Nick Dunne from Gone Girl

In the first half of Gone Girl, Nick's girlfriend Amy runs away. The narration is in the form of diary entries that revisit the beginning of the whirlwind romance, where there is still curiosity and wonder between the lovers. "You Are the Moon" reflects the dynamic of Nick's relationship with Amy as they fell in love. In Nick's thoughts, she is a sophisticated girl and an almost ethereal being. At the same time, Amy is manipulating him into thinking that he is not good enough, so he must go out of the way if he wishes to keep up with her over-the-top intellectual and emotional expectations. As Nick becomes more and more enthralled by her, the relationship becomes dangerous.

The song describes a blinding light of beauty, like the one Nick sees in Amy, and details shadows and darkness similar to Amy's hold on Nick. With delicate notes, the singer's chilling lamet lends understanding to the uneasy first sense of love that they have. Her voice is also slightly raspy, adding to the effect. These haunting qualities of the singing are somewhat balanced by the piano chords that sound like they're more in the middle or bass range. However, there are also more delicate notes played in the higher treble range that accompany the more stable chords. It seems that the lower chords barely hold the vocals and higher chords down, creating a sense of vulnerability.

Who Took Amy?

The diary entries detail false memories in which Amy manipulates the readers into thinking that Nick has murdered her. However, when the narration flips to Nick's point of view, the reader learns that Nick is innocent and geniuinely worried for her return. The beginning of "Signs" has a gentle beat and twinkling instrumentals that seem mellow and create buildup in the beginning, but to me, there is also a sense of melancholy or yearning. The feeling of the song is even more surreal because of the music's electronic elements, such as the fading in and out basdrone that accompanies the beat around 35 seconds in. Such mysterious vibes encompass the sense of hopefulness that Nick is feeling as he yearns for Amy to come home and Nick's wavering feeling of despair when he learns that Amy may not return.

The lyrics detail both the former and the latter: "The last time we slept together, there was something that was not there/You never wanted to alarm me, but I'm the one that's drowning now... I see signs now all the time, that you're not dead, you're sleeping/I believe in anything that brings you home to me." Interestingly, the vocals can be soothing, while the message of the music is not. This element of juxtiposition in the song parallels with Nick's attempt at self-soothing before he realizes that Amy is not the woman he thought he married.

Nowhere to Go

"Take the Long Way Home" is about a man who is trapped in an abusive relationship similar to Nick's. After a few months of marriage, Nick is no longer passionate towards Amy, but still loves her. However, she takes him for granted and becomes vengeful. The song also has a relatively slow, almost suspenseful start, beginning with one high, almost screeching note with low piano chords. Such a juxtaposition matches up with the tension in the relationship. 

When Hodgson starts to sing, it sounds sorrowful, similar to Nick's emotions when he realized that Amy was getting bored with him. Furthermore, this message fits well with the unreciprocated love: "And then your wife seems to think you're part of the furniture, oh, it's peculiar, she used to be so nice."

Later on, like the subject of the song, Nick, like the vocalist, feels like he is the "joke of the neighborhood" when the media accuses him of murder, and he is isolated from his community. Nick feels like he has nowhere to turn, and that he has made a mistake by marrying her and staying with her. He metaphorically takes the long way home by shutting everyone out, so that he has time to think and nobody can see his embarrassment and angst.

Feeling On Edge

Alpenhorn Loop

When the reader discovers that Amy had a year-long elaborate plan to put Nick in prison and alienate him from his friends and community simply because he rubbed her the wrong way, the novel becomes downright chilling. Nick is an innocent man who really tried to love Amy, but because he could not keep her happy, he is the victim of her twisted actions. Such a sense of unease can be emulated by the eerie and ominous sounds of the alpenhorn. First and foremost, this instrument has a forlorn quality that reflects Nick's emotional status for much of the novel. However, his feelings do waver in intensity. The volume of the horn demonstrates this, because it starts out pretty loud, continues to build up, and then wavers, much like Nick's feelings of frustration with his lack of agency. An example of this emotional oscillation in the novel is that Nick has more mobility when the press favors him. He experiences occasional glimpses of hope when evidence that supports his innocence emerges, or when his sister or police confidant agree to help prove his case. But then, the public eventually abandons his side when they find Amy's incriminating evidence. Despite his oscillation between depression and joy, Nick must always be on edge, living in the kind of suspense that the alpenhorn communicates. 

An Attempt to Salvage the Situation 

"Epic angry boat/Inception Sound effect"

Upon discovering Amy's intentions, Nick is furious. He wishes to exact revenge against Amy. To do so, he shares with the only policewoman that he can trust that Amy has pinned her fake murder on Nick. The two begin to plot how to trap Amy in her devious scheme. There is an element of suspense to the track; it's what someone would hear in a movie right before there's about to be climactic action. The amplification and intensity of sounds is indeed epic like the title advertises. In this moment, it appears that Nick is going to valiantly save the day. The reader trusts that justice will be served, and that everything will be okay for him again. On the other hand, because of the ambiguous nature of noise, the sound effect could also suggest that something heroic has alreadyoccurred, or even something tragic - again, there is indeed an element of suspense. That could still fit in with Nick's story. Perhaps you could say that his feeling of certainty is about to crumble as he is about to discover his inability to wriggle out of Amy's grip.

A Harrowing Conclusion

The beginning of this audio clip is shaky. In terms of the sonic elements, there is a staggered brass sound with an underlaying high pitched sound in a possible vibrato. Then, in terms of the emotions that the sounds evoke, it feels like the whole story could work out, or it could fall apart, much like the ending of the novel. However, the intsrumentals soon increase alarmingly in tempo and volume, and then cut off abruptly. Thus, this cliffhanger sound compliments the horrifying ending, in terms of both plot and style.