after some point I decided to stop worrying about the overall tone of the mix (i.e. whether each song matched a tonal theme - slow and sad or faster and more upbeat) and started putting them together under three categories: 1. Immediately following the burning of Ohara and Robin, as a young child, on the run, 2. Years after this, when Robin had become an outlaw (dangerous, friendless, paranoid, and feared) taking on jobs in shady organisations in order to further her dream of finding the Poneglyphs, and 3. The times sort of immediately following joining the Strawhats and tentatively starting again. Of course you can choose to interpret the lyrics differently - these are just the personal connections I made between Robin & the tracks I used. I also recommend reading this after listening to the mix!

PART 1:

In The Pines by Jared Emerson-Johnson and Janel Drewis. There’s no doubt that Robin spent a good number of nights sleeping outside; sleeping in the bushes, in a farmer’s barn, in a pile of hay. "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don’t ever shine, I would shiver the whole night through."

Walking Far From Home by Iron & Wine is a little more upbeat than I would like for this part of the mix but I liked the images it creates for Robin’s time alone too much to cut it. Amid all the badness and hate, there must’ve been things that Robin saw which bought a smile to her face. I have to believe that there were. Then there’s the line: "Saw a boat-full of believers, sail off talking too loud, talking to loud." An allusion to a happy crew which Robin would join one day, perhaps.

Wolf by First Aid Kit is, to be honest, kind of overplayed for me now, but I still love it and thought it fit young Robin perfectly. I don’t feel I even need to explain it. Just read the lyrics :’)

PART 2:

Millstone by Eisley is one of my favourite songs on this mix. The part "Tell me why I’m discontented / Will I die without the details in my hands?" is to me a comment on Robin’s search for a knowledge that constantly eludes her. Bit by bit by bit she’s inching along this very specific path, using her unique capabilities to decipher words from a long forgotten age, doing unimaginable things (e.g. joining Baroque Works) to further her ambition. The things she did became a necessary evil to her, because who was going to stop her? Who was going to hold her back and say Robin, no; good people don’t do this. And of course it’s not like Luffy and the others are exemplary citizens, but there’s still more of an air of morality there and of kindness and humanness which Robin was missing out on. Though Robin is now also wholeheartedly focused on helping Luffy, I think somewhere inside she’s still worried that her path to the Rio Poneglyph will be disrupted somehow.

Wild Horses by The Sundays. This song comes off first and foremost as a love song, but I ended up seeing it.. almost as Robin singing to herself? "Graceless lady / You know who I am / You know I can’t let you slide through my hands": this is Robin telling herself to hold on. "I watched you suffer a dull aching pain / Now you decide to show me the same": her good side, as a child, still in control, still hopeful and hanging on, vs. her darker side, now taking over the child and growing into an adult, quieter and hurt and necessary.

Whisper by A Fine Frenzy: "I’ve stopped trying to find any peace in my mind / Because it tangles the wires." A comment on that dark place Robin went to (entirely by choice, I think). At some point she stopped questioning her own motives, started seeing all she did as necessary to survive in a world that hated her. "Shut down to a whisper / can you hear me / can you hear me still" also made this a Robin song to me. I relate it to her feeling like the world has forgotten how to be kind to her.

Keep The Streets Empty For Me by Fever Ray. I like the droning threatening sound and lyrics of this song, especially in relation to Robin. This is the song that, I feel, gets across how dangerous she is. "There’s no room for innocence." Robin lost her childhood and became a feared outlaw - almost a myth, someone kids talked about around the campfire, shining torches over their faces. "I will never disappear / for forever I’ll be here." Because no matter how hard life was or how cruel people were she couldn’t stop trying - not when she had things to prove, things to learn, peoples’ spines to crack.

Every Single Night by Fiona Apple: a bit of a late addition to this mix. I chose it based mostly on the lyrics: "My heart’s made of parts of all that surround me / And that’s why the devil just can’t get around me / Every single night’s alright, every single night’s a fight / And every single fight’s alright with my brain." To me it represents Robin’s internal struggle.

A Moment’s Grace by Boy & Bear. I wondered if I should include this one, but some of the lyrics just stood out too much. "I wasn’t born this way / I’ve been living a lie they say": This really spoke to me in regards to the way Robin was forced by circumstance to grow up and how she missed out on much of her childhood. "The thing I was craving then / Was some kind of labouring / So I might find a friend" made me think of Saul’s promise to Robin that someday she would find friends on the sea. The song ends on a more positive note (“It’s August and I’m grinnin’ / For this time I might be winnin’” and “I seem to know again / that I am not gonna die this way”) which is why I put this song at the end of part 2 - as a sort of bridge into a lighter, more joyful part of Robin’s life with the Strawhat crew.

PART 3:

Grace by Kate Havnevik: "I’m on my knees / Only memories are left for me to hold / Don’t know how but I’ll get by / Slowly pull myself together". This speaks to me as a song about the pain Robin still feels about losing Ohara and all of the people she knew there. The song also speaks of “filling an empty space” - something I associate with Saul’s words during the Buster Call.

Nothing But The Water by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals. The song that the mix for this title came from! I wanted the title and cover image to be hopeful, since that’s where Robin is currently at emotionally. The water ("With the water, we’ll start anew") is of course a reference to her new life as a pirate, as well as a symbol of washing away past actions.

Uprooted by The Antlers. Ending the mix on a slow sad tone because though Robin is better, that dark past is still a part of her, and the road to wellness can be long and winding. Though Robin is now sure that she has found her place - those friends on the sea that Saul told her about - I don’t think that she will truly find peace and closure until she accomplishes her dream of finding the Rio Poneglyph and puts Luffy on the Pirate King throne.

I also want to say that the majority of songs are in part 2 because that chapter of Robin’s life has so far been the longest, and those dark times have lasted almost entirely throughout.

So yeah thanks for reading!! I’ve never done a thing like this on one of my mixes. If you liked it then please let me know, and I’ll keep writing these extended reasonings on future mixes too!