Ellacott + Strike

Tom Waits love songs for self-declared best friends

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

Finished The Hallmarked Man last week, and I’ve been coping with the post-book emptiness by listening to love songs by Strike’s favorite artist, Tom Waits, and thinking about Strike and Robin. So I thought I’d share a few of them here.

I’ll start with my favorite so far: “Picture in a Frame.”

I can’t help interpreting the “Ever since I put your picture in a frame”, which is repeated throughout the song, in the context of Strike and Robin as Strike finally putting Robin first, deciding that he wants her above everything else: the agency, the friendship, all of it.

And then there’s “I came calling in my Sunday best”, followed by “Ever since I put your picture in a frame” which immediately makes me think of Strike putting on a new shirt to impress Robin… and actually succeeding in THM. 😂

And, of course, the line “I’m gonna love you till the wheels come off” makes me think of that battered Land Rover after everything they’ve been through together.

Honestly, I can just picture Strike, miserable and slightly drunk, listening to this song with a glass of whiskey in his hand and thinking about Robin.

I’ll keep adding more songs to the Spotify playlist as I find them, and I’ll also be sharing the lyrics and my thoughts about them on my Twitter page, which is dedicated to Tom Waits love songs for self-declared best friends.

🎵 Follow the playlist! Link in the comments

https://t.co/nwAepzZWMn

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

Tom Waits love song about a bird who falls in love with a fish #Strellacott

'A song of a little bird
That fell in love with a whale
He said, 'You cannot live in the ocean'
And she said to him
'You never can live in the sky'
But the ocean is filled with tears
And the sea turns into a mirror
There's a whale in the moon when it's clear
And a bird on the tide'

'Please don't cry
Let me dry your eyes'

'So tell me that you will wait for me
Hold me in your arms
I promise we never will part'

https://t.co/8tLgU154AF

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@Janeite This one really hurts 💔

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

This might be one of the most fitting Tom Waits songs for Strike and Robin, and THM makes the parallels even more obvious

“You spit as you slammed out the door / If this is love we're crazy” — They spend so much of the book fighting despite being so obviously in love with each other.

“So please call me, baby / Wherever you are / It's too cold to be out walking in the streets / ... / I don't want you catching your death of cold / Out walking in the rain ” — Strike constantly pestering Robin to call him because he’s worried about her being out on the streets.

“We do crazy things when we’re wounded / Everyone’s a bit insane.” — They’re both hurt, they keep fighting, and then Strike decides that proposing marriage is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. And Robin calling him insane makes those lyrics even more fitting.

"And I admit that I ain't no angel / I admit that I ain't no saint / I'm selfish and I'm cruel but you're blind” — Strike admitting who he used to be, while Robin still can’t see how much he’s changed or how badly he wants to be with her.

https://t.co/it1YNG7sHf

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@MeansB4Motive Not sure why, but she really made the ficwriters happy with this 😂

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

I like to think they slowly moved closer in their sleep and spent the whole night breathing against each other

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

I also can’t really see him as having been disrespectful towards her. It was definitely bold of him to think she might reciprocate while she was with RFM, but I don’t see it as a mistake on his part. She had to know.

Besides, she didn’t seem uncomfortable with him doing it. If anything, she felt something she probably had never felt with Ryan or Matthew, and she was actually angry at herself for having liked it. That, to me, says a lot more about what was going on in her head than discomfort and rejection

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

Easily remedied

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

ChatGPT is going to use all the water in the world just trying to fill the void in my heart.

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@KindScorpio5 This one is definitely the catchiest so far. I know it’s going to be stuck in my head for a long time
I loved it, and it’s perfect for Robin’s troubled mind.
Please don’t stop with the suggestions, I genuinely love getting them! ❤️

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

Thank you for sharing this one 🙏😍

'I know I was a 45 percent then
I know I was a lot of things
But I am good I am grounded'

[Kind Scorpio @KindScorpio5]

@PeixeElton Strike, after the ending of THM: https://t.co/8RW7JtcqcS

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@msnomdeplume @LindsayMLand @NicklessPamela 🤯

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@MikeInWales2021 @MeansB4Motive @Litz17D @GingerBriq Wait, Kairos was an IT guy too according to his bio, and I am currently in IT 😂 What are the odds?

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@MikeInWales2021 @Litz17D @GingerBriq Strike needs a prosthetic leg with a built-in recorder. USB compatible, obviously
A proper James Bond upgrade.

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@easily_remedied @9Discordia9 Can’t wait! Your posts are so much fun

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@9Discordia9 @easily_remedied I need this one 🤣🤣🤣
This meme fits so many moments so well, I can’t stop thinking about Strike lying to Robin saying Bijou called the office for advice 😭

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@KindScorpio5 I’d never listened to them before, and I’m having so much fun discovering their music! 😍

[Galya Avilova @chapterpage27]

Trying to fill the void in my heart before #sleeptightevangeline comes out by rereading the series and making a bookmark for each book. Starting with #thecuckooscalling ✨💙

#strikeandrobin #robertgalbraith

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@chapterpage27 Such a perfect passage for the bookmark 🖤

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@LindsayMLand @NicklessPamela I love to think Strike doesn’t even care 😂
Now im wondering if Ryan will realise she's in love with strike, or if he’ll need to actually see them together.
He’s not exactly a great detective.

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

I loved this song! Definitely adding it to my playlist, thank you for the recommendation @KindScorpio5 🖤
“Your love is such a swamp” because they’re both stuck in a love they can’t escape, and “I won’t be vacant anymore” it's so Robin refusing to put her life on hold 😭💔
I'm sad

[Kind Scorpio @KindScorpio5]

@PeixeElton Strike, drunk at the Tottenham just before Robin arrives: https://t.co/V7iUef5TOP

[Ellacott + Strike @PeixeElton]

@NicklessPamela Yeah, Strike should’ve known better than to think she would cheat on RFM.
But I like to think she was angry at him for trying, while also being angry at herself for being affected by it.
"No! she said, trembling at the contact, and angry at herself for doing so"