Playlist for Homeboyz by Lauren Powell

by Lauren Powell



One of the most fitting songs I chose for the book Homeboyz is “Dear Mama” by Tupac Shakur. This song most reminds me of the character Micah and his background with both his family and gang violence, and maybe predicting his future if he continues on the same path. This is most evident in the scene in chapter 14 in which Teddy brings in a bag of food and Diaz later explains some pieces of the kind of life Micah is living in and is also made apparent when Teddy later investigates for himself through CLETS what kind of environment Micah is in. The line, “I hung around with the thugs, and even though they sold drugs, they showed a young brother love, I moved out and started really hangin’,” so perfectly fits the way Micah feels about his gang “family” himself; knowledge which Teddy gains after psycho-evaluating Micah’s behavior. One particular lyric reads, “Now ain't nobody tell us it was fair, no love from my daddy cause the coward wasn't there,” which also corresponds with the fact that Micah not only has no father but no biological parents at all for that matter. The song goes on to later say how the person in the song grew up to live a rough life of gang violence and drug related practices, which may be the only future left for Micah if left on the same bumpy path he is on now.




Thy next song I chose to describe a semi-abstract piece of the book that I felt was important. The song is “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day. In an overall sense this song describes the hopelessness the lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong felt after his father died, the story behind the song being that his mother knocked on his bedroom door before his father’s funeral, to which he replied, “Wake me up when September ends,” hence the song. This song is reminiscent of the way Teddy’s mother reacted to her daughter’s death, the way she holed herself up in her room and began to take drastic changes in her appearance and motivation in life. In chapter 15 Teddy’s mother 's appearance and tendencies are described to be fading, as she now lacks interest in what used to be her priorities such as cleaning, cooking, working, and having a general upkeep of her own physical appearance. The line stating, "As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost," is reminiscent to the way Teddy's mother seems to be forgetting much of the rest of her life other than the loss of her daughter, further proving my point to this songs connection with the story.




Another song I believe to correlate well with this book is "Numb" by Linkin Park, which I believe goes well with Teddy's part of the story for two reasons. One being that Teddy's craving for revenge has made him numb towards his own emotions towards the death of his sister and the emotions of those around him, including his family; Secondly he has dissapointed his family with his steps taken towards the revenge of his sisters death, but doesnt see them as shameful in his own eyes. The line "Everything that you thought I would be has fallen apart right in front of you," corresponds with how Teddy's family feels about him wasting his oppurtunity to attend college and gaining a criminal record, while Teddy has become numb, or apathetic to the opinions of his family. Teddy has also ignored his feelings towards his sister's death, only becoming angry when the topic is brought up rather than greaving, as deascribed in the heading line, "I've become so numb." Bringing another enhanced understanding to the book.




A song worth mention in relation to this book is "Handlebars" by FloBots, which I believe translates Teddy's ego for his hacking skills. In chapter 14 Teddy hacks into the CLETS system and begins to steal money from the goverment covertly by placing it into an off-shores account, I believe the line, "I can do anything I want 'cause look: I can keep rythym with no metronome," describes Teddy's dangerously inflated ego in regard to his abilites, as well as the rest with of the song that repeatedly describes why this person is better than everyone, at everything.




The next song I chose I believe helps describe the over-all sad feeling the family feels over the loss of Tina in chapter 3, that song being "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavigne. I think an important reason this song strongly corresponds with the book is because from line to line you can see each perspective of the different family members. For example, in the line "I always needed time on my own, I never thought I'd need there when I cried," could be better fit to Teddy's feelings, with his lack of affection or need to be independent from his family, but feeling devastated after Tina's death; while the line that ensues, "And the days feel like years when I'm alone," could correlate to his mothers feelings in the sense that she spends much of her time alone in her room mourning her daughter. In a whole this song conveys the desperate feeling of losing a loved one, which is a basis of the story.




The sixth song I chose is wordless, but I think it conveys a sinister tone that could be linked to the scene in which Teddy is planning on attacking th 0-1-0's to gain information on who killed his sister. Allan Pettersson's buildup and breakdown in "Symphony No. 7" of the orchestra very well set a dark and aggressive feeling that seem to be in tune with the mood set in the book.




The seventh song I chose brought to mind Diaz and her experience that is brought up in Teddy and Diaz's first encounter. Fergie's "Big Girls Dont Cry" coheres with Diaz's hard exterior towards the world but her consistent passion to improve it while dealing with the loss of someone close to her, rather than becoming depressed and holing up within herself in mourning. The line: "And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket but I've got to get a move on with my life, it's time to be a big girl now and big girls don't cry" syncs with the fact that while Diaz will always miss that person, she has to be strong and make something good from the situation.




This final song I chose was yet another song I chose pertaining to Micah. I believe this song can semi-relate to the "empowering" feeling of being a gangster, though it is found to be an overall foolish idea to most people. 420YOLOSwagMaster's song "Can You Smell My Swag" repeatedly refers to drugs and "swag" as if they were concepts to be envious of, although the entirety of the song just makes you want to giggle at the stupidity of it all, which I believe is a general opinion of outsiders towards gangsters not only in the book, but in reality as well.