11.08.07
Strangers Till The End | The Stranger Saga Soundtrack Mix
Compilation by: Angela G. (freakochicko)

WARNINGS: Rated PG-13 (as usual) for language in some songs. SPOILERS for those who have not read up to Chapter 30. =)

01. Where'd You Go | Fort Minor

Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home...

The Stranger Overture. This song is used mainly to reiterate what's been going on since X3 and how John's disappearance at Alkali Lake, reappearance at Alcatraz, and disappearance again causes a dilemma within Marie. It doesn't help that she has her own problems with Bobby and wonders to herself why their little trio had crumbled to dust. She wants John and Bobby back, but they seem a million miles away. One's supposedly dead and will never come home, the other has someone else to spend time with. And with all the deaths that transpired and the Cure running through her veins, she feels more lost than ever.

02. Still Frame | Trapt

Keep it inside, the image portrayed
As if I couldn’t stand losing, as if I couldn't be saved, no way
A small confession I think I'm starting to lose it
I think I'm drifting away from the people I really need
A small reflection on when we were younger
We had it all figured out 'cause we had everything covered

A Photograph Turned To Ashes. ...her eyes came to fall on the single picture that was displayed proudly in the single photo-holder. It was her. And Bobby. They both looked very much in love. A love that she knew never existed now... Marie doesn't believe that the picture of her and Bobby holds much truth anymore. She's not sure if she even wants to go back to the mansion; not sure if she can call it home any longer. Because she thinks she's losing touch with all of them -- she doesn't feel like she belongs. She thought it was the right move to make; taking the Cure. But now, she regrets it. And she feels further away from her race.

03. Stand In The Rain | Superchick

So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it’s all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won’t drown
And one day what’s lost can be found
You stand in the rain

Enter Marie D'Ancanto. This song is perfect as a theme for Marie. She begins with what little faith she has left and she suffers so much. But in the end, we know she's strong enough to pull through everything; from her inner disputes with feelings and emotions concerning Bobby and John to the fact that her powers are starting to return to the fact that more people are starting to die.

04. Breakdown | Breaking Benjamin

Heaven is on the way
You could feel the hate
but I guess you never will
I'm on a roll again
and I want an end
'cause I feel you creeping in

Enter John Allerdyce. This song's 100% PYRO. It has his name written all over it. John Allerdyce was always the headstrong one. But when he returns into the lives of his former friends, he goes through several stages before fitting in again. And as much as he has his mind torn in two about the directions in his life, he pretty much decides to go with his feelings for Marie and follow his heart in the end; and this is shown when he finally sacrifices himself to save her and everyone else from death.

05. Everything You Want | Vertical Horizon

You're waiting for someone
To put you together
You're waiting for someone to push you away
There's always another wound to discover
There's always something more you wish he'd say

The Bus Stop Scene. Essentially, this song describes the crumbling relationship between Marie and Bobby. They've begun to lose faith in each other and Marie wonders whether they'd ever be 'just friends' again. And John's return doesn't make it easier. But she then realises that deep down, John had been the very person she'd been waiting for all the time.

06. Let Love In | The Goo Goo Dolls

You wait, wanting this world
To let you in
And you stand there
A frozen light
In dark and empty streets
You smile hiding behind
A God-given face
But I know you're so much more
Everything they ignore
Is all I need to see

John's Decision To Return; His Decision To Finally Love. John Allerdyce realises where he has to go: Back home. The home he had left behind almost a year ago. Because he finally decides that there's nothing left for him now that the Brotherhood had defected. And the only thing that remains is the one person who he knew understood the hell he was going through.
The lone packet of cigarettes went sailing into the bin just as John cleared up his neglected room.
After so many days of contemplation, he finally made his choice…
He left the apartment without so much as a backward glance, his duffel bag hanging from his shoulders.

07. Prayer | Disturbed

Living just isn't hard enough
Burn me alive, inside
Living my life's not hard enough
Take everything away

The Line Between Overture. Many things happened in The Line Between, all of which created plenty of trials and tribulations for both John and Marie and even everyone else. John's return sparked mistrust in Bobby, Raven Darkholme and Erik Lensherr's appearance at the mansion, the Cure's ineffectiveness and especially the murders by the Eradicators are just the tip of the iceberg. Marie has to deal with her renewed powers and John has to deal with his inner conflict between his allegiances with two sides.

08. Restless | Evil Nine

We runnin’ wild like we restless,
And we jump till we breathless.

The Fire & Ice Rivalry. Bobby and Johnny have an interesting relationship right from the start of their 'reunion' in Chapter 7. This time, it's not all about fire and ice and opposing personalities. Bobby fears that his former best friend, known for turning traitorous and known to not hold back when he wants to kill, is messing around with his girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend) and he doesn't like it at all. The fight in Marie's room that ensued in the middle of the night is just an indication how unstable their relationship had become. It's quite intriguing that down the road, they become friends again after the stage of mistrust and spite passes by. This track is one of the more light-hearted ones of the album. As they say: ice and fire don't mix.

09. The Middle | Jimmy Eat World

It just takes some time
Little girl you're in the middle
Of the ride
Everything, Everything will be just fine.
Everything, Everything will be all right, all right

Enter Kitty Pryde. Kitty always striked me as a girl who gets caught in the middle of everything. This song generally applies to her at almost every stage of her life. First, she gets caught in a warped love triangle between Bobby and Marie (not even realising it, really), and then she faces a predicament when she discovers she feels something for Warren Worthington III. And then the strange deaths occur and she gets pulled into a web of destruction and eventual anguish when someone she never really knew dies. Yeah, her life is one big rollercoaster of misfortune.

10. Somebody Help Me | Full Blown Rose

Now, I'm not a hero... no
But the weight of the world's is on my soul
These imagines burn my eyes
They're burning me up inside

A Rogue's Power Beginning To Manifest. Marie hated her mutation, she wanted it gone. And she did get rid of it. Only to regret doing so. When they return once more, this time much stronger and more unstable, she feels more withdrawn then ever. Nothing ever seems to work for her.

11. Falling Apart | Zebrahead

Manipulation is on my mind
(Inspect me - try to check me)
Expectations well defined
(Dissect me - want to wreck me)
Violator of my own will
(Accept me - reject me)
Separate or shoot to kill

Enter Pietro Maximoff. Obviously, with what Pietro did to deceive everyone was an act fueled by hate for his father. He never knew happiness in the childhood years. He never looked up to his father and he feels that the only person he would ever love is his dead sister.

12. Wake Up [Make A Move] | Lost Prophets

Wake up, wake up, wake up,
Yeah so tired of waiting, waiting for us to
Wake up, wake up, wake up,
Yeah so sick of waiting, for us to make a move

The Kidnapping. But John did not care. In fact, he was trying hard to resist the urge to take off right now and storm the asylum himself. Despite knowing that he would just as well be committing suicide. He couldn’t do it alone. This song captures the helplessness that John and everyone else in the mansion feels after they discover that Pietro and Marie have been abducted by the enemy. Definitely a song for Chapter 25 and 26.

13. Frontline | Pillar

So, pick up, and follow me, we're the only ones
To fight this thing, until we've won
We drive on and don't look back
It doesn't mean we can't learn from our past
All the things that we mighta' done wrong
We could've been doing this all along

The Brotherhood's Alliance With The X-Team To Take Their Mutual Threat Down. This would be our typical 'action music' or 'theme song' for the unification of former enemies to get rid of Ezekiel Blacken. Awesome track. "EVERYBODY WITH YOUR FIST RAISED HIGH, LET ME HEAR YOUR BATTLE CRY." Teamwork, just like back on Alkali Lake where the X-Team and The Brotherhood worked together to fend off William Stryker.

14. Blow Me Away | Breaking Benjamin

Only the strongest will survive
Lead me to heaven when we die
I am the shadow on the wall
I'll be the one to save us all

Enter Erik Lensherr. I chose this track as Erik's signature song because he strikes everyone as a strong character (who lost his life in the end - "lead me to heaven when we die"). It depicts his power and leadership in the times when they all need it most. Even till the end.

15. Dragula | Rob Zombie

Dead I am the one, Exterminating son
Slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze
Dead I am the sky, watching angels cry
While they slowly turn, conquering the worm

Enter Ezekiel Blacken. Very Ezekiel Blacken, this song. VERY. He's pure evil and wants nothing more than to exterminate his own race. 'Genocidal' and 'somewhat insane' does not even begin to describe him.

16. Stand My Ground | Within Temptation

Stand my ground, I won't give in
No more denying, I've got to face it
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don't make it, someone else will
Stand my ground

Against The Dead ; Callisto Vs. Ororo & Raven. Pretty self-explanatory. Ororo tries to take down an old not-very-dead friend. This time with Raven's help.

17. To The Edge | Lacuna Coil

Here I start to define it
As a sign on my skin
That I just try to wash away
Reminder infected, it'll be painful to me

The Relationship Between Marie And Ezekiel. Rogue and Blackguard have a bond, even though Marie refuses to acknowledge it. They share the same life-absorbing powers and it deeply disgusts her that the only person she can touch without killing is a freak of nature. She's also repulsed that whilst she thinks of her powers as a curse and a burden, Blacken thinks of it as a gift and a rightful means to murder at will.

18. Blood Brothers | Papa Roach

Survival of the fit is what it is
I got your back, you got my back and that’s the biz
Blood is rushing through my veins I got the power
Drain all the energy and with my strength I will devour
Chilly thoughts is running through my head
That’s when I realized I’m glad I’m not dead

Fire & Ice United Against The Blackguard. Finally, Bobby and John get to work together instead of against each other so as to fend off Blacken in a fight for survival. This song is mainly the Bobby + John = BEST-DAMN-TEAM-EVER song. ALSO, it's our 'final battle against the evil dude' theme song.

19. Disappear | Hoobastank

So I stand and look around
Distracted by the sounds
Of everyone and everything I see
And I search through every face
Without a single trace, of the person
The person that I need

He's Gone.

20. Hallelujah | Jeff Buckley

I used to live alone before I knew you
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold, it's a broken Hallelujah

The Funeral Scene.

21. Brothers In Arms | Dire Straits

Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Bobby Drake's Eulogy.

22. Photograph | Nickelback

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.

The Photograph Of The One Person Who'll Never Come Back.

23. Fix You | Coldplay

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And The Golden Trio Is Broken.

24. Hear You Me | Jimmy Eat World

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me, my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

A Tribute To John.

25. Not Enough | Our Lady Peace

When they say you're not that strong
Well you're not that weak
It’s not your fault
When you climb up to that hill
Up to your place
I hope you're well

She Holds Back Tears.

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DIARYLAND