1. Pip: "Billionaire," by Bruno Mars feat. Travie McCoy


In Great Expectations, the protagonist is Phillip Pirrip, otherwise known as Pip.  Early in the book, Pip falls in love with a girl of higher social class named Estella.  Estella views Pip as a common boy with coarse hands and thick boots, which hurts Pip's feelings.  Pip longs to gain Estella's love and respect, and thinks that if he can be an educated gentleman, with money, he can win Estella over.  That is why I chose the song "Billionaire."  This song describes a man who wants to be a billionaire.  He describes how he wants to be well known, by being on a magazine cover, meeting the president, traveling to many different cities, etc.  Becoming a billionaire is far out of reach for Pip.  However, he believes that having more money will help him to rise in social status, and therefore make Estella like and respect him in return.  Those reasons describe why I chose the song "Billionaire" to describe Pip.


2. Miss Havisham: "Carry On," by Fun

Miss Havisham is a rich older lady who lives in Pip's town in Great Expectations.  When she was younger, she fell in love with a man, and was supposed to marry him.  However, on their wedding day, the man tells Miss Havisham that they will not be getting married, even though he has already spent a great deal of her money on a brewery.  The time of this cancellation was 8:40 AM, the time at which Miss Havisham stopped all of her clocks, for the rest of her life.  This shows that Miss Havisham does not know how to carry on or move on with her life.  Other examples of this are her never taking off her wedding dress, and never cleaning up the food from what was supposed to be her wedding dinner.  I believe that "Carry On," by Fun, describes an inherent action that Miss Havisham should have considered before she died.  It talks about how people should leave the past behind, and move on with their lives.  If Miss Havisham had done this, she would have been a happier person, and possibly even found another man to marry.  This describes why I believe that "Carry On" represents a great idea for Miss Havisham.


3. Estella: "I Kissed A Girl," by Katy Perry

Estella is a girl who has been adopted by Miss Havisham and rejects Pip in Great Expectations. Miss Havisham adopts Estella for a specific purpose.  That purpose is to take revenge on all men.  Miss Havisham adopted her for this after her heart was broken by her fiance.  Estella is subjected to Miss Havisham, and treats Pip with no respect, for most of the book.  I chose Katy Perry's controversial song "I Kissed A Girl" to represent Estella because it describes how the artist kissed a girl, enjoyed it, and could have broken her boyfriend's heart.  Estella is supposed to break the hearts of men, but she is not intended to do so by literally kissing other girls.  There is also another similarity.  It can be inferred that Miss Havisham would want Estella to associate with women more than men, just as Katy Perry describes in the song.  That is why "I Kissed A Girl" shows actions similar to those of Estella.


4. Herbert: "So Good," by B.o.B

Herbert Pocket is the "...pale young gentleman..." who confronts Pip during their childhood years, but later befriends him, in the book Great Expectations.  Herbert wants to be an insurer of ships, and marry Clara Barley, a ship purser's daughter.  Eventually, Pip pays for Herbert to be deployed to Cairo, and Clara moves there with him.  "So Good," by B.o.B, describes a man who loves a girl and offers to take her anywhere in the world, thus, spending money.  This represents Herbert in two ways.  Under Pip's unintentional influence, Herbert starts to spend a lot of money, and fall into debt.  Next, Herbert loves Clara, and ends up taking her to Cairo.  Cairo is far away from England, just like the places B.o.B wants to take his future girlfriend.  Herbert does not have the type of money of which he tells others.  Therefore, B.o.B's song "So Good" represents Herbert well.


5. Joe: "You've Got A Friend In Me," by Randy Newman

Joe is Pip's brother-in-law in Great Expectations. Joe marries Pip's sister, known as Mrs. Joe.  Joe is the only genuinely nice character in the whole book, and believes that Pip is his friend.  However, when Pip goes to London to become a gentleman, Joe begins to feel inferior to Pip.  He even begins to refer to Pip as "sir."  Pip starts to treat Joe poorly, once in London, but Joe continues to be very nice to and care for Pip.  "You've Got A Friend In Me" represents Joe, because throughout bumps in their friendship, Joe continues to treat Pip nicely, and persists to be friends with him.  Pip takes ill late in the book, and Joe rushes to his side to treat him, from five hours away.  Pip appreciates this caring gesture, and then resumes to treat Joe nicely.  Those reasons are why "You've Got A Friend In Me" is a good song to represent Joe Gargery.


6. Magwitch: "Catch Me If You Can," by the Gym Class Heroes 

Abel Magwitch, otherwise known as Provis or "the convict," is Pip's benefactor in Great Expectations.  He has been imprisoned many times, due to various robberies and crimes, and has broken out each time, except for his last.  In the middle of the book, he goes to Australia to make some money.  He uses the money so Pip can become a gentleman.  I think that "Catch Me If You Can" is a good song to represent Magwitch, because he always seems to break out of prisons, despite his leg irons.  Policemen cannot find him until long after he has broken out each time.  "Catch Me If You Can" describes a man who travels the world, and others have a tough time keeping up.  Magwitch travels the world, as well.  At the end of the book, however, this song is ironic for him, since he lost so much blood and can hardly move at all.  This describes why "Catch Me If You Can," by the Gym Class Heroes, represents Abel Magwitch.


7. Orlick: "Bad Day," by Daniel Powter

In Great Expectations, Orlick is Joe's journeyman at the forge.  He hates Pip and believes that Pip will cause him to lose his job.  Orlick is a bad man, who gets in a fight with Mrs. Joe, and later on, kills her.  Despite his maliciousness, Orlick may have the worst luck out of all characters in this book.  For example, he can never get Biddy, a girl Pip's age, to like him.  Biddy, in fact, later goes on to marry Joe.  Also, Orlick captures Pip, and is on the verge of killing him, when Herbert swoops in and saves Pip.  Orlick almost killed Pip, the man who made his life hard years ago. "Bad Day," by Daniel Powter, represents Orlick's horrible luck, because it discusses the bad day that the artist had the previous day, and how sad and mad he is on the current day.  Therefore, Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" is a good song to represent Orlick's luck.


8. Biddy: "Lean On Me," by Bill Withers

Biddy is Mr. Wopsle's great aunt's granddaughter in Great Expectations.  Toward the middle of the book, Orlick strikes Mrs. Joe in the head with a metal file, out of hatred.  From this point until she dies, Mrs. Joe has brain damage, and needs to be cared for.  Mrs. Joe was unable to take care of herself after Orlick struck her in the head, so Biddy moved into her house.  Biddy acted as a caretaker to Mrs. Joe, and was Mrs. Joe's "somebody to lean on..."  "Lean On Me," by Bill Withers represents what Biddy provides for Mrs. Joe.  Biddy also impart her knowledge on Joe and Pip, and they rely on her to teach them.  Joe and Pip also "lean on" Biddy for knowledge, but in this case, "lean on" means rely on.  Biddy's teachings provide Pip a base for when he goes to London to be educated.  That is why "Lean On Me" is a good representation of Biddy's traits.


9. Bentley Drummle: "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch," by Dr. Seuss

Bentley Drummle can be described as Pip's arch nemesis in Great Expectations.  Drummle is a jerk to everyone.  He was mean as a child, goes on to abuse Estella during their marriage, and dies while mistreating a horse.  He treats people like this because he thinks that he is superior to everyone else.  Despite this, Mr. Jaggers still has a liking for him.  "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch" describes a green creature called a grinch who ruins Christmas for Whoville, a village of Dr. Seuss's fantasy.  The Grinch is compared to a seasick crocodile, a skunk, unwashed socks, and is called, many other crude names.  Some of these names could describe Drummle's characteristics.  Even being this bad of a person, many people tolerate him, Estella included.  Those reasons are why "You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch" is a good song to represent Bentley Drummle.


10. Wemmick: "Two Faces," by Bruce Springsteen

In Great Expectations, Wemmick is Mr. Jaggers's assistant, and a man of two different personalities.  At work, in London, he is a stern man who does not fool around.  Conversely, he is a cheerful, welcoming person at his home in Walworth.  A word to sum up this trait is a two-face.  The song "Two Faces," by Bruce Springsteen, describes a man who acts differently on different days.  One day, he made a girl love him, but the next day, he made the girl very mad.  At work, people who have not seen him at home may consider him to be a mean person.  People who have only seen him at home may not know that he can be serious.  This describes how "Two Faces" can describe Wemmick.


Grooveshark Playlist Link:
http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/Pip+s+Playlist/85603035

The Artist:

The artist of "Fortunate Son" is John Fogerty, the lead singer and guitarist in Creedence Clearwater Revival, better known as CCR.  Fogerty's musical career began when he was in junior high, where he formed a small group called the Blue Velvets with his peers Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, as well as his older brother Tom. Performing in the San Francisco Bay area, the group eventually signed with Fantasy Records, a company in Berkeley, California.  Because they had little success, Fogerty and the Blue Velvets changed their name to the Golliwogs the next year, but still could not produce a hit record.  After that, a man named Saul Zaentz, who saw success in the groups future, encouraged them to resign with Fantasy Records, but change their names, yet again, in an effort to be recognized.  So, they changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival, the next year, and were successful.  This success is perhaps due to more experience from the group, as well as their new name.  Following the change of their name, they produced many catchy, hit songs, such as "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Lodi," "Green River," and "Commotion," all in the late 1960's.  Then, in the 1970's, they wrote more songs, including "Who'll Stop the Rain," "Looking out my Back Door," and "Run through the Jungle," but this time, their songs related to the Vietnam War.  Since Fogerty dominated the artistic aspect of the group, his older brother Tom quit in 1971, followed by the other members in 1972, just two years after the breakup of the Beatles.

Musical Influences:

Growing up, John Fogerty liked southern music.  He listened to groups like Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf.  After his mother found out that he enjoyed this type of music, she introduced him to "Swanee River," a southern song, written by Stephen Foster. Fogerty found El Cerrito, California, where he grew up, to be a boring place, so he decided to listen to southern music instead of music from his region.  In addition to his southern influences, he was also influenced by blues and rockabilly artists such as Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley.  I realized how these influences impacted Fogerty's music after listening to and reading the lyrics of "Fortunate Son." He uses words such as "ain't," which are common in the southern region of the United States.  Fogerty's guitarists play southern style chords in the background of his songs, as well. 

Song Context:

"Fortunate Son" was written in the late 1960's, during the time of the Vietnam War.  This influential song was meant to have a double meaning, just like many songs sung by Bob Dylan, another singer during this time period.  First, and obviously, it was an anti-Vietnam War song, but it was also a working class anthem that showed the social class inequalities of those close to President Nixon and the middle class.  This indicates that rich children whose parents helped to start the Vietnam War cannot be drafter to the military, and are protected by wealth and privilege.  On the other hand, children like Fogerty are middle class and have a strong possibility of being drafted to the military to go to Vietnam's jungles and possibly die in an aimless war against an obstinate foe.  "Fortunate Son" was a great song to which people could dance and rock out, unlike some of Bob Dylan's songs.  However, it had a very strong influence on its listeners, much like some of Dylan's songs.

Song Analysis:

The main theme of "Fortunate Son" is that children who are rich and born into families that have political power are spoiled, and have an advantage over middle class children.  I can determine that this is the theme because Fogerty makes comments throughout the song, such as "Some folks are born to wave the flag," "Some folks are born silver spoon in hand," "...the house looks like a rummage sale," and "Some folks inherit star spangled eyes," characterizing the rich children as spoiled.  When Fogerty says "Some folks..." he is referring to rich children, and when he says "...silver spoon..." he most likely means privilege and money.  Rich children are meant to represent the whole upper class, an extremely fortunate group which Fogerty resents.  Middle class children represent the struggle of the average American in the 1960's.  He wants his listeners to feel bad for the middle class children by mentioning how fortunate the upper class is.  The social class inequality between the rich and the middle class is a conflict addressed explicitly in this song.  Rich children are given whatever they want, whenever they want, and can avoid occurrences experienced by middle class children, such as being drafted to fight in the Vietnam war.  I learned that "Fortunate Son" was written during the time of the Vietnam War.  I found out that the war was started by rich entrepreneurs, but their children could not get drafted to fight in the war, simply because their fathers had power, which translated to privilege for them.  The theme mentioned above is important, because society needs to realize that rich children are given unfair treatment, as a result of their high social class.  Towards the end of the song, Fogerty states "It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one," three times, to emphasize this unfairness.  I believe that "Fortunate Son" was an extremely influential and thought provoking song.

Words in green have been changed following Mrs. Horton's comments.