Playlist Part 1 - Andreas

Music in eXis

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Music in eXis

In eXis, music isn’t background; it acts. It’s a character that breathes with each scene, sets the pulse, and opens memory. Every moment has its own rhythm: birds, radio static, a blade cutting the air, the hum of a swarm. Those vibrations guide the characters.

The songs I chose name the mood and place Gael and the others on an emotional map: from the parcel to the rites, from tenderness to fracture. Here I’m sharing the tracks I feel tied to each part; they position the characters and what they feel without spelling it out—sonic clues beneath every page.

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Playlist / Part 1: Andreas (Listen here)

1. “Taita Inti (Hymn to the Sun)” — Yma Sumac

2. “La fuerza del corazón (acoustic demo)” — Alejandro Sanz

3. “Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)” — Domenico Modugno

4. “Los gallinazos” — Susana Baca

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Opening & Reprise / “Taita Inti (Hymn to the Sun)” - Yma Sumac

(”Taita Inti” in Quechua: Father Sun)

eXis is designed to be cinematic. Many scenes were conceived and written with that intent. I picture the story opening on a black screen and a sound that makes us vibrate. I hear “Taita Inti (Hymn to the Sun)” for the first 10 seconds, then a hard cut to silence. The vibration announces Gael’s arrival. Darkness begins to fade and light comes in... little by little, the sounds of the corral enter. The world wakes up: dew, animals, children playing; the scene starts to breathe. What was dark becomes clear.

Later, in “The Rooster,” the same piece returns underneath, before the ritual, with the same vibration. You can hear the whole song, a prayer to Father Sun. I chose it as a spiritual anchor and a bridge between two key moments: the beginning and the end of Part 1.

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The Turkey / “La fuerza del corazón” — Alejandro Sanz

I conceived this scene to open with nature sounds and with Andreas and Gael’s voices playing. My aim was for the whole first part of “The Turkey,” before the cut, to feel dreamlike and without music. I wanted the corral, the dew, and the birds to be heard first. For the cut I needed a song that, besides setting the pace of the story, would break that silence and lift it, transform it. If this were audiovisual, you would hear the yard and, at the exact moment, Lisa turns on the radio and breaks the calm. I hesitated to use it because it is mainstream, but in 1994 Peru a girl could have it playing without a problem. The lyrics land perfectly and push something powerful inside Gael.

No puedo pensar
Tendría que cuidarme más
Como poco pierdo la vida y luego me la das …

Y no es mas que un chiquillo travieso
Provocador será la fuerza del corazón
Y es la fuerza que te lleva
Que te empuja y que te llena
Que te arrastra y que te acerca a Dios

For me, this song unleashes the story. Gael hears it and something cracks. The turkey registers it and reacts. I also feel the acoustic version could close Part 1 perfectly. If there were credits and an instrumental version, it would come in softly at the end, saying, “this is where it all begins.”

I can’t think
I should take better care of myself
At the very least I lose my life, and then you give it back to me…

And it’s nothing but a mischievous child,
provocative: the force of the heart.
And it’s the force that carries you,
that pushes you and fills you,
that drags you and brings you closer to God.

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The Lamb / “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” (“Volare”) — Domenico Modugno

Penso che un sogno così non ritorni mai più
Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu
Poi d’improvviso venivo dal vento rapito
E incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito
Volare oh, oh
Cantare oh, oh
Nel blu dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassù
E volavo, volavo felice più in alto del sole

The song the grandfather plays is “Volare,” and I feel it fits the moment perfectly because it reminds me of my own grandfather, who inspired the character, and because it speaks of leaving the body and of a connection to love. That is exactly what these three characters represent in that moment. It’s a coded farewell: something leaves, dies, like the lamb. And it sets the exact key for the journey the characters will make later.

I think a dream like this will never return again
I was painting my hands and face blue
Then suddenly I was carried off by the wind
And I began to fly in the endless sky
To fly, oh, oh
To sing, oh, oh
In the blue, painted blue
Happy to be up there
And I flew, flew happily higher than the sun

The Bees / “Los Gallinazos” — Susana Baca

Dios hizo a las personas
Y a todas las cosas: zancudos, mariposas, cráneos rosas.
Hizo a la gaviota, los gavilanes y a los canarios (también)…
A los zancuditos (también), la gallinacita (también)…
También (también)… Vamo’ ahí.

For “The Bees,” I chose “Los gallinazos” by Susana Baca. It’s a song about life on the parcel and a felt bond with nature. It’s exactly what would play in that house: Peruvian criolla, everyday, while Lisa cooks, Grandfather rests (or marks a step), and the cousins play. The lyric names the world: mosquitoes, butterflies, gulls, hawks, canaries… the small lives that make the place breathe.

God made people
And all things: mosquitoes, butterflies, pink skulls.
He made the gull, the hawks, and the canaries (too)…
The little mosquitoes (too), the little hen (too)…
Also (also)… Let’s go.

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Preview: Part 2 — Andreas II playlist (Listen here)

1. “Such Great Heights” — The Postal Service

2. “12:51” — The Strokes

3. “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” — Beck

4. “Come Here” — Kath Bloom

5. “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” — Michael Nyman

6. “Búscame” — Sergio y Estíbaliz

7. “Somewhere Else” — Travis

8. “Nothing But You” — Paul van Dyk

9. “El Condor Pasa” — Yma Sumac

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Author’s Notes / Part 1 - Andreas ← Previous chapter | Index | Next chapter → The CDs

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