"Come Undone" by Duran Duran (1993) - Othello, Part I (Othello and Desdemona)
Othello
[He kisses Desdemona]
O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword. One more, one more!
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,
And love thee after. One more, and that's the last!
So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow's heavenly;
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.
"Come Undone" Lyrics
Mine, immaculate dream made breath and skin
I've been waiting for you
Signed, with a home tattoo,
Happy birthday to you was created for you
(Woman: Can't ever keep from falling apart
At the seams
Can't I believe you're taking my heart
To pieces)
Oh, it'll take a little time,
Might take a little crime
To come undone now
We'll try to stay blind
To the hope and fear outside
Hey child, stay wilder than the wind
And blow me in to cry -
Who do you need, who do you love
When you come undone?
Why I Chose This Song
A notorious fan of rock band Duran Duran to my family, out of all their songs, this one in particular stands out to me among all the others, the absolute favorite song of my life since age fourteen.
If anything, when the music and words mingle together, they entrance me, something mysterious, despairing, haunting, and deep, intense passion from both the man and woman all the same time. So, in reading Othello, and the scene where Othello murders Desdemona, torn by grief and love at the same time, to me, it immediately matched the image of "doomed love" conjured by Duran Duran's "Come Undone".
In the music video, clips of a woman wrapped in chains and underwater reoccur; akin to the woman, Desdemona struggles, "drowning" due to Othello's flaw and "need for justice and honor", unable to understand why her husband comes to kill her - heartbroken and "come undone".
