Salvage the Bones (2011) by Jesmyn Ward explores the varying conflicts experienced by a poor Black family of five living in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. The novel, which most closely follows fifteen-year-old Esch, sees the family before, during, and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
As a reader, I felt connected to Esch’s vivid sense of escapism through reading and mythology. I admired her strength as a young teenager searching for role models and rooted for her throughout the novel. Although the novel deals with intense subject matter, it’s a beautifully written must-read that I think will become a classic.
Below, I selected eight songs for you to check out, inspired by my reading of Salvage the Bones. Listen to them while reading or on their own!
*Warning: this article contains many spoilers for Salvage the Bones.
1. THE KING (2021)
Singer-songwriter Sarah Kinsley is only 21 years old, and she captures the overwhelming feelings of teenage obsession and romanticization of a boy very well. Lyrics such as “You’re still young and you’re still free / I wanna be the king of your heart / Let’s fall apart and start again ” combine with dreamy, upbeat synth production to create a feeling of pure escapism. The song captures Esch’s naive, teenage longing for Manny despite the fact that he only seeks to use her for her body. It is a moment of youth and innocence before the novel dissipates into serious conflicts, like Esch’s pregnancy at only fifteen years old.
2. Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (2022)
Shortly after the reader meets Manny, Esch describes the experience of having sex for the first time at only twelve years old. This uncomfortable flashback is critical to Esch’s character development before the novel starts because it causes her to view sex as something that is done to her, not something she should enjoy or receive pleasure from.
In Taylor Swift’s most recent album, Midnights, she describes the traumatizing experience of losing her “girlhood” as a teenager to a much older man in a poignant song called “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve.” The song captures the all-consuming feeling of losing yourself and giving everything to a guy with lyrics such as “I miss who I used to be,” and “I regret you all the time / I can’t let this go / I fight with you in my sleep.”
Perhaps the most gut-wrenching line of the song is, “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first.” These lyrics, combined with Swift’s voice cracks and emotional infliction, communicate the heartbreak the reader feels for Esch while reading this scene.
3. What now (2012)
Perhaps the most painful scene of the novel, as a reader, occurs when Manny seeks out Esch in a public bathroom for sex. For a moment, Esch feels hope because Manny uses more physical contact than usual. However, Manny realizes Esch is pregnant, throws her off him, and storms away while she sobs alone in the bathroom.
“What Now” is an emotional, hard-hitting track where Rhianna releases all of her pent-up anger and frustration after the end of a relationship. Lyrics such as, “I don’t know where to go / I don’t know what to feel / I don’t know how to cry,” connect to Esch’s sense of disillusionment, confusion, and loneliness. Esch has no outlet to release these emotions and no one to talk with. If “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” is an acknowledgment of lost youth, “What Now” is a sister song of the accompanying chaos, rage, and confusion.
4. Where Evil Grows (1971)
The dog fighting scene is a high-stakes point of the novel that occurs just before Hurricane Katrina hits Esch’s home. The group of boys and their dogs, plus Esch, gather in a clearing deep in the woods. It is a brutal, ugly scene with lots of violence. This scene is also significant because it occurs the day after the bathroom scene, and Esch draws parallels between Jason’s betrayal of Medea and her relationship with Manny. It’s is a turning point in the romanticized way Esch previously viewed Manny, and the emotions festering lead to confrontation.
The psychedelic pop track “Where Evil Grows” filled with bass guitar, an eerie keyboard melody, and a bit of folkish twang, sounds unique and strange. It includes lyrics such as “Evil lives in cracks and holes / And lives in people’s minds / Evil grew, it’s part of you / And now it seems to be / That every time I look at you / Evil grows in me.” The combination of the unusual production and lyrics warning of evil growing encompasses the feeling of the calm before the storm as all the teenagers gather for the last time before their world changes. It also captures Esch’s inner emotional turmoil after her romantic fantasies of Manny have come crashing down.
5. Baby Girl (2020)
After the dog fighting scene, Esch confronts Manny about him being the father of her unborn child. When Manny rejects both Esch and the child, Esch summons her inner Medea and launches herself upon Manny, punching and hitting him. In many ways, the scene represents thousands of years of repressed female rage, and I cheered Esch along as the reader.
The lyrics, “Do it for the girls / all around the world,” amplify the significance of Esch finally sticking up for herself. The song also encourages the listener to make their young self proud with the lines, “So don’t forget you forget about the little girl you met now / The one that’s in your spirit / She’s still got your back.” I think that these lyrics represent Esch’s situation well and I hope that she can recover some of her inner child in a world beyond the novel.
6. Monsoon (2017)
Another high-stakes, painful scene of Salvage the Bones occurs during Hurricane Katrina when the family is trapped in the flooded attic of their home and must leap out onto a tree. While swimming and fighting through the water to get to their grandparent’s house, China is swept away and the puppies die.
In “Monsoon” Amber Mark reflects on the loss of her mother and compares her feelings of grief to a monsoon, which is a natural disaster tied to the area of northern India where she grew up. The sound of rain accompanies lyrics such as “The rain has fallen through, and there’s nothing I can do,” and “Take us back to times so happy, with good health.” I found it interesting that the song connects to two of the novel’s pertinent themes: natural disaster and the loss of a mother.
7. SUMMERTIME / SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD (1956)
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” is a traditional Spiritual from the mid-nineteenth century that tells the story of a child being sold at a slave auction. While many versions of the song have been recorded, I find Mahalia Jackson’s 1956 recording, combined with the song “Summertime,” very emotional and powerful.
Throughout the novel, which occurs during the heat of summer, Esch experiences inner conflict from lacking a mother figure or female role model. She seeks guidance and projects her need for a female guide onto China, Hurricane Katrina, Medea, and old memories of her Mama. This song connects to Esch’s feelings of loss, disillusionment, and loneliness.
8. Swan Upon Leda (2022)
At the end of the novel, Esch comes to terms with her pregnancy and directly admits that she is now a mother for the first time. As a reader, I felt proud of Esch’s bravery and determination yet terrified for her future. Esch has many oppressive societal systems to overcome, including classism, racism, sexism, patriarchy, and more.
I chose the breathtaking new song “Swan Upon Leda” to represent the conclusion of the novel because of how it interweaves Greek mythology and the current reproductive health crisis in the United States and beyond. Hozier connects the myth of Zeus and Leda to modern times and sings about a “crying child” pushing “a child into the night” without the support of the father.
Ward does not delude her readers with hope for a happy ending for the young characters of Salvage the Bones, and I think that Hozier captures the grim experience of being a teenage mother in the United States. Esch possessed somewhat of a romanticized view of Greek mythology, so I appreciated how Hozier connected the dark side of a well-known myth to the modern world.
CONCLUSION
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward will stick with me for years to come. The eight songs I selected come from a wide range of artists, genres, and decades. However, they explore overlapping themes of loss of youth, escapism, motherhood, the inner child, and female rage that all connect to the novel when stripped down to their lyrics. Purchase your copy of the novel here!
This article is part of a series, #FeministFriday, where Chloe Hummel seeks to highlight standout feminists making a difference in the world right now. Stay tuned!