A Playlist for The Little Prince

The titular character in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry classic fable is a curious, innocent, otherworldly traveler. He’s also capable of great love, caring for his high-maintenance rose on his home planet, eager to return to her after he sets off on traveling the universe. He encounters an array of characters on the different planets he visits. This playlist celebrates the adventures of this petite explorer.

“Space” – M.I.A.

Music is an important part of any good road trip, and the same applies for a space trip. This is the prince’s general theme song as he goes gallivanting around the cosmos.

“Gravity is my enemy,
It grabs at me like harmony.
The stars are bangin' close to me,
As I'm floatin' in a life odyssey.”

“Baobabs” – Regina Spektor

This song is heavily inspired by The Little Prince, from its title, which references the trees that grow on the prince’s home planet, to the lyrics, which reference the fox he tamed on Earth and his rose.

“But you have tamed me
Now you must take me
How am I supposed to be
I don't have my thorns now”

“Don’t Mix Your Drinks” – Elbow

While he’s wandering from planet to planet, the prince meets a man who drinks to forget the shame of being a drunkard. This song reminds him of the dark encounter.

“Don't mix your drinks
Don't mix with him
It will kill you one day
Good advice, sound advice”

“Maps” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

This song reminds the prince of another person he encounters on his travels, a geographer so preoccupied with mapping the world, he never sees any of it. It also makes him think of the long journey he must take to return to his home planet.

“Pack up
I'm strayed
Enough”

“Nothing Compares 2 U” – Prince

One good prince deserves another. While Sinead O’Connor made this song popular, Prince wrote it and performs it with raw emotion. It makes our fictional hero wistful for his rose whenever he hears it.

“I know that living with you baby was sometimes hard

But I’m willing to give it another try.”

“In Search of My Rose” – The Tear Garden

Speaking of the rose… The lyrics of this one speak of treating loneliness with a romantic connection free of responsibility:

“No strings, no ropes, no obligations.
I don't owe you, don't owe me”

While our prince initially decides to wander the universe because he doesn’t want to be beholden to his rose, he chooses to be obligated when he realizes his deep love for her.

“Stopwatch Hearts” – Delerium

On one of the planets the prince visits is a businessman who counts the stars and claims to own all of them, which touches on the book’s theme of grown-ups being materialistic creatures who love numbers. This song appeals to the prince for how it mocks those types of people.

“Strong dollar stockbroker right to the bottom
Sink down with your boomtown
High water realtors arrive
With numbers over their eyes
Stopwatch hearts”

“Lights” – Ellie Goulding

This tune reminds the prince of the lamplighter he encounters on his travels, who lights and extinguishes a lamp every minute with no rhyme or reason.

“You shine them when I'm alone
And so I tell myself that I'll be strong
And dreaming when they're gone
'Cause they're calling, calling, calling me home”

Here's the full playlist below! And if you have any suggestions, tweet them to us at @QuirkBooks and we'll add to the playlist!