Awhile back, I created a playlist for Hazel Grace, and I decided that it was high time that I created one for her love, Augustus Waters. Augustus Waters, the beautiful, heart-throb level creation of John Green, whose story is woefully tragic, this playlist is for you.
(Spoilers included, though if you haven’t read The Fault in Our Stars by now, are you ever going to?)
“Oblivion” by Bastille
When we first meet Augustus Waters, he’s very afraid of oblivion, afraid of not making a mark on the world before he leaves it. Hazel helps to show him that it doesn’t matter as much as he originally thought.
“Young & Wild” by The Strumbellas
In the first half of the book, Augustus embodies this sentiment. He’s trying to live life as fully as he can, and he inspires Hazel to do so as well.
“Dead Sea” by The Lumineers
I imagine that, if he had more time, Augustus would be the type to travel the world, trying to find the meaning that he was craving, making the mark he desired. But fate didn’t give him that opportunity.
“Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap
When Augustus and Hazel get to go to Amsterdam, though the ending isn’t quite what they imagined, they’re able to just live with abandon.
“Let’s Be Still” by The Head and the Heart
As Hazel and Augustus (inevitably) fall in love, I feel that he would be completely happy just being still with Hazel. And as things take a turn for the worse, he most definitely is.
“About Today” by The National
This song speaks to the moment in the book when Hazel has to go to the ICU and purposefully distances herself from Augustus. It just fits. Though, I don’t think Gus would have let Hazel walk away.
“King and Lionheart” by Of Monsters and Men
A song about a tragic love story for a book about a tragic love story.
“Holocene” by Bon Iver
The message of this song is something that Augustus eventually realizes, with the help of Hazel. That though he might not be magnificent in the eyes of the world, he certainly was magnificent in hers.
“I Gave You All” by Mumford & Sons
Augustus certainly gave all he had to Hazel before his end, his tragic end.
“Lifeforms” by Daughter
This song represents the cancer that consumes Augustus, that stops him from growing old, that takes him from Hazel.