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Zip file ; individual songs available on request!
elton john - MY FATHER'S GUN
I'll take my horse and I'll ride the northern plain
To wear the color of the grays and join the fight again
I'll not rest until I know the cause is fought and won
From this day on until I die, I wear my father's gun
'My Father's Gun' is a Mal song through and through. The feel of the song is blues-country, which is sort of what I pictured Mal listening to on his day off. It is a bit of a meandering song, and a little melancholy. The first time I heard it, I cried; I can actually see Mal through most of this, even though the song is set in the Civil War. (Which also reminded me of Joss' inspiration for Firefly, The Killer Angels.)
danny elfman - THE LITTLE THINGS
The final solution is a box full of shit
I'm through with repairs when there's nothing to fix
There's nothing to fix
And it all comes down to you
Let the headlines wait, armies hesitate
I can deal with fate, but not the little things
Armageddon may arrive any day
I can't get away from the little things
I have to admit that I love when Mal is enraged. Nathan Fillion's face just tightens up and his eyes are sheer flame. Each word just gets bitten off, and his entire body posture changes. Watch him sometime, he's rather lovely in his full-body fury. This song was chosen specifically because Mal seems to - especially in the pilot - have loads of little ("little" in his view, maybe) things piled on top of him, and he struggles to find a way out. This song is building up to that climax, but doesn't get there.
the white stripes - SEVEN NATION ARMY
And if I catch it coming back my way
I'm gonna serve it to you
And that ain't what you want to hear
But that's what I'll do
And the feeling coming from my bones
Says find a home
I love the driving rhythm of this song. The lyrics fit Mal because he has never forgiven nor forgotten, and that makes him the man that he is. Even if he was taken down, he would rise back up.
shivaree - GOODNIGHT MOON
There's a nail in the door
And there's glass on the lawn
Tacks on the floor
And the TV's on
And I always sleep with my guns when you're gone
A surprising vulnerability and a slight paranoia: these things are smaller parts of Mal's character, though more so the vulnerability than the paranoia. In truth, I like the imagery of the song most, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mal slept with a gun.
garth brooks - FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES
'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places
The context of the lyrics remind me of 'Shindig,' but is this song Mal or what? Garth Brooks virtually wrote it for him.
santa esmerelda - PLEASE DON'T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD
Baby, don't you know I'm just human
And I've got thoughts like any other one
And sometimes I find myself, oh Lord, regretting
Some foolish thing, some foolish thing I've done
But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
I think Mal IS misunderstood, quite a bit. It's mostly by those who don't really know him - Alliance and so forth - but even the people closest to him can misinterpret his actions and words. It's only when you start looking underneath that you realize Mal is more complicated than most give him credit for.
snow patrol - OPEN YOUR EYES
The anger swells in my guts
And I won't feel these slices and cuts
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine
Kind of a shippy song, in terms of feeling, but that wasn't really what I was going for. Mal has been left at the edge of death so many times, and yet he keeps holding on. For what or whom, we never quite know, but we can safely assume. (Inara and the crew itself are very good educated guesses. /Captain Obvious moment.) Nathan Fillion also pointed out how much each crew member is reflective of Mal in some way, or the qualities he possess and can't outwardly express. The desperation of this song heightens that effect: he's trying to wake someone up - whether it's literally a crew mate in that moment, or it's himself, trying to put the pieces back together. Maybe it's both at the same time; he wants them to open their eyes, because if they don't, he can't gain that part of himself back.
trapt - HEADSTRONG
Back off I’ll take you on
Headstrong, take on anyone
I know that you are wrong
Headstrong, we’re headstrong
Back off I’ll take you on
Headstrong, take on anyone
I know that you are wrong
And this is not where you belong
papa roach - RECKLESS
I'm walking on broken glass from the wreckage of my past
I'm locked up in a cage 'cause I'm a prisoner of my ways
So cut me off, throw me out
'cause I'm reckless
I'm a reckless goddamn son of a bitch
I'm putting both songs together because they are similar in feeling. After all, 'headstrong' usually implies 'reckless,' though one is what he'd term himself (if he was being really, really honest) and the other is more likely to be what other people call him.
three doors down - KRYPTONITE
You called me strong, you called me weak
But your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times I
Never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head, if
Not for me then you'd be dead
I picked you up and put you back
On solid ground
Mal may not look like it from the outside, but he does do this, and quite a bit. The strays that come aboard Serenity are his responsibilities, whether or not he actually likes them, and he will do just about anything to protect them, even at the cost of another crew member. (Think 'Ariel.') And 'superman' may not be what anyone consciously calls him, but nobody could deny that Mal's strength is what gets them through, time and time again.
patsy cline - WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT
And as the skies turn gloomy
Night blooms will whisper to me I'm lonesome as I can be
I go out walking after midnight out in the moonlight
Just hoping maybe you're somewhere walking after midnight searching for me
This may seem an odd choice for Mal as he has no one to pine for from his past - at least no one that we ever got to know about (curse you, Fox). But I think the general mood of the song fits him. After all, Mal is more apt to restlessly pace the galaxy than admit that he misses someone. It's his way of showing that he loves them, after all.
los lobos - CANCION DEL MARIACHI
Soy un hombre muy honrado,
Que me gusta lo mejor
Las mujeres no me faltan,
Ni el dinero, ni el amor
[I am an honest man,
I like only the best;
I never leave women wanting,
not for money, nor for love.]
This is my translation, but it's been a while since I sat in a Spanish class. Don't fault the song for it! I think the song is the ballsy Malcolm Reynolds persona you meet at first glance - cocky, always ready for a fight, with a smart-ass quip and a faster hand than anybody you'd ever met. There's a restlessness inherent in the song which also embodies Mal.
josh groban ft tanja tzarovska - REMEMBER ME
I am the one star that keeps burning so brightly
It is the last light to fade into the rising sun
I'm with you
Whenever you tell my story
For I am all I've done
Mal is a man of action. 'Live by the sword, die by the sword' is the aphorism that would apply best to him, I think, and his deeds both throughout Firefly and in the past are the ones best remembered. When I think of Mal, I think of some funny quotes, yes, but I also think of a brave, restless, angry soul who was just too pretty to die.
john williams - A WINDOW TO THE PAST
Instrumental. The hollow, melancholy sound really reminds me of Mal.
hoobastank - CRAWLING IN THE DARK
Help me carry on
Assure me it's ok to use my heart and not my eyes
To navigate the darkness
Will the ending be ever coming suddenly?
Will I ever get to see the ending to my story?
Show me what it's for
Make me understand it
Mal never quite knows what's coming next throughout Firefly, Serenity, and the comics. I can picture him throwing up his hands in frustration as the circumstances get more and more perilous, demanding how in the hell it's gonna end. I would like to say that I don't think of Mal as a 'heart over head' kind of fellow; he had to learn how not to be that man, after Serenity Valley and the end of the war (or at least how to seem it). He makes impulsive choices, yes, but most of the choices he makes when he is truly enraged come from a more coolly logical place than anyone would ever think of. The ideas are insane, but they work. (Think the end of Serenity.)
godsmack - I STAND ALONE
Now I've told you this once before can't control me
If you try to take me down you're gonna break
I stand alone
Feeling your sting down inside of me
I'm not dying for it
I stand alone
Everything that I believe is fading
I stand alone
Inside
I stand alone
Mal is defiance personified, even if it ruins him.
the doors - ROADHOUSE BLUES (LIVE)
The future's uncertain
And the end is always near.
Let it roll, baby, roll.
This song is more of a mood piece and less about the lyrics, though those happen to be quite apropos. Mal is just the kind of guy who would listen to The Doors, I think.
the dixie chicks - NOT READY TO MAKE NICE
I'm not ready to make nice
I'm not ready to back down
I'm still mad as hell and
I don't have time to go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
'Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should
Yes, it's a girl group. However, the song is so laced with fury that it has Mal written all over it. And this is just the sort of U-Day song that Mal would like, I think.
chad kroeger and josey scott - HERO
And they say that a hero can save us.
I'm not gonna stand here and wait.
I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles.
Watch as we all fly away.
Someone told me that love would all save us.
But how can that be?
Look what love gave us.
A world full of killing, and blood-spilling, that
world never came.
I like to think of Mal as making the decision to be the hero, because there's no one else to take that role. It was thrust onto his shoulders, and he manages to live admirably up to it, even if he's bitter about how things have come to be. (Which is not to say that he's not an inherent leader; he is. I just don't think heroism is something he deliberately set out for - and then again, who does?)
sarah brightman - WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?
Now touch my tears with your lips,
Touch my world with your fingertips,
And we can have forever,
And we can love forever,
Forever is our today.
Ok, ok. This is my one ship song, but it reflects Mal's 'now or never' attitude toward life. (And in case you couldn't guess, I do ship Mal/Inara, however impossible that ship is.)