Music and the Fictive Dream: Heartstopper

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If you asked me about a show that would make me cry, I would say Heartstopper without a doubt. This TV show has me in tears every season. While the TV show does not just have a single artist or album, it was very hard for me to choose a piece that I not only enjoyed but made sense in the storytelling and invoked an emotional response (at least for me). I chose "Fever Dream" by mxmtoon it was played in Episode 5 of Season 1. This song alone talks about vulnerability, confusion, and longing. This is important in the show as the two main characters are going through self-discovery. The music really adds to the journey they are going through (Attwood, 2022). Nick and Charlie both feel the anxiety and pressure of being in a new relationship in school and has not always been a positive place for Charlie. Nick is discovering himself and what it means to not be in a heteronormative relationship as the media doesn't normalize it and it can feel scary both in the TV show and real life.

In the lyrics, it shows the emotion and thought of Charlies anxieties and Nick's self-discovery which really helps understand their struggles and how they are going to grow from here. When you listen to the song, it has a dream-like quality to it. The similarities from mxmtoons feelings and moments of isolation in the song translate directly to the relationship between the two main characters and the way their relationship makes a turn. "Fever Dreams" overarching tone shows the high and lows of their self discovery and relationship as a whole. As Nick and Charlie get hopeful, the songs shifts to its hopeful lyrics  ad the uncertainty of those lyrics resonate in their journey. Overall it makes their experiences  more relatable and impactful.

"fever dream" was part of mxmtoon's album, dawn in 2020. The song was based of off the artists own experiences in the music industry. Mxmtoon said not to take the time you have for granted; dream as big or as small as you dare to, live authentically, and do so unapologetically and that was a big part of fever dream. She thought she was herself living a fever dream (Smith, 2020).

I specifically like this song as I can relate to what is being said. Maia (mxmtoon) talks about the anxieties and time love takes. How if you don't enjoy it it goes away. Specifically in the chorus it says, Take your time, enjoy it / every fleeting moment. To me, live in the moment enjoy what you have and don't take things for granted. You never know when things will happen again like they are now.

Attwood, Yasmin. “The Music of Heartstopper.” Epigram, Epigram, 13 May 2022, epigram.org.uk/the-music-of-heartstopper/.

Smith, Emily. “Ones to Watch.” Ones to Watch, 23 Jan. 2020, www.onestowatch.com/en/blog/mxmtoon-the-fever.

Comments

  1. Porter BaffreyNovember 19, 2024 at 11:50 AM

    Hello, Garrett. Your discussion appeared well thought out, and I enjoyed the aesthetic of your post. It seems that you put a lot of time into thinking about this and I enjoyed your song choice. Overall I agree with this post and I enjoyed listening to Fever Dream even though I had never heard it before. I think that you would enjoy more genres like Lofi and smooth jazz and if you like the song Fever Dream you may also like the beat and songs from these genres. Overall it was a good post and I got to learn a lot about this song. The history and artist of this song were both new to me so thank you. Good Job.

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