By night you will hear my call...

A Raven Playlist

By Tuneful Twilso

WARNING: THIS PLAYLIST IS A WORK IN PROCESS AND LIKELY TO CHANGE
Six songs (+ a not so serious bonus), with justifications, that remind me of the Ravens. As it stands, it's 20 minutes and 24 seconds long. Hopefully this will increase as I stumble across more music that fits.

TRACK 1 – Secret Worlds by The Amazing Devil

I like to start playlists with an atmospheric song, and Secret Worlds has a fantasy-esque sound to it that reminds me of Raven. The song itself is a dialogue between childhood friends and, modern elements aside, could work for Princess Erina and Raven (of Old).

There are many references to trees as being both important and magical, with 'Didn’t the trees tell us their stories? Yeah but we, we called them all liars' and then later 'Yeah but we, we though you were mental, you were talking to trees' (which could work as a reference to Haryad). And magical trees, such as the Great Oak and the Wisdom Tree, are both common and hold lots of lore relevance in the world of Raven.

There are a couple more line of relevance, with 'Over hedges we’d headlong and on ledges we’d land, and from every height I’d fall, I call, I reach out for your hand' and 'We climbed so high, high into the night' both reminding me of the challenges the warriors complete. 'We hear our legends, we hear them, they call' is one of the more fantastical lines of the song and reminds me of ‘The Call’ that summons the warriors to the tournaments.

TRACK 2 – Warriors (She-Ra theme) by Aaliyah Rose

As well as the fitting name, the song describes magical warriors standing against the forces of darkness, how they need to be strong, brave and never give up, and with the triumphant belief that 'We’re gonna win in the end'. If I had to select more fitting quotes, I would be forced to select the whole song. Despite being written for another show, it’s very Raven.

TRACK 3 – Princes of the Universe by Queen

If you think I chose this song for Raven (of old) because it’s the credit song for Highlander, an 80’s film about an immortal Scottish warrior, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. I do have some more lyrical evidence to support it.

There is the generic, I’m a badass fantasy warrior of great power protecting against the forces of evil lines: 'I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings, I have no rival, no man can be my equal' and 'Fighting to survive in a war with the darkest powers' and 'I'm a man that will go far, find the moon and reach for the stars, with my sword and head held high'. The following line 'Gonna pass the test first time' reminds me of the challenges of the tournaments.

And perhaps the most literally fitting line: 'Watch this man fly!'

TRACK 4 – Rule #9 – Child of the Stars by Fish in a Birdcage

Also with a strong fantasy aesthetic, the song is from a parent to a child, but I like to apply it to the mentoring relationship between Raven of Old and Raven (of New). The first verse works as his perspective of her as a warrior, competing in and winning her tournament with the lines 'You were a wanderer, back when you were young' and 'You learned to fall, and balance on your own two feet'.

The second verse can be applied to him encouraging her to take up the mantle of the raven. 'Take the world by storm, muster all your strength. Embrace the forces that surround you, bend gravity and space'. I particularly like 'Open all the doors around you. Use your power in your lungs' as the first part can be applied to Raven (of Old)’s little used, less explained ability to pass through locked doors and the second referring to one of my favourite artistic decisions of the reboot, the modulation put on both Raven’s voices when they invoke their power.

And finally, the sentiment is most clear with the chorus line 'I could only lead you so far. I believe in who you are.'

TRACK 5 – Queen of Kings by Alessandra

Similarly to Warriors, this songs is full of fantasybabble about a brave, kind and powerful warrior queen, all of which can be applied to Raven (of New). While I could quote the whole song, there are a few I want to draw attention to. Firstly, the incredibly fitting 'Got raven hair, as dark as night' describing the warriors appearance. Then there’s 'Looking out she calls… who will conquer all' referencing both the call that summons the warriors, and the tournament. The chorus line of 'Her name is, She, Queen of the Kings' works with her taking over from Raven of Old, the ‘queen’ with the power of the ‘king’. The fact a name isn’t actually given for the warrior is also oddly fitting, as Raven (of New) was given a warrior name at one point in production, but it didn’t end up being used as they thought it would take away from her being Raven.

Then there’s 'Nothing in this world can stop the spread of her wings' which works because, y’know, Bird. Again with 'Run the game, run the game' because she literally runs the game.

And on a more meta level 'Can’t stay the same in this world of change' to reflect the way the production team chose to give a role played by a white man to a woman of colour, a new Raven representing the diversity a the new generation.

TRACK 6 – Kids in the Dark by All Time Low

This is my default gameshow song and therefore ends up on most of my gameshow playlists. To me, it’s a song about kids forced to save the world when the adults failed, a song about working as a team and never giving up. I couldn’t not include it.

‘They left us alone, the kids in the dark, to burn out forever or light up a spark. We come together, state of the art. We’ll never surrender, the kids in the dark.’

BONUS TRACK – Beauty and the Beast by James Mackenzie

I had to feature the prologue song from the 2024 Cbeebies pantomime because it’s technically James Mackenzie singing in character as Raven. Well, I guess it depends on whether you think ‘Snow Raven’ counts as Raven. In my eyes he’s definitely intended to be, which leads to some fascinating implications for the series canon, but I digress. The song is generic Scottish fantasy imagery so if you ignore its origin it doesn’t seem too out of place on this playlist.

‘There’s mist upon the glen, there’s snow upon the glade, where the tales are told, where the legends are made. I’ve travelled from the north, crossed mountains from the east, with my stories of old, that will never cease. Of wonder and dreams, of beauty and the beast.’