I recently discovered the show Peaky Blinders, and have become obsessed. Every episode and every season never failed to keep me on the edge of my seat. Because I just finished the last and final season, I thought I’d choose a song that represented three of my favorite characters from Season 6 of Peaky Blinders.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Arthur: “Skin and Bones”- Cage The Elephant
Arthur has to be one of my favorite characters in the series. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he loves his family and he’ll always try to protect them. Throughout season 6, Arthur struggles with his addiction and mental health. In one episode when Tommy returns from a voyage and sees Arthur under the influence, he tells him he’s become skin and bones because of his addiction, hence the song choice. The lyrics “I’ve been running for so long/ All that’s left is skin and bones” expresses Arthur’s questioning of why he should become sober or even continue living after losing his wife, enduring PTSD, and enacting violence as a Peaky Blinder. However, the repeated lines “Close my eyes, fight to carry on” and “Let the love-light guide me home” throughout the song reflect his persistence to become clean and protect his family.
Ruby: “Guinnevere” – The Heavy Heavy
Granted Ruby wasn’t often shown in the series, her role in season 6 was pretty prominent. The lyrics compare a woman to Guinnevere, King Arthur’s wife and queen in famous chivalric tales, and her intangible nature. In combination with the repetitive and haunting guitar movements and vocal chords, this could reflect Tommy saying goodbye to Ruby after her passing. The first lines, “Guinnevere had green eyes/ Like yours…” and “Guinnevere drew pentagrams/ Like yours” mirror Ruby’s hallucinations and the Romani curse put upon her when she falls ill. The images of this Guinnevere-like figure wanting to be free and not being able to see the narrator could also foreshadow Ruby’s return to Tommy in the last episode of the series as a ghost.
Tommy: “Lazarus” – David Bowie
One of the recurring themes of the show is that Tommy Shelby is never afraid of anything, including death, because he’s already dead. During WWI, Tommy and his brothers nearly died in a bombing and agreed that everything after then was just extra time. “Lazarus” was written by Bowie as an introspective stream of consciousness regarding his fear of his impending death. The combined vulnerability and humor as a coping mechanism in this song reflect Tommy’s newfound disenchantment with his life after losing his daughter. The lyrics, “This way or no way/ You know, I’ll be free/ Just like that bluebird” that repeat at the end of the song express Tommy’s attempts to cope with his (later to be revealed false) lethal tuberculoma diagnosis. His choice to not let his family watch him wither away and desire to end his life in a caravan are similarly reflected in the first singing of these lyrics. When they are repeated, however, they reflect Tommy’s choice to take a page out of Alfie Solommon’s book and fake his death.
Although I often steer clear of rather violent series, Peaky Blinders conveys an extensive depth of emotion regarding family, love, justice, and loss which I didn’t expect when I first decided to watch the series. If you’re a fan of espionage, family, and horses, I highly recommend you watch the series! Peaky Blinders is currently streaming on Netflix.