive about whether he should kill himself or not.

Act 2

Whoomp There It Is - Tag Team

(Don't Fear) The Reaper -

Blue Oyster Cult

Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan

Spiderhead - Cage the Elephant

In the song it talks about getting a party started. This relates to Hamlet in act 3 when Hamlet has hid Polonius' body. Claudius attempts to get the answer out of Hamlet when Hamlet says “ In heaven, send a messenger there if you want to be sure. If your messenger can’t find him, you can check hell yourself.” which means that Hamlet is slowly starting to get his confidence up and then “WHOOMP THERE IT IS” relates because the play is about to unfold.

In the seventh scene of act 4, Ophelia dies when drowning in a pond. “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” is about dying and running into the arms of the Angel of Death. Before dying Ophelia was going insane from losing her father and her love for Hamlet. Blue Oyster Cult says “Love of two is one, here but now they're gone. Came the last night of sadness and it was clear she couldn't go on,” which explains how two people love each other but it only lasts for so long until they die. After dying, Ophelia is in a better place and gets away from insanity, this song goes along with the thought that life gets better after death when you’re in a tough place in life.

Act 2 of Hamlet is when the characters start to realize that Hamlet is going crazy. “Spiderhead” is a song that speaks about indecisiveness and thinking you’re insane because you never know what’s the right thing to do. Hamlet is unsure of whether the ghost is right and to go through with killing his uncle.

Old friends of Hamlet are asked to spy on him while they are back in the kingdom. “Positively 4th Street” is a song about friend betrayal, and Hamlet’s friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are betraying him by pretending to be his friends but spying on him instead. In the song, Bob Dylan says “You got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend, when I was down you just stood there grinning,” this conveys Hamlet’s feeling towards his friends when he finds out they were spying.

Crazy In Love - Beyonce

If I Die Young - The Band Perry

In act 2 Hamlet shows his feelings for Ophelia in a odd way as if he is “crazy in love." In the play Polonius makes the comment to Ophelia “this is the very ecstasy of love, whose violent property fordoes itself” which in the song "Crazy in Love" Beyonce sings “Crazy and deranged, they can figure them out they like hey is he insane.” This relates to act 2 because of the way Ophelia and her father Polonius view Hamlet's behavior at this part of the play.

In the play Claudius and Laertes form a plan to kill hamlet. After they come up with their master plan Gertrude storms in and says that Ophelia has died. She fell in the river while on a tree branch picking flowers and happened to drown but sang a love song. “Her clothes spread wide, and mermaid like- while they bore her up, which time she chanted snatches of old lauds, as one incapable of her own distress” and in the song it says “Sink me in a river at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song” which describes how she died.

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