I like Wendla Bergmann a lot. Admittedly, some of that is projecting, but regardless, it was just a matter of time until I had a Wendla playlist (that is, one that isn’t just me hearing songs, saying “oh this reminds me of Wendla,” and then adding them to my personal playlist). So, I’m proud to start the year by introducing you to my Wendla Bergmann Spotify playlist, i’ve never felt anything!
It’s full of sad pop/punk playlist, because Wendla is depressed and definitely owed some rage, and below are some half decent explanations why I went for these eight songs –8 tracks, if you will. Please enjoy.
Told You So – Paramore
Told You So was an easy choice, not only because it’s “bitter pop” tone sets up my purpose for this playlist incredibly well, but also because of the opening line: “For all I know, the best is over and the worst is yet to come.” When Spring Awakening starts, Wendla is puzzling over her body and herself as she longs for answers from the Mama Who Bore Her; she doesn’t know what’s going on and she just wants to be told the truth by her mother, so that she can know her own body, but no one will tell her what’s going on, thus her literally not knowing whether or not her life is ending.
The Love Club – Lorde
I love all Lorde, but I think The Love Club is particularly good for Wendla for several reasons: 1. It’s a song about a person who just wanted to be loved and getting trapped in something deeper and more painful because of it, and 2. “My mother’s love is choking me,” which I think explains itself.
American River – Destory Boys
Gonna be real with you guys, I just really like this song and think it fits Wendla. But for a real reason: the last line of the chorus is “Think for yourself, take some pride,” which is a line that I think Wendla would very much agree with; in the scene before Word Of Your Body, Wendla opposes Melchior’s ideas about charity, despite how she hasn’t seen him in years and how she said, mere scenes ago, that he was her “junk”. Despite what some interpretations of the show may try to portray, Wendla is a very intellectual person and prideful enough to challenge a guy that she has a crush on. It’s great content.
Dog Days Are Over – Florence and the Machine
This song is a sad girl anthem so, legally speaking, I had to put it on here. Also, “leave all your love and your longing behind, you can’t carry it with you if you want to survive” is a line that reminds me of Whispering.
The Show – Lenka
This song almost didn’t make cut. Tone-wise, it’s very different from everything else, but it still reminds me of beginning of the show Wendla who is, in fact, “a little bit caught in the middle.” It’s a good song about being confused about your life, your relationships, and who you’re supposed to be (both for your own and for other people’s sakes), and I think that makes it very Wendla.
Glass House – Screaming Females
This whole song is dripping in “overpoliced and overcontrolled while growing up” vibes and that’s a huge Wendla mood. Add that to the finishing refrain of “My life in this glass house, impossible to get out” and how that evokes such strong images of the whole “See the father bent in grief…” section of Whispering, and you’ve got a Wendla song.
Frankenstein – Disco Inc.
The chorus of “It’s plain to see, I am not the person that you want me to be” that turns into a screamed “But I like me!” is very reminiscent of, if not actual Whispering, then what Whispering should be: Wendla, alone and betrayed, but not ashamed of herself despite what society tries to tell her to feel. This song takes you from “Why didn’t you tell me everything?” to “Something beautiful, a new chance” and its lovely (Also I know I keep referencing Whispering but Wendla has so so few songs and I’m trying my best).
Be OK – Ingrid Michaelson
Abuse CW for this one!
And finally, a sad pop song to play us out. This playlist is titled for one of my favorite Wendla lines (one of my favorite Wendla sections, really): at Wendla and Melchior’s second meeting, Wendla discloses that she had wondered what it was like for Martha to be abused by her father. It’s an immensely uncomfortable scene to watch, as Wendla waxes poetic about being starved, being mistreated, being beaten. She then proceeds to beg Melchior to beat her, and when he chastises her for envying abuse, she says “My entire life. I’ve never… felt… anything.” Obviously Wendla is going about this the wrong way, but I’m sure she’d agree with Michaelson’s repeated wish to “feel something today.”
The Salt Squad 