An Urban Fantasy Playlist

So to the surprise of absolutely no one, I confess that I occasionally make playlists for specific characters from fiction, or general themes in media. This playlist is titled The Hanged Man, as a reference to the minor character from the Astro City comics. In the comics the Hanged Man is a mysterious supernatural guardian for the area of the city known as Shadow Hill. The neighborhood is populated mainly by Eastern European immigrants and their descendants, and it continues to be an interesting blend of modern city and supernatural traditions (vampires, ghosts, the whole nine yards).

More generally speaking, the playlist is an ode to all those characters who walk the line between modern life and the dark recesses where magic lurks and modern science fails. The Trenchcoat Brigade, the hunters, the exorcists. The sorcerers who breathe in diesel fumes and breathe out fire and magic. This is for all the friends and lovers scattered through the streets and cemeteries.

Enjoy my terrible but enthusiastic cover art, featuring stills from Supernatural arranged in the style of E Horne and J Comeau's A Softer World comics with a quote from Robert Browning's Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. I feel out-of-breath just typing that.

1. Devilman Lady Main Theme (Toshiyuki Watanabe)

This is the only one that can be genuinely difficult to find, so have a YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJNpCnx1DUo

2. Superstition (Stevie Wonder)

Keep me in a daydream,
Keep me goin' strong,
You don't wanna save me,
Sad is the soul

3. Heavy in Your Arms (Florence + the Machine)

Who is the betrayer?
Who's the killer in the crowd?
The one who creeps in corridors
And doesn't make a sound

4. Lead Me Home (Jamie N Commons)

Oh lord in the darkness
Lead me on my way

5. Once Upon a Dream (Lana Del Ray)

And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
 
6. The Remnant (Josh Ritter)

I know who you are old man keep running
I tracked you down by the look in the eyes
Of a thousand gone faces pressed against their windows  

7. Killing Strangers (Marilyn Manson feat. Tyler Bates)

We're killin' strangers, so we don't kill the ones that we love
 
8. Mad World (Gary Jules)

Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
 
9. The Ballad of George Collins (Sam Lee)

Oh, put him down my little brave boys
And open his coffin so wide
That I may kiss his red ruby lips
Ten thousand times they've kissed mine
 
10. Howl (Florence + the Machine)

The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound
I hunt for you with bloodied feet across the hallowed ground
 
11. Monkey Gone to Heaven (Pixies)

And the ground's not cold
And if the ground's not cold
Everything is gonna burn
We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too

12. London Calling (The Clash)

London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
 
13. Blue Monday (Orkestra Obsolete)

Tell me, how do I feel?
Tell me now, how do I feel?
 
14. Slipping (Neil Patrick Harris from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog)

I bring you pain, the kind you can't suffer quietly
 
15. Hall of the Mountain King (Apocalyptica)

Metal cello quartet from Finland. Need I say more?

16. Brain Crack (Tracy Bonham)

Have you ever heard the sound
Of your head on the ground
And you're afraid to say
And it won't go away

17. I Gave You All (Mumford & Sons)

If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won

18. The Curse (Josh Ritter)

She asks "Are you cursed?" He says "I think that I'm cured"
Then he kissed her and hoped that she'd forget that question
 
19. God's Gonna Cut You Down (Johnny Cash)

 Well, you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What's done in the dark will be brought to the light

20. Fire (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown)

You fought hard and you saved and earned
But all of it's going to burn
And your mind, your tiny mind
You know you've really been so blind

21. Paris is Burning (St. Vincent)

Sticks and stones have made me smarter
It's words that cut me under my armor
 
22. Save Our City (Ludo)

 There's a time to pray and there's a time to fight
Anything can be a weapon if you're holding it right
Defend what is yours, they will not take our souls
It's time now to rise and fight

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