By Ninoska Preciado:
“All For Us” by Labrinth and Zendaya
“Forgive Me” by Chloe x Halle
I chose these songs for the chapter because they embody both families’ need for power. “All for Us” by Labrinth and Zendaya have lyrics such as, “Hell, I’ll do 25 to life / If it makes me a king,” and “I hope one of you come back to remind me of who I was / When I go disappear / Into that good night.” The first line could easily be a reference to Duryodhana who wants power for the sole purpose of humiliating the Pandavas, but it can also be in accordance to the Pandavas. On page 75, Krishna, a god, says the following: ““I promise you—Duryodhana, his brothers, Karna, and the evil genius behind them all, Sakuni—all of them will be punished. Their blood will stain the dust. You will see Yudhistira installed on the throne.”
So, you can see that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get on that throne, even if it means a 13 year exile and revenge. For the next line, it could be a reference to the exile the Pandavas are currently in. On page 77, you see Bhimasena upset about the outcome of the game, of practically their entire life. You can see the family having doubts of their own power, and on the next page get reassurance of who they are. They say the following in reference to Arjuna, “After he obtains them, he will become invincible” which calms Yudhistira and his nerves of the situation at hand.
The second song, “Forgive Me” by Chole x Halle is a song for Draupadi, a woman who has suffered because of her association with the Pandavas. Forgive Me, isn’t a song about Draupadi begging her husbands to accept her, but rather a song to combat them and what they’ve done to her. Lines like, “Why you wanna plead the fifth?, You ain’t gotta tell me what it is, ‘Cause I saw the messages” and “I been goin’ too hard in your city, So forgive me ’cause I’m not teary” represent her emotions after everything that happened in chapter 6. After her husbands failed to defend her from Duryodhana she said, ““My five husbands, gifted warriors of this world, looked on helplessly while I was dragged about, insulted, and disrobed.”
So, Draupadi fully understands that her husbands had the power to help her, but they didn’t. It only makes it worse that after she was attacked, she chose to save them, rather than herself, so she knows what she’s talking about. She’s seen their response and knows it wasn’t acceptable. The next line could connect to her argument with Yudhistira. Yudhistira kept telling her she should not be angry or hold resentment towards her husbands, and she stood her ground. On page 76, Draupadi said, “It seems to me that you would sooner abandon me and your brothers than abandon your principles. O tiger among men, you practice your philosophy with a steady mind.” She didn’t hold back to tell him, it seemed like he didn’t care and that he would choose himself before everyone else. In the same sentence she also said, “You did not hesitate to lose your wealth, kingdom, and all of us, and in a trice reduced us to the level of mendicants and tramps.” She’s standing her ground, she isn’t crying because of all the emotions she’s going through, she’s placing the blame on who it should be placed on. Draupadi is also going through an exile she didn’t have to do, she had other options and it just goes to show how dedicated she is to them, despite what she’s gone through.