Before my ballet performance this past Saturday, I plugged my phone into the speakers in the dressing room and put on a playlist to calm me and my friends down. As my friend braided my hair before I put on my flower wreath and tutu, I passively leafed through the pages of Beloved, contemplating whether or not I should try to focus on homework. It was then that I noticed the song "Ghost to Me" by Youth Lagoon was playing. It felt like a great coincidence, and I eagerly told the people around me how the song links with Morrison's writing.
Toni Morrison's signature mix of shifting points of view, figurative language, and supernatural elements works to establish Beloved as an entity with both human emotion and otherworldly attributes. At first, Beloved is an immature, angry spirit, and as time passes, she appears as a curious human girl. Throughout the novel, her presence receives mixed responses--Denver has a deep need to keep her around, Paul D feels pushed away--but Sethe's acceptance of the ghost baby is fairly consistent.
This acceptance reminds me of the lyrics in "Ghost to Me." The former half of the song references more personal events and latter half of the song is solely instrumental, but the middle stanza of the song stands out to me. It goes, "Home is where I call the ghost my own / that haunts the basement where I sleep alone / It's seen the burns on my skin showing bones / and asks me why I still sleep with my phone." Sethe has lived her entire free life in 124, tolerating the malevolence of her baby's spirit that drives everyone else away. "Home" is 124, since it is where she can call "the ghost" (Beloved) "my own" (since it is her daughter, and she can take ownership of her life at 124 rather than live by the Garners' commands at Sweet Home). Beloved haunts the entire house, where Sethe sleeps alone before and after Paul D. Finally, the "burns on my skin showing bones" can parallel the chokecherry tree scar on Sethe's back - Beloved has seen and felt the brutality and consequences of slavery. And though the book was written before the cell phone was invented, the concept of asking someone why they sleep with their phone can relate to the way that Beloved cares for Sethe, and the phone could symbolize a desire to find a long-lost connection (like Sethe feels about her other children and Halle).
I'm not sure if anyone else here on Word Choices has heard this song or thinks it relates to the book, but it's very beautiful and soothing to me! Here is the link if anyone is interested. The whole album is great too.
I really like how you could connect the lyrics of this song to Morrison's writing so fluidly. I agree that Sethe's acceptance of Beloved has remained consistent so far while Denver and Paul D's impressions of Beloved have wavered immensely. I really like your explanation of Sethe's long lost connection to her children which is why her acceptance of Beloved has remained so consistent. Everyone left 124 because of the baby's ghost and Sethe just got three people back into that house and she's doing anything to keep herself from being alone again.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really interesting how you were able to connect the lyrics of this song back to Beloved, and it is a cool coincidence that this song happened to play because it does connect very well. You did a good job of explaining the connections you found in the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard this song. But, after the lyrics you presented I definitely see the connection. One part the especially stuck out to me was "Home is where I call the ghost my own." I believe this definitely runs parallel to what Sethe and the people of 124 are experiencing. I also agree the shifting points of view and diction of characters have highlighted a possible transformation of Beloved throughout the novel.
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