Wether or not they liked music then, it is no question that John Winthrop and Edgar Allen Poe would be all about our present music scene. Not only is it generally true that people who like to write are open to some music to get the ink flowing, but both of these men were men of conviction with some causes that they were getting behind (or leading) so they would've wanted some music to advance their cause, the more means the better. For our purposes we are going to speculate that just prior to Poe's death he was going to write about a persona based on himself, the persona usually listened to the same playlist. And though Winthrop is known to have been a puritan, which might imply some rigidity, at least one person has (or is currently) making the argument that like Poe, Winthrop would also listen to a particular playlist on repeat.

Edgar's Playlist

     Poe, being a "goth," would undoubtedly have a favorable disposition to any band with vampire in it's name. Not only that but the song "Oxford Comma," by Vampire Weekend portrays a sentiment that Poe reflected in his writings. The song starts with the line, "Who gives a f*** about an oxford comma," and goes on to say later, "So if there's any other way/to spell that word/ it's fine with me, with me" (Vampire Weekend). Here we get the feel that Vampire weekend has ill-regard for conventions when it comes to writing. Edgar Allen shared this sentiment, and can be credited with pushing the boundaries of conventional writing. In the Purloined Letter, Poe starts with, "At Paris, just after dark one gusty evening in the autumn of 18--, I was enjoying the twofold luxury of meditation and a meershaum, in company with my friend C. Auguste Dupin" (Poe, par. 1); though it seems like Poe is written a first-person narrative, he isn't. He is employing the use of a persona, that is he has created a character in the story through whom the narrations will come. This was not something that had been seen in any of the writings that we had read prior to Poe. He continues the introduction to the story by saying, " For one hour at least we had maintained a profound silence... I was mentally discussing certain topics which had formed matter for conversation between us at an earlier period of the evening; I mean the affair of the Rue Morgue, and the mystery attending the murder of Marie Roget" (Poe, par. 1). This lays the foundation for the unfolding of a detective fiction story. "Poe is often cited as the creator of the modern detective story" (Creel), and this is another example of Poe willingness to care less about conventions than conventional thinking. Further reading of Poe reveals more material from which one could gather his musical preference.

In The Fall of the House of Usher, we are able to see the descriptiveness that came to mark gothic writing. Bob Dylan's son "All Along the Watchtower," there are subtleties that point toward the gothicism which Poe's writing embodied; aside from the piercing harmonica (which like any piercing things fit right in with gothicism), we see one line in particular that could fit right into a poe story, "All along the watchtower, princes kept the view. While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too. Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl. Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl" (Dylan).  Settings that include howling winds and watchtowers are right along the lines of gothic literature. So as Poe was also apt to use such descriptiveness: "Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to the house. A servant in waiting took my horse, and I entered the Gothic archway of the hall... While the objects around me--while the carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I strode, I still wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up" (Poe, par. 6); he would certainly be a fan of Bob Dylan's, "All Along the Watchtower."

Just as Poe was preceded by earlier American writers (whom we have read), like Jon Winthrop; Bob Dylan had songwriting predecessors like Woody Guthrie, and it just so happens that if Winthrop were to have an ipod a song written by Woody Guthrie would by on his playlist. The song is "Christ For President," and though it was written by Guthrie it was arranged and recorded by Billy Bragg & Wilco. In Winthrop's, "A Model of Christian Charity," He explains that mankind will always have people in varying conditions: "God Almighty in His most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection" (Winthrop, 147). With that being said Winthrop believed that some form of organization was given by God for the ordering of his people. He also believed that the "Law of the Gospel" should dictate a societies behavior one to another. Winthrop referred to this way of living as a pattern and stated in regards to them and Jesus, "For the patterns we have that first of our savior who out of His good will in obedience to His father...found a native sensibleness of our infirmities and sorrows as He willingly yielded HImself to death to ease our infirmities, and so healed our sorrows" (Winthrop, 153). Here we see Winthrop pointing to Jesus as the example of one who lived according to the ways which Winthrop is an advocate, so it would be no surprise that He would listen to a song with a  pretty straight forward plea to, "Have Christ [be] our President / Let us have him for our king / Cast your vote for the Carpenter / That you call the Nazarene" (Billy Bragg & Wilco), aside from wether Jesus would accept the nomination, Winthrop like Woody, would likely have no problem "casting their vote for the Carpenter." John Winthrop was plainly an advocate for law and order according to the patterns God set out for mankind, and as Winthrop acknowledged Jesus as the one who live according to these patterns it would follow that if Jesus was on the ballet, John would be there to cast his vote; and he'd probably be wearing headphone listening to "Christ for President," by Billy Bragg & Wilco.

Winthrop Playlist

Winthrop wrote in response to tensions between two groups of people, that the Church in England and the Church in America. While some were advocating a separation from the Church in England, who was believed to be in error, Winthrop emphasized the need to stay unified. Rachel Reichstad states that, "Repeatedly [Winthrop] writes of mercy, and brotherly love as the means to achieve balance and peace within their community.  Above all, however, importance is placed upon the community’s spiritual health" (Reichstad, par. 8). "First of all," states Winthrop, "true Christians are one body in Christ" (Winthrop, 153), he often viewed the Church as a body that should be kept together, as that is the way a body is meant to be. The song "I Would Hurt a Fly," by Built To Spill also speaks about a body, "there's a mean bone in my body / it's connected to the problems that I won't take for an answer / and I won't take that from you" (Built to Spill). This song is about some internal frustrations going on in a body (the frustrations are caused by a fly), the writer has a "mean bone" in his body, and the lyrics continue with the conclusive line, "I would hurt a fly" (Built to Spill). Here we see what can happen when a mean bone is allowed to be unchecked, death. Winthrop sees the problems with a body that is not completely nice, and as he stated that we are all, "knit together by this bond of love" (Winthrop, 156), he listens to songs like this to gain insight into, the "mean bones" whom he is unwilling to cut himself off from. Poe on the other hand sympathizes with the tendency of man to "hurt a fly," and he is willing to emphasize this darker side of man. Mathew Scroggins points out that in The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe choses to make the setting, "so gloomy and terrifying that it has no redeeming qualities" (Scroggins, par. 1); Poe has no problems leaving things is a depressing state while Winthrop strives toward progress.

The last song of these respective author's playlist epitomizes their persuasions.  Last on Poe's playlist is, "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine; though the perhaps not entirely quotable, the song is blatantly about refusing to drift along the current that is the doldrums. This mentality is represented by Poe's willingness to be a critic open to focusing on the grim aspects of life. Winthrop is more of an optimist, the last song on his list is "Lord Help the Poor and Needy" by Cat Power, the title speaks for itself, and Winthrop's attitude that, "We must bear one another's burdens. We must not look only on our own things, but also on the tings of our brethren" (Winthrop, 156), his playlist is more uplifting and puts him in the place of moving toward a right society. To say the least both of these writers would be sure to find songs that strike a chord with them, and the playlist they would listen to would surely be reflective of the writings and their characters.

Vampire Weekend. "Oxford Comma." Vampire Weekend. XL Recordings, 2008.

Rage Against The Machine. "Killing in the Name." Rage Against The Machine. Epic Records, 1992.

Bob Dylan. "All Along the Watchtower." John Wesley Harding. Columbia, 1967.

Billy Bragg & Wilco. "Christ For President." Mermaid Ave Vol. II. Elektra, 2002.

Built to Spill. "I Would Hurt a Fly." Perfect From Now On. Warner Bros. Up Records, 1997.

Cat Power. "Lord, Help the Poor and Needy." Jukebox. Matador Records, 2008.