TigerM

Blake - "Bleeders" by the Wallflowers.

...this ain't my first ride
Won't be my last try
Just got to keep movin' on
If they catch me ever
They'll throw me back forever

(Blake in early part of the first season--he's managed to escape the Federation once, but I think he knows if they catch him again, he won't get a second chance.)

chorus:
I guess I should be ashamed
But I forget to be vain
Well I did the best I could I guess
But everything just bleeds
They say you're only sad and lonely
And no one is impressed

(Blake all through the series, but especially in the second season after Gan's death, when the crew is tearing itself apart from within. The deaths for his cause weigh heavily on him, but in order to make them mean something, he feels he has to keep going. His crew doesn't understand, and half of them don't really give a damn anyway. Avon and Vila in particular are problem children, whining and complaining about everything that needs to be done. His patience with Avon ran out a long time ago-around Breakdown-and he's also aware of how massive a job overthrowing the Federation really is. He's wagering everything on Star One, knowing that it might not work, but it's the best chance he's got.)

I sent it off in a letter
I need something better
Than a nail and a hammer
To put me back together

(I see Blake as a very damaged individual. He's literally had his mind taken apart and he's had to put himself back together again almost from scratch.)

But this ain't my first ride
It ain't my last try
Just got to keep a-movin' on
Got to keep this together
Maybe next time is never

(The search for Star One. If taking out Star One doesn't work, then no single action will.)

(chorus)

Sometimes I must confess
I do feel a little overdressed
Sometimes it's hard to tell the wishing from the well
Where you threw the penny and where it fell

(Blake at GP, where he's gotten to the point where he can't trust his own evaluations of people, and can't tell friends from enemies.)

Vila: "Home by the Sea" by Genesis. This just strikes me as exactly the kind of predicament Vila gets into. Teleporting into acidic water in his sock foot in "Orac," finding himself dealing with Bayban the Butcher in "City," etc..

"The Road to Santiago" by the Oyster Band

Carnival is what you dare
Flesh farewell, soul goes bare
Your face is just a mask you wear
And masks are hidden faces

(I think there's a lot more to Vila than meets the eye, and my interpretation of him is much darker than that of most fans. I think he got into the habit of playing the fool on the Liberator as a survival tactic and a way to get out of having to work, but occasionally that mask slips and we see the tough, smart man beneath, as in "The Way Back," "City," and "Gold.")

All night long from bar to bar
The Devil is a shooting star
He knows who you really are
And he walks in hidden places

(I think Vila is actually a good judge of character when he cares to apply himself. He was the only one of the male, het-bi characters, who had the sense to leave Servalan alone. He also knew just how to handle Bayban, and knew Tarrant wouldn't kill him in "Moloch." He also comes across to me as being very like the archetypical Trickster, brilliant at times, but unreliable and lazy.)

Jenna - "Smuggler's Blues" by Don Henley. The video could almost be the story of Jenna's life, ending just before the holding cell in "The Way Back."

Airan Wilkinson:
"Cowboys and Angels" from Listen without Prejudice by George Michael screamed B/A when I first heard it years ago and it still does. It has a kind of hypnotic 'waltzy' feeling to it that perfectly describes the eternal dance the two characters seem to perform around each other. The lyrics help too. In particular:

"Cowboys and Angels they all take a shine to you.
Why would I imagine that I was designed for you?
Why should I believe that you would stay?
But that scar on your face, that beautiful face of yours.
Don't you think that I know they hurt you before?"

Seems to sum up Blake's charisma, Avon's self-doubt in 'affairs of the heart', and of course 'that' exchange at the end of Star One. The nice thing about the song is that it works for Tarrant/Avon too.

The Verve's Urban Hymns is almost an unofficial B7 soundtrack from "Bittersweet Symphony" (Avon's theme tune) through to "The Drugs Don't Work" ("The Way Back") to "Lucky Man" (Blake's theme). The whole album is infused with equal measures of romance, hope, alienation, and despair that sort of sums up the programme for me.

Song-most-likely-to-induce-thoughts-of-B7-slash released in 2000 would have to be "The Shining" from The Hour of Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy. Partly because of the lyrics make me think of a S4 Avon remembering the first time he met Blake on The London:

"Faith pours from your walls, drowning your calls, I've tried to hear, you're not near.
Remembering when I saw your face, shining my way, pure timing.
Now I've fallen in deep, slow silent sleep, it's killing me, I'm dying."

and partly because of the liberal use of french horn and cello on the track, instruments I always associate with the incidental music of B7.

Erica S.:
A Servalan song:
"The Murderess" by Kim Fox

Evil lurks in the night. In alley ways the cats will fight, the hungry mouse will take a bite... better run for your life. | Shadows by the setting sun, that hides the hand that holds the gun, considertheir souls the lucky ones, it's all in a day's fun.

I can't control this urgent need...rips through my skin until I bleed...oh Murderess, the Murderess...

Fearless young, afraid to die...with vulture's eyes they seek out life...why so fearful of the other side...now the choice is all mine. | So beautiful my love...so beautiful my love...soaked in a pool of blood.

If one day by chance we meet...in stranger's bed in dirty streets...when hope is lost, when love is beat...forgive me God I am weak.

Safe in the arms of death...I am the murderess...

Without Anger by Good Riddance. (The punk rock Blake song)

There are some things I can't appreciate | And when they're gone I won'tdeliberate | Without heart we'll never make it work | Accusing the world butyou're playing the game

Scream 'til it hurts but its always the same | Wake up in a fog can't remember my name

There are those who pin their faults on me | Don't give a fuck about sincerity | I've said enough but when it all comes down | Don't try to tell methat it makes no difference

Don't place conditions on what's inside | Our similarities are torn apart by pride | And it seems like everything's | Coming down on me And I can't tell wrong from right | Fate from tragedy | I've got to find that fire | That defined me once so well

There's so much talk so many empty lines | I see no reason for their selfish lies | Without the anger resistance cannot break these chains.

Susan M:
Okay, I've tried to find exact lyrics for this, but have failed. But "Everything Falls Apart" by Dog's Eye View is a definite PGP Avon (at least the part I'm about to quote here):

"I got here | By killing off all my friends. | I think I've just figured out my life begins | Where the fun ends."

Chorus

"Everything falls apart | Then I try to put it back together | It falls apart | You can count on that you can count on that."

Sandy D:
For new songs I don't think you can go past "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks for a song about Servalan.
This part reminds me of Tarrant and Servalan in Sand:
"But you look at me like maybe | I'm an angel underneath | Innocent and sweet | Yesterday I cried | You must have been relieved to see | The softer side | I can understand how you'd be so confused | I don't envy you | I'm a little bit of everything | All rolled into One"

"I'm a bitch" Goes without saying
I'm a lover--Tarrant, Jarvik, numerous young officers
I'm a child, I'm a mother--for a very short time in Children of Auron
I'm a sinner--Of course!
I'm a saint--That line doesn't fit
I do not feel ashamed--For someone who can kill at the press of a button constantly, I wouldn't think she could even spell ashamed.
I'm your hell | I'm your dream-- Definitely both fit, in Avon's view
I'm nothing in between | You know you wouldn't want it any other way

This part would refer to Servalan's relationship with Avon:
"So take me as I am | This may mean | You'll have to be a stronger man | Rest assure that | When I start to make you nervous | And I'm going to extremes | Tomorrow I will change | And today won't mean a thing"

The other song is "Picture of You" by Boyzone. This one I think of Avon regarding Blake or sometimes the other way around.
"I let you in, and you let me down | You messed me up | and you turned my life around | You left me feeling I had nowhere to go | I was alone, how was I to know that

You would be there when I needed somebody | You would be there, the only one who could help

Chorus:
I had a picture of you in my mind | Never knew it could be so wrong | Why'd it take me so long just to find | The friend who was there all along

Who'd believe that after all we've been through | I'd be able to put my trust in you | Goes to show that you can forgive and forget | Looking back, I have no regrets 'cos | You would be there when I needed somebody | You would be there, the only one who could help me.

For those who have the "Young Guns 2" album by Bon Jovi, who hasn't thought of B7 when listening to these lyrics?
Blaze of Glory
"I'm a devil on the run | A six gun lover | A gambler on a win | I'm going down in a blaze of glory | Yeah I'm a wanted man | I'm a Cain was to Abel" | "You ask me if I've known love | Well I've seen love come | I've seen it shot down | I've seen it die in vain"

"Miracle"
"It's going to take a miracle to save us this time"
"Santa Fe" (This one is Vila, musing)
"The spirits they intoxicate me | I swear I'm going to live forever | Tell my maker he can wait" | "I blame this world for making a good man evil | It's this world that can drive a good man mad | It's this world that turns a killer into a hero | I blame this world for making a good man bad"
"Blood Money" (For those who think the unthinkable, that Blake was indeed a Bounty Hunter)
"They tell me you want me | But I hear they've got you | They've made you a lawman | with a badge made of silver | Paid you some money | To sell them my blood"

Cami:
"The Lonesome Kicker" (Adam Sandler). Underappreciated Tarrant, of course.

"Dreamin'" (Usher). Blake: "There's a long and lonely road that we have traveled...There's a place for those who stand up tall in battle, up against all odds, determined not to fail..."

"The Champion's Theme" (Kenny G, instrumental). I don't know where he got that name for the song. The haunting music reminds me more of a desperate, impossible struggle than a champion.

"Let the River Run" (Carly Simon). Our rebels attempting to be optimistic. Yes, maybe they CAN survive. I especially like the line that makes me think of Tarrant: "the sky is the color of blue you've never even seen in the eyes of your lover"

"The Code of the Woosters"--sung by Steven Pacey. Tarrant's moral code as sung by "Tarrant." It even includes something that can be twisted to a slash interpretation: "If a girl is in the doldrums, not a paddle to her name, I'll be there. Though frankly speaking, womanising's not my game."

"The Dragon" (Gowan). Servalan after our gang. "Behold the face of doom. We can't stop running. The dragon's coming."

Susan M:
One song that always makes me think of Vila is "All Along the Watchtower" sung by various people (though the two key ones are Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan). Especially the following part, which I view as an internal dialogue:

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief, | "There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief. | Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth, | None of them along the line know what any of it is worth." |

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke, | "There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke. | But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate, | So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

And the shuttle trip:
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl, | Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

Kat W:
OK, anyone who hates Marillion can put their fluffy headphones on now since I'm about to quote some that I think fits:
By the D.H. Lawrence of prog rock (pompous and overblown--David Lodgeon Lawrence and almost everyone on Marillion) from "Assassing" (sic):

Listen as the syllables of slaughter cut with calm precision | Patterned frosty phrases rape your ears and sow the ice incision | Apocalyptic alphabet casting spell the creed of tempered diction | Adjectives of annihilation bury the point beyond redemption(*) | Venomous verbs of ruthless candour plagiarise assasin's fervour | A friend in need is a friend that bleeds | Let bitter silence infect the wound

You were a sentimental mercenary in a free fire zone | Parading a Hollywood conscience | A fashionable objector with a uniform fetish | Pavlovian slaver at the cash till ring of success | A non-com observer - I assasin the collector - defector

So you resigned yourself to failure - my friend | And I emerged the chilling stranger - my friend | To eradicate the problem - my friend | Unsheathed the blade within the voice - my friend | I am the assassin | I am the assassin

This suggests the episode "Blake" to me with some swapping of POV. The line with"uniform fetish" would have to show Avon in studded leather. The first five lines are any of Avon's putdowns. Lines six and seven is Blake dying on the floor.

Oh yes, and "She Chameleon" is a good one for Servalan too:

Sheltering her ego on the edge of the floodlight's arc | She'll contemplate seduction, calculate the catch | When she moved, her presence speared me | When she spoke, her words ensnared me | Watch the lizard | Watch the lizard | Watch the lizard with the crimson veil

She crucified my heart in the depths of a satin grave | As I lay in sweating monologue, I sensed the lovelight fade | Within the spiral of the cigarette | You betrayed your bedside etiquette | I saw the lizard | I saw the lizard | I touched the lizard with the crimson veil

I've seen a different doorway shut a million times before | Smiling she chameleons, smiling vinyl whores

They know what they want, they sing your name and glide | between the sheets | I never say no, in chemical glow we'll let our bodies meet | So was it just a fuck, was it just a fuck, just another fuck I said | Loving just for laughs, carnal autograph, lying on a lizard's bed | So was it just a fuck, was it just a fuck, just another fuck I bled | Degraded and alone, raped and still forlorn, betrayed | Upon a lizard's bed | We chameleon, we chameleon, we (oui)

This makes me think of Sand but with Servalan wearing the Gambit dress.

Jay M:
Although not recent, I think the whole of Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche is quite indicative of the B7 universe. "I Don't Believe in Love" brings Avon to mind (then again, there's not much that doesn't bring Avon to mind) and his relationship with Anna.

I awoke on impact | Under surveillance form the camera eye | Searching how and low | The criminal mind found at the scene of the crime | *Handcuffed and blind I didn't do it | She said she loved me | I guess I never knew | But do we ever really know? | She said she'd meet me on the other side | But I knew right then I'd never find her.

Chorus

I don't believe in love | I never have | I never will | I don't believe in love

It's never worth the pain you feel.

No more nightmares I've seen them all | From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move | Every open hand's there to push and shove | No time for love it doesn't matter | She made a difference | I gues she had a way | Of making every night seem bright as day | Now I walk in shadows, never see the light | She must have lied 'cause she never said goodbye

Chorus

I'll just pretend she never was real

I don't believe in love | I need to forget her face I see it still

Chorus

It's never worth the pain that you feel.

No chance for contact | There's no raison d'etre | My only hope is one day I'll forget | The pain of knowing what can never be | With or without live it's all the same to me

*this line, of course, doesn't fit.

The chorus of "Memory Remains" by Metallica conjures up an image of anaging Servalan.

Fortune, Fame | Mirror vain | Gone insane | But the memory remains | | Fortune, Fame | Mirror vain | Gone insane | But still she's got it!

Grace R:
Tarrant's/Vila's Tribute to The Wish
(Otherwise known as "Bad Days" by The Flaming Lips)

"You're sorta stuck where you are, | But in your dreams you can buy expensive cars, | Or live on Mars and have it your way. | And you hate the boss at your job, | But in your dreams you can blow his head off, | In your dreams show no mercy."

Russ M:
I think Natalie Imbruglia's 'Torn' could make a decent vid.

[Avon thinking about Blake]
I thought I saw a man brought to life | He was warm he came around like he was dignified | He showed me what it was to cry | Well you couldn't be that man I adored | You don't seem to know--or to care what your heart is for | I don't know him any more | There's nothin' where he used to lie | My conversation has run dry | That's what's goin' on | Nothing's fine | I'm torn

[Cally thinking about Blake]
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel | I'm cold and I am shamed | Lying naked on the floor | Ilusion never changed | Into something real | I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn | You're a little late | I'm already torn

[Avon again]
So I guess the fortune teller's right | I should have seen just what was there and not some holy light | But you crawled beneath my veins and now I don't care, I have no luck | I don't miss it all that much | There's just so many things | That I can't touch | I'm torn | There's nothing where he used to lie | My inspiration has run dry | That's what's goin' on | Nothing's right | I'm torn.

Susan B:
I think "I know you're out there somewhere" is really B7. Does anyone know "Your Wildest Dreams," also by the Moody Blues? It would make a wonderful A/B.

My other favourites are "Desperado" by the Carpenters (3rd season Avon), "Invincible" by Pat Benatar (general crew), "This Masquerade" by the Carpenters (C/A), "Tell Me It's Not True" by Barbara Dixon (A/B), "The Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen (A/B) and "More Than A Lover" by Bonnie Tyler (C/A).

Alice A:
A lot of the music that influenced my Travis and Jenna stories; I use them more for mood than for the actual words, like The Moody Blues "I know you're out there somewhere" and "The Other Side of Life." Also a lot of U2's "Joshua Tree" album, the "Top Gun" soundtrack, and believe it or not, the last movement of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Schererazade," which keptrunning through my head during the scenes at Star One in "Necessary Sacrifices." Talk about weird!

Pat F:
Sting, "Why Should I Cry For You," is a very Avon/Anna song to my ears.

"Under the Arctic fire | Over the seas of silence | Hauling on frozen ropes | For all my days remaining | But would north be true?

All colours bleed to red | Asleep on the ocean's bed | Drifting in empty seas | For all my days remaining

But would north be true? | Why should I? | Why should I cry for you? | Dark angels follow me | Over a godless sea | Mountains of endless falling, | For all my days remaining,

What would be true?

Sometimes I see your face, | The stars seem to lose their place | Why must I think of you? | Why must I? | Why should I? | Why should I cry for you? | Why would you want me to? | And what would it mean to say, | That, "I loved you in my fashion"?

What would be true? | Why should I? | Why should I cry for you?"

"Lullaby for a Weary World"
the version I have heard is by Julia Ecklar
This too has been videoed to Blake moments and is very moving.

"I wonder how my world can live with all the pain she harbors. Sleep (sleep, sleep) my weary world (my weary world). And I'm scared of how long it may last, and just how soon it all could end, And I wish the power to stop it all could rest within my hands. I see her people dying for such bold and bloody causes. Sleep (sleep, sleep) my weary world (my weary world). And the bodies of the innocent are washed up on the lengthening shore, While the rising tide of history just ebbs and flows again.

Chorus:
Oh, make me a cradle (make me a) to rock my weary world (cradle) Make me a gentle voice (make me a voice) to soothe her when she weeps (to soothe her) Make my arms strong enough (make my arms strong) to hold her when she wakes (to hold her) And make me a lullaby so sweet and fine that I can sing my weary world to sleep.

I wish that I could smooth away her jagged shards of hatred. Sleep (sleep, sleep) my weary world (my weary world). And though my hands may bleed and burn, I'll hold my broken world to me, Until her ugly scars have healed and peace may reign again.

And if her fighting will not stop, I'll hold her that much closer And sing my lullaby above the noise and pain of war. And if her bleeding I can't staunch, I'll bleed along beside her, But I will not let her go, no, I'll never let her go.... And when the stars have all burned out, I'll sing to her in darkness.

Sleep (sleep, sleep) my weary world (my weary world). And pray a tender god may find me, huddled in the dark and cold, And grant the precious world I shelter one more chance to live. And may God grant my precious world another chance to love.

Make me a lullaby so sweet and fine that I can sing my weary world to sleep."

Kansas, "Dust in the Wind," is very B7ish.

"I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity. Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind. Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see.

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.

[Now] Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky. It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy.

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind. Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind."

Sarah McLachlan, "Do what you have to do" is a Blake and Avon song methinks.

"What ravages of spirit conjured this tempestuous rage | Created you a monster broken by the rules of love | And fate has led you through it | You do what you have to do | And fate has led you through it | You do what you have to do

And I have the sense to recognize | That I don't know how to let you go

Every moment marked with apparitions of your soul | I'm ever swiftly moving, trying to escape this desire | The yearning to be near you | I do what I have to do | The yearning to be near you | I do what I have to do

And I have the sense to recognize | That I don't know how to let you go | I don't know how to let you go

A glowing ember, burning hot and burning slow | Deep within I'm shaken by the violence of existing for only you | I know I can't be with you | I do what I have to do | I know I can't be with you | I do what I have to do

And I have the sense to recognize | That I don't know how to let you go | I don't know how to let you go"