Hello & Welcome - To Replay Value Maybe it’s a result of me listening to soundtracks
& classical music over more traditional radio music but I probably give too much weight
to a score when I’m considering my overall enjoyment of a show. I mean, I watched all of Guilty Crown because
of its first OP and then for Sawano’s score and I’d be hard pressed to name a show I
dislike more. The Promised Neverland was not the best casual
listening soundtrack of Winter 2019, but it was the best utilized and one of the reasons
for that is because the show wasn’t overscored. The sparse scoring allowed the sound design
of TPN to breathe discomfort into Grace Field House and punctuate important moments bringing
the story to life through its audio - but I want to specifically talk about the key
song that is likely a frontrunner for best track of 2019, and who’s meaning evolved
over the course of the show. I am referring to the thematic core of the
show - Isabella’s Lullaby, a song of love, survival, and sacrifice. For simplicity, I’m referring to any song
that uses the key melodic elements of Isabella’s Lullaby as said song. Even if it’s just a whistle, or removes
all the singing for pure piano. That also means that I’ll be umbrellaing
the ending minute of “Emma’s Sadness” the 10th track from the soundtrack into this
discussion. Since they have the same melodic structure,
that aspect of the two songs are clearly speaking to each other and it would be straight up
worthless to have a conversation about one without the other from a thematic perspective. And given that the two characters are treated
as foils, it’s especially pertinent to discuss both since it helps to develops meaning through
audio. We’ll be going through the use cases of
the songs chronologically so that we can see that development over time. The first instance of Isabella’s Lullaby
is her whistling as she walks Connie down to the gate in the premiere episode. As Connie asks what Mama is singing, she doesn’t
stop whistling, and only spares a brief look to Connie. We find out later of course that she’s walking
Connie to her death - an act which leads to the second use case, where after Norman and
Emma see the transaction and make their way back to the house and resolve to escape. Emma refuses to leave anyone behind, and so
Isabella’s Lullaby becomes a hopeful song of survival - at least until the jumpscare
cut to Isabella realizing that someone has witnessed this action, which cuts the music
off instantly, signifying a cut to that hopeful sentiment and raising the tension as we end
the episode. This sets up a dichotomy, what the song means
in the context of Isabella versus what it means to the children - and we’ll see how
that inherent conflict in score develops towards the end of the show. We go a full 2 episodes without hearing the
melody again, until the fourth episode where they inform Gilda and Don about what’s happening
- but not the whole truth, suggesting that Connie is possibly still alive. It’s here, for the first time, we hear the
melody as the ending minute of Emma’s Sadness and once again, we see the association with
survival that The Promised Neverland is trying to tie with that specific melody. Ray is infuriated with Norman’s decision,
yelling at him that it’s not fair to give them false hope - whereas Norman is making
a calculated decision for their survival, stating that either of them could be the traitor
and thus they need to make a plan to out them and can’t give them their full hand. This plot thread is immediately picked up
later in the same episode, where we have a somber piano version of Isabella’s Lullaby,
which once again should draw your mind to the theme of sacrifice - as Emma and Norman
discuss what to do about the traitor. Norman asks whether they should bring that
person with them - a possible risk to their survival - and Emma says of course, that she
doesn’t want to leave any member of her family behind, refusing to sacrifice others. After Don & Gilda discover the truth, that
Connie is dead, that Ray was the traitor, and that the core three weren’t entirely
forthcoming with their information, we hear the melody again. It sounds like a mix between Emma’s Sadness
and the more sweeping aspects of Isabella’s Lullaby, with a xylophone and bongo-esque
percussion track that grounds the song and speeds it up for the sequence. It is notably not as bare bones in terms of
instrumentation as the previous versions, and part of that has to be because this moment
is bringing more people into the fold as Emma acknowledges she was wrong - that she should
have trusted her siblings since that’ll be necessary for their survival. It’s the realization that she has to trust
others, and that she can’t risk sacrificing these relationships just because it’s simple
or easier than telling the hard truths. Because of that perhaps, this variation on
the melody is a lot more upbeat. But we won’t hearing the melody again anytime
soon, perhaps because Sister Krone becomes the immediate matter at hand in the next episode,
and the one after is when all hope seems lost as Mama has completely outplayed them. We do almost hear the melody in the ninth
episode, when the three agree that Norman should try to escape - the last minute of
Emma’s Sadness being cut from the track to empower Norman’s tears. Emma and Ray refuses to sacrifice Norman,
even as he plans to sacrifice himself. And that is the core of the first 2 usage
cases of Episode 10’s melody. The first is a flashback to Norman being sick
- as though the scene is telling us what’s going to be sacrificed is the friendship these
three characters had. It runs completely counter to what Emma and
Ray want but Norman is going to do it anyway - and the alternate version of the song, only
using a piano and violins add to the nostalgic nature of the dream, for when their problems
were seeing their sick friends instead of fighting for their lives. The second use case is as Norman is leaving,
after he prevents Emma from destroying her foot and his tracking device. Norman is sacrificing himself so that Emma,
Ray and everyone else can survive. This is also the second instance of Isabella’s
Lullaby proper, the other being when they resolved to survive without losing anyone way back in the first episode. This is the moment where that promise is going
to be broken, and it’s also - in this moment - a song of love, specifically Norman’s
love for Emma who he would do anything for, including march to his death. The third instance in this episode is when
Isabella tells Emma to become a Mama. As Isabella tells Emma to give up, something
that Norman explicitly told her never to do earlier in the episode, the song transitions
to the melody - a piano only version of Emma’s Sadness. Isabella’s meaning is clear - surrender
to the system, let go of this hope and accept despair so that you don’t have to hurt anymore,
and become a Mama. Sacrifice everyone else so that you alone
can survive. This is the opposite of what Norman desired,
and so it is obvious even before she says it, that Emma will refuse wholeheartedly,
even as she despairs over his decision to sacrifice himself. The final instance from the tenth episode
is Ray whistling as he waits in the dining room. It’s the second time we’ve heard someone
whistling, the first was Isabella with Connie...but this is the opposite case. Isabella was whistling as she walked Connie
to her death - a funeral dirge, but this is Ray preparing his own death. He’s preparing to sacrifice himself so that
Emma and the other can live, as shown in the following episode where we see him pour gasoline
all over himself. It’s a repeat of Norman - but we don’t
actually hear the song proper. Instead we cut to Isabella checking on the
babies, humming the melody to herself. This may be in preparation for Ray’s walk
to the gate the following day, or alternatively more sacrifices she’s going to have to make
in the future for these younger ones. But her plans are thrown out the window as
Ray sacrifice is cut short, and a new variation on the melody plays - a hopeful one, as all
the children run towards the wall and we learn about how Emma decided to trust even more
of her siblings, and trained them to escape on this day all without Ray’s knowledge. With a drum kit, soaring woodwinds - it’s
daring escape with no more sacrifices and the hope that everyone will survive. Which brings us to the final episode, and
where we learn the origin of the song. The children successfully escape, minus the
young ones who won’t be able to be harvested for at least 2 years, as Isabella looks on
- defeated. And we hear, a mandolin playing the melody
we’ve heard so many times over the course of the show. This song, of Leslie’s creation, sticks
with Isabella. It’s a song that implies Isabella’s love
for Leslie, but more importantly it’s a song that - for Isabella - becomes the embodiment
of the idea that life is worth living. And as we learn more about Isabella’s past,
we begin to see a similarity sprout between her and Emma. Both were loving characters that have lost
people that were dear to them. But this is where we see the similarities
end as Emma was able to reject the temptation that was offered to Isabella and takes a different
path. In contrast, we see the bleak and colorless
depiction of Isabella’s experiences training to be a Mama which culminates to a pregnant
Isabella listlessly waiting to give birth while humming her lullaby as a way to give
herself solace. The sequence ends as we hear Ray humming the
tune, and Isabella’s horror at this revelation - as Ray asks why was he born. Isabella answers Survival at the expense of everyone else,
even the friends and children she loved. Isabella’s lullaby for her, is the strength
to keep living - her one light of hope in a hopeless world. That she’ll survive. So that she’ll remember Leslie and all of
the children she interacted with. Humming the song as she brought Connie down
so that she could have the strength to continue onward. To not think about the horrific consequence
of her actions. But for the children who have escaped, the
song has transformed into a song of survival without sacrifice. Emma will give nothing up, not even the children
who she has left behind as she resolves to return to them one day. For Isabella, a woman who has sacrificed other
to guarantee her own future, perhaps there is no greater moment that demonstrates the
transformation of her lullaby’s meaning as when she makes the fateful decision to
clear the ropes and wishing them well on their journey as her hopes and dreams are literally
burning to the ground. And so the song has gone from survival of
the one at the expense of all others, to a song about survival for all, at the expense
of those who secured that survival. And just as we leave behind Isabella and cut
to the young children who look at their first sunrise, the final notes of the song play
but this time, it’s not played in the despair of losing Norman. But now, and for the final time, Isabella’s
Lullaby is a song of hope for the ones who remain to survive.
