I recently heard the song, Breezes of Patchouli by the Irish singer/songwriter Donovan, and thought it could fit the overall theme of the Secret History very well. The lyrics go as follows:
The long gone breezes are blowing down the sky.
From my window to the street I cast my weary eye.
Everything is quiet in the lonesome dusky night.
I'm feeling so alone in the darkness of my night.
I remember the days when the sun was warm with love
Softening as the day grew old in dazzling streaks of gold.
Now my days are bleek, the sunset's the cruellest time
I'm feeling so alone in the darkness of my night.
I feel I want to ramble to the shores of the mighty seaPounding in my ears the wind so wild and free
To stumble in the high grass, the sand a-glowin' white
My eyes they fill, they break and spill the darkness of my night.
My sorrow is confusing, my love will never know
My empty hands they lie down by my sides so low
I walk this sleeping town and the highway in-between bright
I'm feeling so alone in the darkness of my night.
Riding feathered wings to make like I'm a dove
Oft I've heard the world as it cries out for some love
Cries out for some warmth, a little compassion and light
They're feeling so alone in the darkness of their night.
From my window to the street I cast my weary eye.
Everything is quiet in the lonesome dusky night.
I'm feeling so alone in the darkness of my night.
I remember the days when the sun was warm with love
Softening as the day grew old in dazzling streaks of gold.
Now my days are bleek, the sunset's the cruellest time
I'm feeling so alone in the darkness of my night.
I feel I want to ramble to the shores of the mighty seaPounding in my ears the wind so wild and free
To stumble in the high grass, the sand a-glowin' white
My eyes they fill, they break and spill the darkness of my night.
My sorrow is confusing, my love will never know
My empty hands they lie down by my sides so low
I walk this sleeping town and the highway in-between bright
I'm feeling so alone in the darkness of my night.
Riding feathered wings to make like I'm a dove
Oft I've heard the world as it cries out for some love
Cries out for some warmth, a little compassion and light
They're feeling so alone in the darkness of their night.
As you can tell by reading the song, the feeling switches from bleak to hopeful, just as the tone in the Secret History. In the first four lines Donovan describes the setting of the song. Here, I can imagine Richard Papen walking on his school campus, lost and unaware of what to do with his life. On lines five and six, the feeling switches to Richard possibly remembering where he grew up in California. For the next two lines, he remembers that he is still at campus and is lost in the world, not fitting in. Next, Donovan communicates a feeling of hope, and this switches back and forth throughout the song, and ending on a sad feeling, as does the book.