Main Lyrics: “Tears o'er a tin box / Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn’t to know.”
Personnel/Credits:

Drums: Preston Heyman

Bass: Del Palmer

Vocals/Piano: Kate Bush

String Arrangement: Bill Whelan

Producer: Kate Bush, Jon Kelly

Label: EMI Records

Vocals: Kate Bush

Producer: Jon Kelly, Kate Bush

Album: Never for Ever (1980)
Thank Yous: EMI Records, Jon Kelly, and the Never for Ever production team.
Connection to the Novel: A tin box reminds me of a cheap coffin and it represents in my head how war consumes soldiers like they're worth nothing. The second line represents how soldiers in WW2 didn't know how war was actually gonna treat them and how traumatic it was gonna be on soldiers like Billy.

2. “Heroes” by David Bowie

Main Lyrics: “Though nothing will drive them away”

Vocals: David Bowie

Personnel/Credits:

Guitar: Robert Fripp

Synths/Keyboards: Brian Eno

Bass: George Murray

Drums: Dennis Davis

Rhythm Guitar: Carlos Alomar

Producer: David Bowie, Tony Visconti

Label: RCA Records

Producer: Tony Visconti, David Bowie, Brian Eno

Album: "Heroes" (1977)

Thank Yous: RCA Records, Visconti Productions, Brian Eno, and the Berlin recording team.

Connection to the Novel: This lyric shows us the fear and truth of the world after seeing so many atrocities in SH5. Even after Billy survives the war, the trauma never leaves him it holds on to him reminding him of what’s happened and leaves him with a vision of what’s to come in his future.

3. “Let Down” by Radiohead

Main Lyrics: “One day, I am gonna grow wings / A chemical reaction, hysterical and useless.”

Personnel/Credits:
Vocals: Thom Yorke

Guitar: Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien

Bass: Colin Greenwood

Drums: Philip Selway

Label: Parlophone, Capitol Records

Engineer: Nigel Godrich

Mixing: Nigel Godrich and Radiohead

Producer: Nigel Godrich

Album: OK Computer (1997)

Thank Yous: Parlophone, Capitol Records, and Nigel Godrich for visionary production.

Connection to the Novel: Just like the singer in Let Down Billy's stuck in a world that doesn’t make sense to him anymore. The song’s alienation and vulnerableness is similar to Billy’s power to not be able to control his fate or escape his past.

4. “Everybody Lost Somebody” by Bleachers

Main Lyrics: “I’m not the same as I was before.”

Personnel/Credits:

Vocals: Jack Antonoff

Drums: Sean Hutchinson

Bass: Mikey Freedom Hart

Saxophone: Evan Smith

Piano/Keys: Jack Antonoff

Label: RCA Records

Producer: Jack Antonoff

Album: Gone Now (2017)

Thank Yous: RCA Records, Rough Customer, and Electric Lady Studios.

Connection to the Novel: “I’m not the same as I was before” is perfect for Billy’s character because after the war he’s not the same person he’s someone’s who’s completely changed due to the trauma he had to go through at such a young age. It shows us his struggle to adapt to a world that keeps changing around him after the war.

5. “A House in Nebraska” by Ethel Cain

Main Lyrics: “I left a piece of me in that house in Nebraska / Now I’m in a motel and you’re just a ghost in my lungs.”

Personnel/Credits:

Vocals: Ethel Cain

Writer/Producer: Ethel Cain

Guitar: Ethel Cain

Mixing: Ethel Cain

Mastering: Heba Kadry

Label: Daughters of Cain, AWAL

Album: Preacher’s Daughter (2022)

Thank Yous: Daughters of Cain, AWAL, and the team for Preacher’s Daughter.

Connection to the Novel: This line fits Billy trauma in SH5 perfectly. Just like ethel in the song is haunted by memories of  her past love Billy's haunted by the memories of his experiences in the war. The "ghost" of his trauma stays with him no matter where he goes or what time period he’s in and he's never gonna be able to forget or run away from it.

6. “A Pearl” by Mitski

Main Lyrics:”It's just that I fell in love with a war Nobody told me it ended And it left a pearl in my head And I roll it around every night”

Personnel/Credits:

Vocals:Mitski

Writer:Mitski

Producer:Patrick Hyland

Mixing:Patrick Hyland

Mastering: Joe LaPorta

Label: Dead Oceans

Album:Be the Cowboy (2018)

Thank Yous: Patrick Hyland, Joe LaPorta, Dead Oceans, and her amazing fans

Connection to the Novel: This line aligns with Billy Pilgrims trauma and how his trauma is never gonna leave him even if he tries to run away.  He’s reminded every day about what’s gonna happen and what’s happened to him and he can’t choose whether to shut it out or hide from this trauma.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5FTtPqisBDw2cQgDmYNnUm?si=cb6ba443921a45a8

• Author: Paul McCartney

• Lyrics: https://genius.com/The-beatles-let-it-be-lyrics

• This song repeats the phrase “let it be” 40 times throughout the duration of the song and it is similar to how Vonnegut uses the phrase “so it goes” 106 times throughout his book. Both phrases are similar in that they are either disregarding something which happens, like death in Slaughterhouse Five, or just ignores whatever is happening around the individual.

Fade to Black

• Author: Cliff Burton

• Lyrics: https://genius.com/Metallica-fade-to-black-lyrics

• Song talks about how life “will fade away” and that death approaches with nothing to stop it. This is similar to how Billy experiences the war in Slaughterhouse Five. He sees many people die, even his comrades but he already knows that there was no preventing their deaths. Furthermore, as the song says, “nothing matters, no one else,” Billy expresses that he doesn’t care about the deaths of other people by saying “so it goes,” unlike Paul Lazzaro who arranged the death of Billy after Weary died.

The Times They Are a-Changin'

• Author: Bob Dylan

• Lyrics: https://genius.com/Bob-dylan-the-times-they-are-a-changin-lyrics

• At the end of each verse in this song, it repeats the phrase “For the times, they are a-changin’” after talking about how older generations must let the new ones take charge. This connects to the Tralfamadorians and how they see that time keeps on moving and that you can’t stop or change it. When the song says “For the times, they are a-changin'” it expresses that new things will always happen and that there is no stopping newer generations from changing the traditions of the past, just like how the Tralfamadorians know that there is no changing the flow of the universe.

Time Has Come Today

• Author: Willie & Joe Chambers

• Lyrics: https://genius.com/The-chambers-brothers-time-has-come-today-lyrics

• This song reflects on the idea that there is no avoiding your death when it comes, just like Billy already knows how he will die, but also accepts that there is no stopping it. The song repeats “Now the time has come/ There's no place to run” implying that when it’s your time to die, there is no stopping it, no avoiding it, no running from it, it just happens because it is time.

And When I Die

• Author: Laura Nyro

• Lyrics: https://genius.com/Blood-sweat-and-tears-and-when-i-die-lyrics

• This song reflects over the idea that dying is inevitable and that it is fine when it happens. The chorus says “And when I die, and when I'm gone/ There'll be, one child born in this world/ To carry on, to carry on” meaning that when you die you're replaced with another and the cycle just keeps on going. This reflects the idea in Slaughterhouse Five of “so it goes,” death doesn't matter and that lives will continue to happen even when you're gone.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

• Author: Billie Joe Armstrong

• Lyrics: https://genius.com/Green-day-boulevard-of-broken-dreams-lyrics

• The main focus of this song in connection to Slaughterhouse Five is the lines “I walk this empty street/ On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams/ Where the city sleeps/ And I'm the only one, and I walk alone.” This phrase relates to Vonnegut’s actual experience of the firebombing of Dresden. After he left the shelter of the Slaughterhouse Five he would have seen nothing but a city in rubble, everyone but the few in the bunker dead. The “On the Boulevard of Broken Dream” relates how everyone in the city had a life but in a moment they were taken away. 

Zombie by the cranberries

In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy Pilgrim’s emotional detachment during the war reflects the psychological toll that violence and senseless conflict have on the human mind. Similarly, in “Zombie” by The Cranberries, the lyrics—“With their tanks and their bombs / And their bombs and their guns / In your head, in your head, they are crying”—speak to the internal invasion of trauma. Just as Billy Pilgrim seems numb and disconnected, the song portrays people as mentally consumed by the lingering violence they’ve witnessed. They both  emphasize how war doesn’t just destroy bodies, it creates psychological “zombies” of survivors, trapped in cycles of pain and emotional numbness.

Time after time by cyndi lauper

Billy Pilgrim becomes “unstuck in time,” reliving moments from his life out of order, which reflects the disorienting nature of trauma. This fragmentation is not just a narrative choice as it mirrors how PTSD distorts one’s perception of time and self. Similarly, in “Time After Time,” Cyndi Lauper sings, “If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time.” The lyrics describe a longing for grounding during emotional chaos. Billy, though unstuck in time, seems to search for meaning or consistency, which is something or someone to hold onto as time slips away. Both the novel and the song explore how time can feel broken, especially when haunted by emotional pain, and how memory loops can become a form of both comfort and suffering.

Space oddity by david bowie

Billy’s belief in the Tralfamadorians and their view of time marked by the phrase , “so it goes”, reflects his deep psychological need to detach from the trauma of war. This mental escape helps Billy rationalize the destruction of Dresden and his own emotional numbness. Similarly, in “Space Oddity,” Major Tom drifts away from Earth, both physically and emotionally. The lyrics state “And I’m floating in a most peculiar way, and the stars look very different today.” Like Billy, Major Tom becomes isolated in a surreal, otherworldly experience as a way to cope with overwhelming circumstances. Both characters escape into alternate realities , space or time, as a means of avoiding the pain of human existence. Both of their journeys reveal how detachment can both protect the mind and simultaneously sever them from reality.

I’m not in love by 10cc

In Billy Pilgrims later life, he lives in a state of emotional detachment, maintaining relationships without genuine connection. Despite having a family and wealth, he remains passive and joyless, which are signs of lingering trauma and emotional withdrawal. This mirrors the tone of “I’m not in love” by 10cc, where the narrator repeatedly denies his feelings: “I’m not in love, so don’t forget it… it’s just a silly phase I’m going through.” The song’s lyrics represent quiet denial, masking his vulnerability beneath emotional distance. Like the narrator, Billy Pilgrim goes through life while repressing real feelings, especially within his relationships. Both portray how trauma and fear of intimacy can lead people to hide behind a facade of detachment.

Loosing my religion by R.E.M

Billy begins to publicly speak about his alien abduction and the Tralfamadorian worldview after surviving a plane crash. This marks a mental break where he fully embraces delusion over reality. His speeches alienate him from others, while highlighting the gap between internal experience and external perception. This point in the novel signals his total retreat from conventional reality and deepens the sense of existential dislocation. Similarly, in “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M., the speaker wrestles with overwhelming doubt and emotional exposure, expressing the fear of having gone too far or revealed too much. The repeated sense of uncertainty states: “I thought that I heard you laughing, I thought that I heard you sing”, which reflects a blurred line between what is real and what is imagined, much like Billy’s confusion between memory, fantasy, and truth. Both Billy’s retreat and the song’s internal conflict portray the mental cost of losing touch with a shared reality.

I know it’s over by Jeff Buckley

Near the end of the novel, Billy Pilgrim knows when and how he will die, and he greets it without fear. His acceptance reflects complete surrender to the Tralfamadorian philosophy, and the final stage in his psychological journey. This mental state ties the novel’s themes together of detachment, fatalism, and the search for meaning in the face of destruction. Billy brings a strange, quiet closure to the chaotic life he’s lived. Jeff Buckley’s “I Know It’s Over” captures a similarly haunting acceptance of loss. The lyrics evoke the deepness of knowing something has ended, but without resistance. Lines from the song like “It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind” speak to the emotional complexity beneath surrender. Like Billy Pilgrim, Jeff Buckley drifts through grief and isolation with a numb clarity. Both suggest that, in the face of inevitable loss, the most human response may simply be acceptance. 

The disorientating 5/4 rhythm mirrors the fractured sense of time within the novel, reflecting Billy becoming stuck and unstuck in time, a key feature of the novel’s unique structure.

2) “The Times They Are A-Changing” -Bob Dylan

At the end of the song; “The slow one now will later be fast” and “As the present now will later be past” highlights the juxtaposition between both ideas and reflects how the Tralfamadorians view time. For instance, they explain if someone is dead, he can still be considered alive because he was alive once.

3) “Yesterday” The Beatles

This song explores the idea of time and how we perceive it. (For instance, we perceive time linearly versus the alien’s, or the Tralfamadorians’ perception of circular time.) The lyrics, “Now I need a place to hide away”, highlight how bough Billy and Vonnegut “hide away” from the trauma and suffering they have faced through either time travel or literature.

4) “Space Oddity” David Bowie

The lyrics, “Here I am floating round my tin can/Far above the moon/Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do” - reflects how aliens view the world from an outside perspective. It also shows how Billy can do nothing to change the inevitability of his life and the fate of the world around him.

5) “One Day More” Les Mis

Within the number, all of the events happen simultaneously, differing from humanity’s natural linear perspective. Ideas of free will versus life that is fixed and eternal is reflected in the lyrics, “One day more/Another day, another destiny” as well as “Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in Heaven has in store”. This is similar to the Tralfamadorians’ belief that every moment has always existed and always will, so for an individual to try to prevent something from occurring, they are utterly pointless. Additionally, the inevitability of destruction is also foreshadowed through the lyrics stating, “We'll be ready for these schoolboys/They will wet themselves with the blood”. These lyrics reflect Vonnegut’s idea of the “modern” Children’s Crusade, as many young men sacrificed their young adulthood to fight in a war stirred by the adults of their respective communities.

6) “Autumn Leaves” Nat King Cole

This song sparks ideas of memories and nostalgia for the audience, similarly to how memories are used within Slaughterhouse 5 to connect Billy Pilgrim’s present thoughts and feelings to his past memories. The lyrics, “and soon I’ll hear winter’s song…when the autumn leaves start to fall” discuss a certain type of nostalgia that comes along with specific smells, sights and sounds of the passing season. I find that similar to how the Tralfamadorians view time, the seasons pass in a circular fashion, repeating yearly on end. Additionally, Nat King Cole also chooses to focus on the positive of each season of remembrance, reflecting on how the Tralfamadorians often put on "rose-colored" glasses, seeing time indefinitely but choosing to only look at the parts of time that are good or pleasent.

7) “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garkunkel

Despite this song reflecting the inability of human connection, I feel that it can relate to how alone Billy feels throughout the entire novel. As he is tossed between different time periods, he often finds himself stuck with his own thoughts, feelings and opinions, choosing to stay reserved and doesn’t openly share the effects of both time travel and trauma have had on him. As a result, I feel that, from the traumatic effects of war, and how time travel has forced him to relive those memories constantly and without warning, he is subjected to the PTSD that many war veterans face. For instance, the lyrics “And the vision that was planted in my brain/Still remains/Within the sound of silence”, highlights the effect of violent, war torn memories that still linger in his mind and separate Billy from the rest of his community, providing the well-known “silence”.