http://www.mixpod.com/playlist/86654834

     An interesting question can be posed for historical figures: If someone in the past were alive today, what type of music would they listen to? Getting past the generality of each generation not liking subsequent generation’s music and instead, looking at the writings of the historical figure to gauge their preferences can set up many interesting parallels and similarities to modern day music. And thus, the question is served, what type of music would appeal to Edgar Allen Poe and Thomas Paine in today’s society?

     Thomas Paine in his time was a revolutionary leader, visionary, and a patriot. His writings inspired many people to fight for the cause of freedom from England, and he was able to do this with plain but well articulated rhetorical speech. His main theme throughout his writings was the rejection of hierarchies in church and state and instead, advocated for elections of public officials and an overall harmonious social order. In Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense, he begins by writing, “As a long and violent abuse of power is generally the means of calling the right of it in question, and as the King of England hath undertaken in his own right, to support the Parliament in what he calls Theirs…” (1). Later he writes, “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one…” (69). While not talking about government, the song by the Beastie Boys, “Fight for Your Right” draws striking parallels to Thomas Paine’s writing. One of the stanzas of the song goes as follows:

Your pops caught you smokin' and he said "NO WAY!"
That hypocrite smokes two packs a day!
Man living at home is such a drag
Now your mom threw away your best porno mag (Busted)

You gotta fight, for your right,
to paaaaaaaaaarty (Beastie Boys)

     In these lines, the parents would represent England, taking what they want from America and prohibiting it from doing as it pleases. The teenage boy thus rebels, as America did, and wants fair parents (government), so he can party (have representation in government). But more directly, this song would also appeal to Thomas Paine because it is a fight song stating if there is an injustice in the eyes of the victim, they must fight for what they feel is right.

The other type of songs that Thomas Paine would enjoy would most likely be nationalistic, love of country songs. Since all of his writings were about the creation of perfect state with free, open elections, he must have felt some parental closeness to the country he helped create. The song by Johnny Cash, “Ragged Old Flag” fits the bill perfectly. It is written in plain, straight-forward English, and incorporates a feeling of patriotism in the song, which is a similar tone and theme that Thomas Paine used. The song includes many lines of battles America has had to fight such as,

And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag. (Cash)

After several more lines about battles, it ends with the patriotic lines,

And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare, and she's wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more (Cash).

This song epitomizes the feelings created when reading Thomas Paine. The exception between the two being that “Ragged Old Flag” evokes a nostalgic but proud patriotism talking about the country's difficult, storied history and its perseverance to continue on the current path. Thomas Paine’s purpose is not to build on current patriotism, but create new, fiery patriotism.

     Moving to a significantly different type of genre would be the music Edgar Allan Poe would listen to. Much of his major works such as “The Raven”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and “Annabel Lee” had a very ominous feel to them. In the poem, “Annabel Lee,” the speaker's persona uses a first person point of view to convey his feelings for his love, Annabel Lee, “But we loved with a love that was more than love” (l. 9). Later in the poem, Annabel Lee dies, and the speaker ends by saying,

     And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

     of my darling – my darling – my life and my bride,

     In her sepulchre there by the sea -

     In her tomb by the sounding (llll. 38-41)

Poe leaves the reader with a picture of a tomb as the last image. The eerie sadness is still felt even though the rhyme scheme changes throughout the poem, because it flows smoothly to the end. This bereaved, forlorn imagery is why the song “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails would fit well in Poe's music playlist. The song starts with the lines, “I hurt myself today/to see if I still feel” (ll. 1-2). While the song doesn't have the gloom of graveyards, it does speak of a person who is in pain, such as the speaker of “Annabel Lee.”

     Edgar Allen Poe would also appreciate well written songs with good imagery and metaphors, which is why the great lyricist, Bob Dylan, would appeal to him. There are many songs that would work well for this music list by Dylan, with the “The Ballad of Donald White” being one of them. The song is of a man speaking in first person about his life and the difficulties he had:

     If I had some education
     To give me a decent start,
     I might have been a doctor or
     A master in the arts.
     But I used my hands for stealing
     When I was very young,
     And they locked me down in jailhouse cells,
     That's how my life begun (Dylan).

The song itself is a metaphor for the difference in opportunities between rich and poor:

     Concerning all the boys that come
     Down a road like me,
     Are they enemies or victims
     Of your society? (Dylan).

     A comparison can be made between this song and Poe's poem, “The Raven” in that the poem is possibly a metaphor for Poe's tumultuous life. However, Poe uses many more metaphors in his poem than Dylan does in his song. For instance, Poe uses personification when he writes, “And each dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor” (l. 8), which is comparing the dying ember to a dying person. These types of metaphors are littered throughout the poem to engage the thought process and conjure more realistic images, adding to the ominous mood. Dylan uses a more parable type of storytelling in his song to raise the question of how poor people are treated, but this would be appreciated by Poe, as it is about a man and his hardships.

     It is difficult to say whether Thomas Paine and Edgar Allen Poe would like the songs picked for the other. However, because the songs picked for Thomas Paine are much more upbeat and talk about fighting for a cause, it is unlikely that Edgar Allen Poe would like them. It is possible that Thomas Paine would enjoy Bob Dylan because Dylan is such a master at writing lyrics and the song, “The Ballad of Donald White” is very clear and understandable like Thomas Paine's writing. Yet, the song, “Hurt” would probably not be a song Thomas Paine would enjoy as it is more about pain and almost evokes a feeling a giving up on life, which is unlike Paine's passionate writings.