The Giver Soundtrack

1. By Donna Hughes The Giver Soundtrack

2. Dolores Claiborne-End Title by Danny Elfman • The repetition of the opening section of this music represents the monotony of the people’s lives in The Giver. • When the music changes and becomes more intense, it represents the time when the plane flew over the community and frightened its residents. Then the music settles back into sense of order, the way their lives did, yet with dissonance representative of the dystopian nature of their existence.

3. “I Think I Love You” represents how Jonas feels when he first has the “stirrings” and realizes he feels something for Fiona. He is not sure what to do with his emotions, but he does confess them at the evening sharing of feelings. He is given a daily pill to suppress his feelings for Fiona and his attraction to her.

4. I Think I Love You By David Cassidy and the Partridge Family I’m sleeping and right in the middle of a good dream When all at once I wake up From something that keeps knockin’ at my brain Before I go insane I hold my pillow to my head And spring up in my bed Screaming out the words I dread: “I think I love you!”

5. This morning I woke up with this feeling I didn’t know how to deal with And so I just decided to myself I’d hide it to myself and never talk about it And didn’t I go and shout it When you walked into the room. “I think I love you!”

6. I think I love you So what am I so afraid of? I’m afraid that I’m not sure of A love there is not cure for. I think I love you. I think I love you. Isn’t that what life is made of? Though it worries me to say That I’ve never felt this way.

7. Dare You to Moveby Switchfoot • This is what I believe Jonas would say to Gabriel. His family has taken Gabriel in to help with his nurturing and to get him to sleep through the night. Jonas feels an instant connection with him because they both have light colored eyes. Jonas even refers to Gabriel as his little brother, although he knows he is not supposed to get close to him.

8. Welcome to the planetWelcome to existenceEveryone's hereEveryone's hereEverybody's watching you nowEverybody waits for you nowWhat happens nextWhat happens next

9. [Chorus]I dare you to moveI dare you to moveI dare you to lift yourself up off the floorI dare you to moveI dare you to moveLike today never happenedToday never happened beforeWelcome to the falloutWelcome to resistanceThe tension is hereTension is hereBetween who you are and who you could beBetween how it is and how it should be

10. Maybe redemption has stories to tellMaybe forgiveness is right where you fellWhere can you run to escape from yourself?Where you gonna go?Where you gonna go?Salvation is hereI dare you to moveI dare you to moveI dare you to lift yourself up off the floorI dare you to moveI dare you to moveLike today never happenedToday never happenedToday never happenedToday never happened before 

11. Decent Men in an Indecent TimeBy Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard This instrumental piece perfectly matches the mood when The Giver transmits the memory of war to Jonas. I imagine smoke billowing from weapons and bodies as Jonas, in slow motion, takes in the scene of devastation. He hears the cries of the dying and sees the ground littered with bloody corpses.

12. Jonas decides he will “dream on” when he chooses to stop taking the required pills. This first act of rebellion is his first step toward taking back his life and breaking free from the constraints place on him by his society. He wants to embrace freedom and his choices, whether good or bad. He knows there will be no turning back to his old way of life from this point on out.

13. Dream OnBy Aerosmith Every time I look in the mirror All these lines on my face getting clearer The past is gone It goes by, like dusk to dawn Isn't that the way Everybody's got their dues in life to pay Yeah, I know nobody knows where it comes and where it goes I know it's everybody's sin You got to lose to know how to win Half my life is in books' written pages Lived and learned from fools and from sages You know it's true All the things come back to you 

14. Sing with me, sing for the year Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears Sing with me, if it's just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good lord will take you away Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year sing for the laughter, sing for the tear sing with me, if it's just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream until your dreams come true Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream until your dream comes through Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream On Sing with me, sing for the year sing for the laughter, sing for the tear sing with me, if it's just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away Sing with me, sing for the year sing for the laughter, sing for the tear Sing with me, if it's just for today Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away......

15. Tears in HeavenBy Eric Clapton • This is The Giver’s song for his daughter, Rosemary, who was the previous Receiver. It is said that she failed, but she did not really fail. She realized her life would not be worth living if she had to carry the pain and suffering of entire civilization by herself. She chose to perform her own release rather than subject herself to a lifetime of agony and heartache. The Giver loved her and longed to be with her.

16. Would you know my name If I saw you in heaven Will it be the same If I saw you in heaven I must be strong, and carry on Cause I know I don't belong Here in heaven Would you hold my hand If I saw you in heaven Would you help me stand If I saw you in heaven I'll find my way, through night and day Cause I know I just can't stay Here in heaven 

17. Time can bring you down Time can bend your knee Time can break your heart Have you begging please Begging please (instrumental) Beyond the door There's peace I'm sure. And I know there'll be no more... Tears in heaven Would you know my name If I saw you in heaven Will it be the same If I saw you in heaven I must be strong, and carry on Cause I know I don't belong Here in heaven Cause I know I don't belong Here in heaven

18. Jonas now sees his society for what it is-a mad world with no emotions, no music, and no choice. All about him is sameness, and he knows things can be different. The repetitive nature of this song mimics the repetition and sameness in the people’s lives. Jonas knows he must escape and perhaps somehow restore to the community what they have lost in their desire to be free of pain and suffering.

19. Mad WorldBy Michael Andrews & Gary Jules All around me are familiar facesWorn out places, worn out facesBright and early for the daily racesGoing nowhere, going nowhereTheir tears are filling up their glassesNo expression, no expressionHide my head I wanna drown my sorrowNo tomorrow, no tomorrowAnd I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sadThe dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever hadI find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to takeWhen people run in circles its a very, veryMad world, mad world

20. Children waiting for the day they feel goodHappy birthday, happy birthdayAnd I feel the way that every child shouldSit and listen, sit and listenWent to school and I was very nervousNo one knew me, no one knew meHello teacher tell me, what's my lesson?Look right through me, look right through meAnd I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sadThe dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever hadI find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to takeWhen people run in circles its a very, veryMad world, mad world, enlarging your worldMad world

21. I’ll Stand by YouBy The Pretenders • This song would play as Jonas learns of his father’s plans to release Gabriel the next morning. Jonas is willing to risk the escape he and The Giver had so meticulously planned in order to save Gabriel’s life. He even forgoes saying goodbye to The Giver in order to hasten his escape. He breaks several community rules in his night flight, but he knows Gabriel is worth putting himself in even greater jeopardy.

22. Oh, why you look so sad?Tears are in your eyesCome on and come to me nowDon't be ashamed to cryLet me see you through'Cause I've seen the dark side tooWhen the night falls on youYou don't know what to doNothin' you confess, could make me love you lessI'll stand by you, I'll stand by youWon't let nobody hurt youI'll stand by you

23. So, if you're mad, get madDon't hold it all insideCome on and talk to me nowHey, what you got to hide?I get angry tooWell I'm a lot like you When you're standing at the crossroadsAnd don't know which path to chooseLet me come along'Cause even if you're wrongI'll stand by you, I'll stand by youWon't let nobody hurt youI'll stand by you

24. Take me in, into your darkest hourAnd I'll never desert youI'll stand by youAnd when, when the night falls on you, babyYou're feelin' all aloneYou won't be on your ownI'll stand by you, I'll stand by youWon't let nobody hurt youI'll stand by youTake me in, into your darkest hourAnd I'll never desert youI'll stand by you, I'll stand by youWon't let nobody hurt youI'll stand by youYeahWon't let nobody hurt youI'll stand by youI'll stand by youWon't let nobody hurt youI'll stand by youNo, no, no, no, noTake me in, into your darkest hourAnd I'll never desert youI'll stand by youI'll stand by you

25. Legend of Zelda • This instrumental piece would play in the background as Jonas rides his bicycle, with Gabriel in the child’s seat, across the terrain toward the communities beyond and the unknown. Jonas rides at night and sleeps during the day. I imagine him glancing up at the sky and looking about him to see if he is being followed.

26. FreebirdBy LynyrdSkynyrd • This is Jonas’s song to Fiona as he leaves the community. He knows she participates in the release of old people, and he knows the two of them can never be together the way their community is set up. He leaves her and chooses his own freedom as well as Gabriel’s.

27. If I leave here tomorrow Would you still remember me? For I must be travelling on, now, 'Cause there's too many places I've got to see. But, if I stayed here with you, girl, Things just couldn't be the same. 'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, And this bird you can not change. Lord knows, I can't change. Bye, bye, its been a sweet love. Though this feeling I can't change. But please don't take it badly, 'Cause Lord knows I'm to blame. But, if I stayed here with you girl, Things just couldn't be the same. Cause I'm as free as a bird now, And this bird you'll never change. And this bird you can not change. Lord knows, I can't change. Lord help me, I can't change.

28. Silent Night • This song would play as Jonas and Gabriel sled downward toward a home that is filled with people celebrating Christmas. This ending is foreshadowed in chapter 12 when Jonas thought about the dream he had of sledding: • “Again and again, as he slept, he had slid down that snow-covered hill. Always, in the dreams, it seemed as if there were a destination: a something—he could not grasp what—that lay beyond the place where the thickness of snow brought the sled to a stop.”

29. “He was left, upon awakening, with the feeling that he wanted, even somehow needed, to reach the something that waited in the distance. The feeling that it was good. That it was welcoming. That it was significant.” • People often wonder if The Giver has a happy ending. I believe it has the happiest of endings, Jonas and Gabriel end their journey in The Giver’s favorite memory—a family celebrating Christmas!

30. SecretsBy OneRepublic • This song would play during the closing credits. It represents Jonas releasing his memories back to the community: “I’m gonna give all my secrets away.”