#is music in the mindspace of the player character diegetic? am i using that too liberally? dunno

[sheepalmighty]

I've been thinking about the context of the music in Disco Elysium and how a portion of it seems kind of diegetic. Like, you have the Whirling-in-Rags music playing diegetically and if you go to the harbour parts of it still linger among the industrial ambience. One way I see it is that part of the music is sticking around in Harry's mind like the catchy tune it is, making it another application of diegetic music in the game (music's important to Harry it wouldn't be a stretch to say).

So, like, specifically I was thinking about the track Live With Me, and how it plays when you have to inform Billie of the news (and another time I think) and how the piano only seems to have been made to evoke a dour atmosphere. But then, like the rest of the threads in the narrative and gameplay which culminate at or near the end, Harry puts on SadFM, obviously a station he's as familiar with as Kim is to SpeedFM, on the boat ride and that same piano kicks in near the end of the song with some hopeful yet bittersweet lyrics. And it makes the usage of Live With Me have more meaning within the narrative and helps add another facet to Harry.

I can imagine he has that song in his head during those emotionally tough times. It's a poignant part of the song that can't help but be evoked as it seems so familiar to him. The track now has this extra layer of hoping/wishing for better, especially when you could consider it an active choice on Harry's part to "play" in this moment. It possibly also links to that A New World artwork referenced earlier in the game and which seems important to Harry (I'm a little fuzzy on the details).

Overall, it seems like another intentional choice to portray a softer aspect of Harry, and just goes to show the care and attention the devs and artists put into the placement and meaning of the music throughout the game.