Playlist to Describe the Character of Chief Bromden

Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and is a complex character. While many of this thoughts and perceptions of his surroundings are clouded and twisted by the paranoia from which he suffers, he is also highly in tune to details and very intelligent. Part of this stems from his pretense to be both deaf and mute, a position which affords him the ability to be nearly invisible, since people disregard his presence much of the time. Chief’s world consists of many different elements, some real, like Nurse Ratched, and some not, like the Combine.

The Fog – Maroon 5
Chief often uses his imagination to mitigate the harshness of the reality he faces. Sometimes this manifests itself in his fantasies of the Combine, but other times Chief is able to imagine himself away to somewhere happy. This happens when Chief uses his imagination to pretend that he can leave the hospital by using the painting of a fisherman as a portal. However, he soon afterward returns to his paranoid state of imagination, seeing fog creeping in and drowning him.

This song aptly describes the fog which exists in Chief’s mind and creates a constant force against which he must fight to survive. In his head things are out of control, much like the “chaos” which is building in this song. However, these lyrics also portray the way that Chief can sometimes (though it is rare) use pictures and his imagination to find moments of peace and happiness. He does this to escape from reality, and the “realists,” those being Nurse Ratched and the doctors. The song itself has a fast-paced feel, and it aptly captures the way I imagine Chief himself must feel during one of his nightmares about the fog and the Combine.

Cuz the fogs getting thicker
The worlds spinning last
The chaos is building its going to last
And its so hard to see, and you’re so hard to find
The days when I think I am losing my mind

So keep painting pictures of beautiful scenes
Striking the canvas with deep blues and greens
The realists are frowning, they think your obscene
As you work overtime to make sure they can dream
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

Chief’s alternate reality within his mind is something that he doesn’t feel like he can control. He isn’t crazy, per se, but he has in a way “lost his mind,” because he is often not in control of it. Gnarles Barkley does a great job with his song in portraying the way that, having lost his mind, he isn't bothered by being crazy. His upbeat tune offers a good look at the other side of being "crazy" in the eyes of society: it's not that bad after all.

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that phase.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done
Complete Lyrics Found Here

In a way Chief takes comfort from the notion that he has lost his mind. He can blame a lot of things on the Combine and its workings so that he doesn’t have to attribute responsibility or blame to himself or other people. The combine , a massive machine that controls humanity (or so Chief believes), is something that Chief alone is conscious of. Everyone else doesn’t seem to be aware of it. It exists within Chief’s head, along with the fog that sometimes lowers itself over everything. Thus, as the song says, “There [is] something so pleasant about that phase.” The fog does indeed take over his mind, and the Combine does indeed control things, he believes, but there’s little to indicate that he is ready to control things himself or see the world clearly. He feels that, like the singer of this song, he knows “too much,” and has felt that way from a very young age.

The Invisible Man – Queen

Chief, as has already been discussed, is considered somewhat of a pushover. He describes how from an early age he felt ignored, forgotten, and almost invisible, as though society has passed him by.

When you hear a sound,
That you just can't place
Feel somethin' move
That you just can't trace,
When something sits
On the end of your bed
Don't turn around
When you hear me tread.

I'm the invisible man,
I'm the invisible man
Incredible how you can
See right through me
I'm the invisible man
I'm the invisible man
It's criminal how I can
See right through you.
Complete Lyrics Found Here

These lyrics describe way that Chief considers his actions to be inconsequential, since he sees himself as not existing in reality. He is, as is the singer of this song, “The invisible man.”

Trapped – Bruce Springsteen

This song describes much of the progress which Chief makes to the end of becoming his own person and not allowing himself to be a “pushover.”

Seems like I'm caught up
in your trap
again
Seems like I'll be
wearing the same
old chains
Good will conquer
Evil
And the truth will
set me free
And I know some
day I will find
the key
I know
somewhere I will
find the key
Seems like I've
been playing your
game way too long
Seems the game
I've played has
made you strong
When the game is
over
I won't walk out the
loser
I know I'll walk
out of here again
I know someday
I'll walk out of
here again

Seems like I've
been sleeping in
your bed too
long
Seems like you've
been meaning to
do me harm
But I'll teach my
eyes to see
Beyond these
walls in front of
me
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Don’t You Feel Small – Moody Blues

Chief’s distortion of reality manifests itself not only in his sense that he is invisible and easily pushed around, but also in his sense that he is actually very small. Chief is over six and half feet tall, but his sense of invisibility and helplessness lead him to feel as though he is actually much smaller than most other people.

Ask the mirror on the wall
Who's the biggest fool of all,
Bet you feel small,
It happens to us all.

Time is now to spread your voice,
Time's to come there'll be no choice,
Why do you feel small,
It happens to us all.
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Heartbeats – Jose Gonzalez

Chief and McMurphy have a close relationship throughout this book. Chief’s perception of McMurphy’s character are important in understanding Chief himself. In many ways, McMurphy represents what Chief wishes he were. McMurphy is confident, bold, and won’t submit to Nurse Ratched and the authorities in general. Chief, himself labeled a pushover, sees in McMurphy everything he wishes he could be, and from this perception springs their “friendship.”

Both under influence
we had a divine sense
To know what to say
Mind is a razorblade

Refr: To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no
Complete Lyrics Found Here

This song contains imagery that depicts the type of bond that McMurphy and Chief share. When comparing the two it becomes apparent that McMurphy is a facet of Chief’s personality that doesn’t often surface. McMurphy always knows what to say, whereas Chief rarely ever speaks (and is considered by most to be mute). McMurphy’s “mind is a razorblade,” whereas Chief’s is often clouded by the fog he envisions. The refrain aptly describes how independent and unbroken McMurphy’s spirit is (he won’t “call for hands of above / to lean on” as that “wouldn’t be good enough / for [him], no”). Chief himself is more of a broken spirit, but he takes his strength from McMurphy. The melancholy and lonely sound of this song suits the independent and solitary life that Chief leads.

Welcome To The Machine – Pink Floyd

Chief sees society as being under control of the Combine. He shoulders the burden of being conscious of the Combine’s working, while everyone else doesn’t know that it is working on them. When McMurphy arrives, he seems larger than life to Chief because he seems to be untouched by the forces of the Combine. Pink Floyd's "Welcome To The Machine" is a song that contains a lot of power and force, much as the Combine does in Chief's mind.

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been
You've been in the pipeline
Filling in time

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Unfortunately, as the story progresses, McMurphy begins to feel the effects of the Combine working on him, often through Nurse Ratched. She wants him to conform and submit to her authority (the authority of the Combine). Chief’s admiration of McMurphy has always stemmed from how different McMurphy is, but now Chief sees him falling slowly into the grasp of the Combine. This song aptly describes what Chief sees: the machine slowly sucking McMurphy in,

I Can See Clearly Now – Bob Marley

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day
Complete Lyrics Found Here

Chief’s accomplishments throughout this book are many, but they are not obvious in some ways. Chief slowly learns to see through the fog, and as the story progresses he becomes less delusional and more able to perceive reality in its entirety. Just as the song states, Chief’s newfound ability to see clearly is what enables him to see “all obstacles in [his] way.” At the end of the novel, he sees clearly enough that he knows that the real McMurphy is gone, and that what remains is just a lobotomized, brain-dead shell of what McMurphy used to be. Thus, Chief knows he has to suffocate this McMurphy imposter, and then break free of the hospital. This Bob Marley song provides an upbeat ending, and the sing-song tune it follows gives the impression that the doors to Chief's life are opening up and he is setting forth into the world.