How Long Until Your Luck Runs Out? // A Vorkosigan Saga Playlist

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So, I'm a nerd. And I'm a student who likes to procrastinate homework by doing nerdy things (shocker). Thus, it should surprise no one that the other day when I was supposed to be finishing my thesis--which is now done, incidentally. 177 pages long. Please clap. --I instead started putting together a Vorkosigan Saga playlist, at least partially inspired by the Story Sponge's Queen's Thief playlist post, which was fabulous.

It is a long, glorious jumble of songs, the entirety of which is embedded below, but I'm just going to highlight a few of my favorites that I think are absolutely perfect. Fair warning: the vast majority of the love songs are Aral-and-Cordelia themed. Because they are My Favorites. (I wuv dem.) 

So: what and why? (Besides all the sea shanties, for semi-obvious reasons, and the general Vibes.)

"Luck Runs Out" by Jorge Rivera-Herrans: Yes, this is from EPIC, and my obsession with EPIC definitely deserves its own post, but it's not getting it today. This is the song that sparked the whole playlist BECAUSE I was listening to it absentmindedly at the same time as I was reading The Warrior's Apprentice, in which Miles does a Heck Ton of Stupid Stuff and just--the whole song is actually about Miles, and you can't convince me any different.

please don't tell me you're about to what I think you'll do...//how much longer till your luck runs out?//how much longer till the show goes south?//...you rely on wit, and people die on it

"Could You Lie" by Alison Krauss: Poor Miles. This is his "I love her and she doesn't love me" song, which happens way more often than seems fair for one protagonist in one series, even a Very Angsty One. (This one is specifically about someone whose name starts with E. Of which there are several...figure it out. ;))

could you lie and say you love me just a little?//one more wrong will keep us one more night//...spent a lifetime raising houses on the sand

"In the Blood" by Home Free: So I originally including this song because of Miles's Mild Daddy Issues, but then I realized it's even more perfect for Elena's Severe Daddy (And Mommy) Issues. You're welcome.

how much of my father//am I destined to become?//...is it always in the blood?

"Brothers in Arms" by Home Free: The books are very military, and this just reminds me of all of Aral and Miles's comrades who don't make it, or who do make it but are forever changed by it. Which happens a lot. (Also, lowkey, it also reminds me of Vorkosigan Surleau.) 

someday you'll return to your valleys and your farms//and you'll no longer burn to be brothers in arms

"Jakob" by NATI.: This one is the Cordelia-is-pregnant-and-having-Feelings-about-it song. And also it reminds me of her relationship with Gregor. (I love Gregor. He's one of my very favorites.)

no one hears the threats a young mum fears//but when they see that little face it's so clear

"Viva La Vida" by Coldplay: Okay, this isn't quite right for Aral (Mr. I-Don't-Want-To-Be-Emperor-Gosh-Dangit) but it's pretty dang close. Also, "once you'd gone, there was never/never an honest word" is literally his relationship with Cordelia. I told you I'm obsessed. ;)

I used to rule the world//..."now the old king is dead, long live the king"//one minute I held the key//next, the walls were closed on me

"Pad The Road Wi' Me" by Malkiny: This IS Ekaterin's song. It's her life before Miles, and him being SO pushy, and her demuring, and the eventual resolution. I literally squealed when I figured out how perfect it is. Even him swearing on his father's life--!

oh the other lads that I have had, they proved of cruel mind//they beat me and bad used me and proved to be unkind//oh lassie, dearest lassie, love, I'd never do you wrong//it's on my honest father's life I swear I'll do no harm

"Yours" by Home Free: FREAKING ARAL AND CORDELIA. This is 1000% their song and I can't even. (That's true of like...way too many songs on this playlist. I told you.) But this one reminds me of the moment when Aral tells Cordelia that she's like a fountain of honor, pouring it out on everyone around her. <3

I was one in a a hundred billion//a burned out star in a galaxy//just lost in the sky wondering why//everyone else shines out but me//but I came to life when I first kissed you//the best me has his arms around you//you make me better than I was before//thank God I'm yours

"Still/The Neva Flows" from Anastasia: Bold of you to assume that I would make a playlist for a book series that mostly takes place on a Russia-inspired planet and not include a song from Anastasia. I included this one because even though it's...a little over-specific...it brings the Revolution Vibes. 

be careful what a dream may bring//a revolution is a simple thing

"Laendler" from The Sound of Music: This is very simply the music I imagine at every imperial Barrayaran function. And Aral and Cordelia doing the Mirror Dance to it. 

"Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran: The first line is about breaking one's leg. You can't tell me this song isn't about Miles. You simply cannot. This song also has major Ivan Vorpatril vibes. But then again, every song about drinking has major Ivan Vorpatril vibes.

when I was six years old, I broke my leg//I found my heart and broke it here//made friends and lost them through the years

"To the Mountains" by Lizzy McAlpine: This is Miles going to Vorkosigan Surleau--I'm particularly thinking of "The Mountains of Mourning", which is my favorite short story, and also the most heartwrenching short story in the series. Even though that time he's not running away from things, it's still reminiscent. 

oh, I'm headed to the mountains//where the air is sweet and new//don't you try to reach me, cause I don't want to talk to you

"Shoulders" by The Arcadian Wild: Okay so I know this song is lowkey romantic, but I included it because it reminded me of Miles's (not at all romantic) relationship with Bothari, his dad's armsman, who's been guarding him his entire life, and carried him everywhere on his shoulders until Miles could finally walk at age four. Bothari is complicated, but I do think that Miles sees the man he wants to be in Bothari's eyes, at least in some sense. 

I cannot count the times you've caught me from a fall//I hear your voice when my back's up against a wall

"Fix You" by Straight No Chaser: Literally every character in this series needs to be fixed, so including this makes me CHORTLE. (But also: "lights will guide you home//and ignite your bones"? Miles. It's Miles coming back to Vorkosigan House.)

when you try your best but you don't succeed//when you get what you want but not what you need

 

"Dynamite" by One Voice Children's Choir: If there's a better musical expression of Miles's entire personality, I have yet to find it. (I'm thinking specifically of the scene where he's hopped up on Creme de Menthe, and it doesn't change anything except his ability to operate with no sleep, and the person who just met him and supplied him with said alcohol thinks he's not usually like that, and everyone else is like "no, he's always like this, he just usually sleeps".) 

cause I'm in the stars tonight//so watch me bring the fire and set the night alight

"Misbehavin'" by Pentatonix: And we're back to Aral and Cordelia. I think about this song in terms of all galactically separated couples (so also Leia and Han Solo, lol) but I can't help thinking this is even more perfect for A&C, especially given the state Cordelia finds Aral in when she gets to Barrayar. 

a million miles away and I'm still thinking 'bout my baby//ain't misbehaving no, you don't need to worry//I'm having a good time//and I've had one too many, but you're the only one on my mind

"(It's Gonna Be) Okay" by Dave Bassett, The Piano Guys: MILES it's ALL MILES. The man can pull victory out of the jaws of defeat ninety-nine times out of a hundred, and it's absurd. But he's freaking out the whole time. 

doubt is a broken record that plays inside my head//I try to turn it down, but I can't quite drown it out//...but no matter what they say or what they say//it's gonna be okay

"King" by Lauren Aquilina: This one is for Gregor. Poor guy had no idea what he was getting into, inheriting a throne at age five, and having to take it on for good at eighteen. Can't blame him for [redacted]. 

there's so much more//you can reclaim your crown//you're in control, rid of the monsters inside your head//put all your faults to bed//you can be king again

"The Lucky One" by Alison Krauss & Union Station: Last minute addition, but this is Ivan Vorpatril to a T--at least, until the whole Lady Donna debacle. XD

give you a song and one night stand//and you'll be looking at a happy man//cuz you're the lucky one

"Legendary" by Jorge Rivera-Herrans: One last one! This is pretty much Miles's relationship with Aral to a T--he LOVES his dad, but he feels like he's never going to measure up, so he tries WAY too hard. Oh, Miles. <3

I know life and fate are scary, but I wanna be legendary 

Thoughts?? Have you read the Vorkosigan Saga? Have you ever made a playlist for a series you didn't write? (This was my first one, and I had a great time.)