Their Eyes Were Watching God: The Soundtrack
by Alexander ZajacThis page has been designed to provide information without the clutter of the lyrics to every song. To view the soundtrack page with all lyrics included, please click here.
1. Superstition
by Stevie Wonder
The story unfolds with Janie returning to Eatonville. She has been away for a long time, and the residents don't hesitate to begin to gossip and speculate about her absence.
The residents of Eatonville didn't really have any idea of what happened to Janie while she was away. They are forced to speculate, almost to a point of...superstition.
2. Don't Stop Believing
by Journey
Janie is married to a man named Logan at the will of her grandmother. This marriage is against her own will, however. She encounters a man named Joe Starks, and decides to run off with him to pursue her dreams of true love and happiness.
Janie left her marriage against the will of her deceased grandmother. She wanted more than anything else to pursue her dreams. She didn't stop believing.
3. Piano Man
by Billy Joel
Not long into Janie's new marriage, she realizes that she is little more than an accessory to Joe. Joe simply wants to prosper himself and pays no attention to Janie's desires.
Janie is ignored by Joe, and before long she begins to feel very lonely. It is made all the more painful that she is unable to associate very much with other townspeople either, who also had unfulfilled dreams. Perhaps a visit to the piano man may have cheered her up.
4. The Cheval Glass
by Emery
One fateful day, Janie broke her chains of submission. After a while, Janie had had enough and lashed back at Joe. Janie finally asserts her independence.
Janie was fairly unhappy with Joe. After all her years of bending to Joe's will, she finally releases her pent-up frustration and tells Joe how it is.
5. Free Bird
by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Joe, like all people, eventually became old. On his deathbed, Janie had a few more harsh words to say to him. While she was speaking, Joe died.
Janie was finally free of Joe weighing her down. She felt free as a bird.
6. Funkytown
by Lipps, Inc.
Several months after Joe's death, Janie encounters a young man named Tea Cake. She is very attracted to Tea Cake, and the two run off to what Janie hopes will be the loving relationship she always wanted.
Janie left Eatonville, which she had lived in for now a very large part of her life. To leave a place like that, she must certainly have been expecting something fantastic. Something funky.
7. The Island – Pt. II (Dusk)
by Pendulum
Not long after Janie moves in with Tea Cake, she awakes one morning to find her husband gone, along with an extra two hundred dollars she brought along in case she ran into trouble. Janie is gripped with worry and doubt, fearing that Joe might have left her.
Janie was collapsing on the inside. The lyrics to The Island – Pt. II (Dusk) are very minimal; it is musically representative of how she feels with Joe gone, as the song begins with a solid melody and seemingly collapses.
8.To The Wolves
by Anberlin
Janie and Tea Cake eventually come to be working in the muck together. A certain woman is apparently flirting with Joe, and Janie believes that Joe is flirting with her too.
Janie is gripped by jealousy. Seeing how Tea Cake and the woman interact together further stir within her feelings of mistrust. She likely felt as though she was left to the wolves.
9. Hold Your Colour
by Pendulum
The feelings of jealousy between Tea Cake and Janie eventually erupt. To exert his dominance, Tea Cake chooses to beat Janie.
Emotions expressed the way Tea Cake chose to express them are very dangerous. The song Hold Your Colour seems to be an expulsion of negative emotions, similar to how Tea Cake felt when he beat Janie.
10. The Kraken
by Hans Zimmer
While working on the muck, Janie and company observe Native Americans and animals heading eastward. According to them, a hurricane is coming. The hurricane does indeed come, and Janie and Tea Cake are forced to flee the Everglades lest they would perish in the hurricane.
There are no words in The Kraken. The Kraken is an expression of an epic struggle, one which Janie and Tea Cake went through in attempting to escape the hurricane.
11.Time
by Hans Zimmer
While escaping from the hurricane, Tea Cake is bitten by a dog later discovered to have apparently been rabid. Tea Cake slowly deteriorates from the rabies, and at a point intends to shoot Janie. Janie has little choice but to shoot him first and kill the one man in whom she had finally found love.
Janie was too deep in her grief to change into mourning clothes. Likewise, her grief is too deep for words to express.
12. Spain (I Can Recall)
originally recorded by Chick Corea
performed by Al Jarreau
Janie returns to Eatonville. She connects the muck with Tea Cake and is unable to stay there. She returns home and is finally at peace.
Janie had been to the horizon. Now she will life out the remainder of her days with the recollection of her times at the horizon.
