Mix - United States of Tara: All Systems Are Go

[ptahrrific]

Medium: Television
Fandom: United States of Tara
Subject: Tara and her inner family
Title: All Systems Are Go

In the actual series, Tara and her personalities have troubled relationships. Most of them can't communicate directly with each other, and they spend more time being frustrated with each other than figuring out ways to cooperate and compromise.

This mix is a kind of AU Season 2, in which the alters start really getting to know each other and working together. Still includes some spoilers for canon, though. High-res version of the cover art.

Indigo Girls ~*~ Closer To Fine
(After years of therapy and medication trying to control her alters, Tara stops trying to suppress them and starts trying to understand them. It's not as scary as she thought it would be.)

Well darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
And I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it
I'm crawling on your shores

And I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
There's more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine

~*~

Owl City ~*~ This Is The Future
(A message to those alters who are stuck in the past: the trauma is over, and you're allowed to come out and live.)

Dive in and swim away
From your loneliness and miserable days

And when you wake up on your own
Look around you 'cause you're not alone
Let your hopes go and they'll survive
'Cause this is the future and you are alive

~*~

Phil Collins ~*~ Strangers Like Me
(Starting to develop co-consciousness.)

Whatever you do, I do it too
Show me everything and tell me how
It all means something
And yet nothing to me

I can see there's so much to learn
It's all so close and yet so far
I see myself as people see me
I just know there's something bigger out there

I wanna know, can you show me
I wanna know about these strangers like me

~*~

The Beatles ~*~ All Together Now
(A song for Chicken. She's a cute child, energetic and a little bit silly, but still full of deep love for her family.)

One, two, three, four
Can I have a little more?
Five, six, seven-eight-nine-ten
I love you

A, B, C, D
Can I bring my friend to tea?
E, F, G-H-I-J
I love you...

(All together now)
All together now!
(All together now)
All together now!

~*~

A Change of Pace ~*~ Take Care
(And one for Shoshana, the calm and kind advice-giver who helps Tara get in touch with herself.)

You try so hard to find a rhythm in your heartbeat
The less you know the more you want
To try to justify the secrets of your lifetime
The meanings will come for us

So take care of you and I'll take care of me
We're just lonely hearts looking for better days

~*~

Pat Green ~*~ Wave On Wave
(Coming to understand that all the personalities are there to protect each other.)

I wandered out into the water
And I thought that I might drown
I don't know what I was after
Just know I was goin' down

And that's when she found me
Not afraid anymore
She said, "You know, I always had you, baby
Just waitin' for you to find what you were lookin' for"

You came upon me wave on wave
You're the reason I'm still here, yeah
Am I the one you were sent to save?
It came upon me wave on wave

~*~

SHeDAISY ~*~ Lucky 4 U (Tonight I'm Just Me)
(Of course, they still have conflicts. It's a crowd in Tara's head; even a simple question can turn into a complicated debate when everyone wants to have their say.)

You always say that I have multiple personalities
I bounce around somewhere between my dreams and reality...

Forgiveness is the key
According to my shrink
But it's not just up to me
(I don't know girls, what d'ya think?)

Number 5 just cries a river a minute
7 wants to tie you up and drown you in it
Yeah, 14 just wants to say so long, bygones
32 wants to do things to you that'll make you blush
10 will key the El Camino that you love so much
And there ain't nobody wants to mess with 23

~*~

Kansas ~*~ No One Together
(But ultimately, they're finding more joy together than they ever did when isolated.)

No one together
No one is touching ground
Look at each other
Chaos is all around...

The multitudes are searching
And wondering in vain
For what they seek cannot be found in men
The truth that lies before us now is plain for all to see
To grow without is not to grow within
For in the promise is a victory
To see the way that everything should be
To feel the joy that we were meant to know
We should've realized so long ago

We're all together
Harmony will abound
Look at each other
All that was lost is found

~*~

Pat Benetar ~*~ We Belong
(After all, they're a family.)

Close your eyes and try to sleep now
Close your eyes and try to dream
Clear your mind and do your best
To try and wash the palette clean
We can't begin to know it
How much we really care
I hear your voice inside me
I see your face everywhere
Still you say

We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder
We belong to the sound of the words we've both fallen under
Whatever we deny or embrace, for worse or for better
We belong, we belong, we belong together

~*~

Plumb ~*~ Sleep
(Even after a stressful day, they can curl up under the covers together and feel safe.)

Oh I feel so tired
I cannot hardly keep open my eyes
My thoughts are scattered and I cannot say a word
And I can't seem to remember anything I've learned

Well do you have some of those days
When you can't be who you want to be
When you just need to close your eyes
Pull the covers up so high and drift away

And sleep so soundly
And dream profoundly
Cast all your cares on the
Only thing that you really need
And sleep so soundly

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