Soundlist (draft): Preston "Bodie" Broadus from HBO's "The Wire"
David Simon's masterpiece The Wire is considered the greatest television drama of all time by numerous pop culture and media critics. The series tells the story of Baltimore and the institutions and individuals that shape the modern American city. Focusing on the interaction of the drug trade, the police system, City Hall, public education, the media, and the struggling working class--the scope of The Wire is ambitious but perfectly executed. One of the constant themes in each season is the message that the American Dream of old is nonexistent for lower and working class persons. In my opinion, Bodie--who begins as a low level drug dealer--perfectly represents the failure of these institutions to keep the American Dream of upward mobility alive for those who strive for success.
Anthony Hamilton- Comin From Where I'm From
Anthony Hamilton's "Comin From Where I'm From" is a deeply emotional, sorrow-filled track, plainly laying out the hardships one faces in his hometown in order to provide for himself and his family. This song embodies the opening scenes involving Bodie in the Baltimore drug trade. Bodie is a low level dealer trying to make some money in the impoverished, struggling Baltimore City. Baltimore was a factory town, but with globalization many of these former employers have left town, leaving many residents out of work, poor, and forced to turn to the drug trade. The gang control in the city and the high rates of murder and violence and the emotions felt living in a struggling place like that can be felt in Hamilton's voice as he sings "it gets hard, coming from where I'm from. " This initial song sets the emotional landscape of inner city Baltimore, providing the setting for Bodie--a place where he must adapt business skills and an ambitious attitude to succeed in the drug game.
In season 1, Bodie begins as a low level dealer, working for D'Angelo Barksdale in the Terrace projects. However, Bodie has dreams of one day being a kingpin in the drug trade--he is ambitious and hard working. In one of the most poignant scenes of the first season, D'Angelo is telling Bodie and the other dealers about the game of chess and how it relates to the drug trade. He compares Bodie and the others to pawns, saying they have the ability to become more and move up, but they can never become the king. Bodie retorts, "unless you a smart ass pawn." This drive and confidence to be successful in the drug game is also embodied in Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman."
The song is upbeat, full of horns, and seems like a celebration. The song also talks of "heavy bread," "making money all the time," "I'm the man," etc. This braggadocio and happiness embodies Bodie's personality at the beginning of season 1, as he is full of life and thinks he can become a kingpin one day.
Mobb Deep- Survival of the Fittest
Mobb Deep's "Survival of the Fittest" is filled with a dark, terrifying bass line and piano, which is a perfect companion for Bodie's development at the end of season 1. Bodie has impressed on of the heads, Stringer Bell, of the drug dealing Barksdale Organization, but Bell has tasked Bodie with killing his friend Wallace. Bodie has come to realize that he is just a pawn in the system, but he is still loyal and does want to succeed in the drug industry. He ends up killing Wallace--thought hesitant--forever tying into the evil of the drug game. The violent, truthful imagery in "Survival of the Fittest," paints a picture of a war on the streets, something Bodie experiences in Baltimore, and also speaks on how the weak are killed in the drug game, another parallel as Bodie had to physically kill his friend in order to survive and advance up the organizational ladder.
George Carlin's bit on the American Dream tries to make the audience realize that the dream that anyone from the lower class can rise up and be successful, is just that, a dream. He jokes, "It's called the American Dream because you have got to be asleep to believe it."
This standup bit is indicative of Bodie and his ambitions because by the end of season 1 he realizes that this environment can not allow him to rise up to become king--and the actual city of Baltimore has a decimated lower and working class, preventing him from rising up in an industry outside of the drug trade. Throughout the next few seasons, everything around him fails. His friend Poot is locked up, the Barksdale drug organization is decimated by arrests and rival drug lords, and he eventually ends up having to work as a low level dealer for another organization. By season 3 he is essentially right back where he was at the start of the show--the American Dream is dead to him.
Factory Ambient Sound Effect
By season's 3 and 4, David Simon's vision for The Wire has been showing the failure of the police and government to make any meaningful change in the lives of the Baltimore people. People like Bodie have to drop out and work in the drug trade to make money. Simon loves the anecdote of "the drug market is the only factory that is hiring." By these later seasons Bodie has also changed, from a young low level dealer with great ambition, to a loyal cog in the machine. He no longer wants to rise up to be the "king," he would now prefer to just do his job, make his money, and not die. In a sense he is just a factory worker, clocking in everyday to do his job--working his corner of Baltimore.
Police Car Siren
The sound of a police siren is pervasive sound in Bodie's life in the streets of Baltimore. Usually Bodie would run at the sound of the siren, something he has done numerous times throughout The Wire. But in season 4, Bodie meets with one police officer, McNulty, after being a "disgruntled employee" working under Marlo. McNulty has grown to respect Bodie after years of interacting with him, he knows Bodie is just doing what he has to do to survive. McNulty wants some information from Bodie, but Bodie does not snitch on Marlo. However, they do act friendly with one another and Marlo's people see the two together. Word of this gets back to Marlo, who sends his soldiers out to get Bodie.
Nas & AZ- LIfe's a Bitch
This Nas classic off of illmatic embodies the life of Bodie as he tragically meets his end in season 4 at the hands of Marlo. Bodie is gunned down by his own bosses' soldiers on the corner that he has worked for a year. This song's chorus of "Life's a bitch then you die, that's why we get high, because you never know when you're gonna go," could be the anthem for many drug dealers, but fits Bodie especially well. He has tried his hardest to be a loyal worker, even going as far as having to kill his friend, and he has been a decent person as far as the viewer can see--even the cops like him. Trying to succeed in the life of the streets is all for naught however, as he is killed for no reason--ironically for the same reason Wallace was killed by Bodie--simply because the "boss" is paranoid of a dealer snitching to the cops. When he is killed, he has not achieved any of the success he envisioned for himself, a testament to the larger message of the failure of institutions to foster working class growth.
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