Cassandra Christopher
EN 185
Levy
Sing to Me: The Musical Choices in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby
Jazz music, as a form of rebellion, isn’t a well-understood concept for viewers of Baz
Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald, however—who is
credited with creating the phrase “Jazz Age”—understood that the music of the Prohibition era
was a widespread insurrection. For the Nick Carraway, the narrator of both the novel and the
film, the insubordination and defiance of jazz music represented the clash of New York City, and
in particular the life of Jay Gatsby, against the Western life from which Nick and every other
main character had come. Baz Luhrmann understood that the same concept applied to hip-hop in
contemporary America. The music in his film is insubordinate and defiant, but it is also
explanatory, as the blend of modern and jazz gives definition to the rebellion of music as well as
to the experience of the film’s narrator. Luhrmann uses the music to help his audience see Jazz
Age New York on a bigger scale, as well as to see the story directly through the eyes of Nick
Carraway.
Luhrmann begins one of Nick’s most influential experiences with Jay-Z’s “100$ Bill.”
Jay Gatsby has taken Nick to lunch, and on the drive from Long Island to New York Gatsby has
told a fantastic story of his life and how his fortune was made, a story which he explains will be
validated by Meyer Wolfsheim. Gatsby and Nick enter a club in which a materialistic backdrop
1
has been laid: Jay-Z’s voice chants “Y’all know what this shit is all about,” while political
figures and influential members of society mingle. The viewer gets the distinct impression that
Nick knows everything in this place is all about money. His impressions, and Gatsby’s claims,
are further emphasized by Wolfsheim, who repeats details of the life story Gatsby has already
relayed and then begins to offer Nick a money-making position with a questionable legality.
Gatsby cuts him off, and after he leaves identifies his business partner as the man who fixed the
1919 World Series. The sound of the music is much closer to modern hip-hop in than to a blend
with jazz, signaling a change not only in values but in atmosphere: this particular place does not
belong with the rest of Nick’s world. Luhrmann’s choice of music lays an appropriate hint to the
viewer that the narrator is in a place where “all move for money.”
However, to Gatsby, the only thing that matters is Daisy Buchanan, and Luhrmann once
again uses background music to show Nick’s understanding of Gatsby’s obsession. Gatsby fell in
love with Daisy five years prior to meeting Nick, and she has been his goal since he left her. He
has become obsessed, a fact which Nick might not have understood until the day Gatsby and
Daisy were set to meet for tea at Nick’s house. Gatsby’s servants bring an exorbitant amount of
flowers into Nick’s living room, and the tones of “Crazy in Love” leave the viewer with the
sense that Gatsby has become nearly insane. However, this particular song has been changed:
gone aret eh electronic beats, replaced by saxophone tones. Beyonce, too, has been replaced by
Emeli Sande, whose smoky voice more easily creates a musical feeling associated with the
1920s. The meaning of the song, though, remains the same. Nick sees Gatsby’s actions as
somewhat crazy, but as yet does see the reason for the insanity: that Daisy’s love, for Gatsby, can
do “what no one else can.”
2
Another explanation comes in Lana Del Ray’s “Young and Beautiful,” which is arguably
the theme of the movie. At first, the song seems to reference Daisy; its first appearance comes
when Jordan Baker tells Nick about Daisy’s past life with Gatsby in Louisville, and it presents a
clear connection to the girl whose future depend on the admiration of wealthy suitors. However,
it becomes evident as the song is used in several different forms and several different scenes that
it refers to Gatsby. Part of his insanity is attributed to his love for Daisy, but beyond that is his
fear that she will not love him now that he is “no longer young and beautiful.” Gatsby is already
past the point of youth in his life, and Luhrmann uses this song to hint to the viewers that Gatsby
doubts Daisy’s love. As Nick reassures Gatsby during tea that Daisy is just as nervous as the
millionaire, we see that Nick too understands Gatsby’s doubts.
What Nick does not suspect is the mortality of Gatsby. Baz Luhrmann provided
foreshadowing in the music at Nick’s first party at Gatsby’s house. “A Little Party Never Killed
Nobody,” which at first seems like a harmless encouragement to drink and be merry, becomes a
reminder that partying a little bit can indeed kill: Jay Gatsby would never have found Daisy
Buchanan, been involved in the manslaughter of Tom Buchanan’s mistress Myrtle Wilson, and
finally killed by Myrtle’s husband George had he not thrown a few parties. For Gatsby, these
parties were a shout to Daisy: “It don’t mean a thing if I ain’t in your eyes.”
Further reminder comes when the lyrics are taken literally: a little party travels to New
York City and on their return causes the death of a woman. Jack White’s “Love is Blindness”
floats behind the action of this scene much like Myrtle Wilson is shown floating down after she
has been hit by Gatsby’s car, driven by Daisy. While “A little death without warning…almost
makes sense” aptly places words to the scene at hand, the song does hold meaning beyond
3
Myrtle’s death, and lost battle for Tom’s love. “Love is blindness, I don’t want to see,” perfectly
describes Gatsby as he begins to see his doubt of Daisy’s love realized, and yet still holds on to
anything that he possibly can to keep himself believing in her love. He is almost completely
blind to the reality of his rejected situation; he grasps at any possible reconnection even after his
perfect illusion of Daisy’s love has begun to shatter.
Few things mattered more in the Jazz Age than music. Similarly, in Baz Luhrmann’s
interpretation of Fitzgerald’s classic novel, few elements of the production are more important in
the end result than the unusual soundtrack. The blending of hip-hop and jazz gives a modern
audience a link to the 1920s, an understanding of what that rebellion was by comparing it to a
current undermining. However, we the viewers see not only Jazz Age America through the eyes
of hip-hop, but Nick Carraway’s New York summer through the eyes of the man who
experienced it. Luhrmann used music to connect viewers with an entire generation, and with a
single fictional man.
4