Music to Write To
There always seems to be this deep connection between music and the other artistic media, namely writing and movies. I hear a song in my head and I see a picture that my mind conjures of that song. It may have nothing to do with the song in actuality but it's what my brain and heart seems to derive from the words and music.
Literally there are songs that make me want to run the nearest computer and plug away at my innumerable unfinished stories. Since a great love of mine is romance, those melancholy songs really seem to hit home with me. They make me want to write of great lovers struggling toward their happy ending together.
One example that comes to mind is Lindsey Lohan's Over. That song really gets me. My interpretation is one in which a woman mourns the death of a very intense, meaningful relationship. She wants closure but then she doesn't. Isn't love such a feeling. Like a pain that reminds you that your flesh lives even as it throbs. Songs like this take my mind to the next step. I want to fix that pain by getting the couple back together. I haven't came up with a concrete storyline yet, but it did remind me of my story with a hero who looks and acts remarkably like Josh Lucas. But if I pursue that story I'll have to figure out a way to break up the couple, and the idea didn't initially go in that direction. So it's still brewing away in my overstuffed brain.
Usually a certain song will make me think of one of my interracial stories, since that is a particular literary urge of mine. As a matter of fact, the Josh Lucas story is an interracial. Another song that get's me going is Maria's "My Soul." What a lovely song and I want to write a story that fits the dreamy, anguished quality of the singing.
"Are You Happy Now" by Michelle Branch is a song that inspires me to write of a woman who has faced the same trial as Lindsey sings about but she seems more angry. Alas, how to make that right, I don't know.
It's really frustrating in a way because the connection between song and story doesn't usually help me to find a workable plot.
Going a little off subject, there is a song that reminds me irrevocably of a certain moment in movie time: "You Were The Last High" by the Dandy Warhols. That moment is not a happy one. It is the scene where Terry Sheridan betrays himself and Lara Croft by choosing to do the wrong thing, trying to kill Lara and take Pandora's box back to civilization and the highest bidder. This makes me feel very melancholy but I love it. Why? Because my mind doesn't mind thinking about Gerard Butler at all. The sadness comes in that he will die. Perhaps one day I will write a story with a Terry-esque hero who makes the right decision. He lives to turn his life around as you can clearly see Terry wants to. He seems to have regrets over how he disappointed Lara and ended up on his dark path. Sense I like nothing more than a bad boy on the path to redemption, I will not be surprised if Terry Version 2.0 doesn't end up in one of my stories.
I think I should just make a writing CD and get it over with. Put all those songs that drive my brain crazy and stimulate the massive writing urge. What songs would I put on it?
Some I mentioned above:
1.You Were the Last High
2.Lonely
3.Over
4.Are You Happy Now
and others...
5.Small Town Boy by Bronski Beat (ironically about a young gay man leaving his restrictive home--it makes me think of uncertainty and pain, which is universal)
6. Put Me Down by the Cranberries (desperation and anguish are part of the character's journey)
7.This Life by Mandalay (Moody and atmospheric, beautiful. The perfect soundtrack for a darker, spy-themed love story).
8.Home by Depeche Mode (The strings part always gets me! It builds to a climax. This would be good for a spy story too).
9.Who's That Girl by the Eurythmics (always makes me think of a female spy who's a femme fatale and a mistress of disguises)
10.Don't Ask Me Why by the Eurythmics (another broken love affair song)
11.Ice King by Res (A woman who loves a man whose heart is frozen)
12.Lose Control by Silk (Sexy and seductive song, perfect music for a love scene)
13.Wild Horses by The Sundays (whistful, melodic, speaks of missed opportunities)
14.Fade Into You by Mazzy Star (someone reflecting on their feelings for the person who captured their heart)
15.Live Again by Better Than Ezra (in the midst of that crazy fixation of love and infatuation)
16.Over You by Better Than Ezra (about the way it feels to make love to someone)
17.Speeding Up To Slow Down by Better Than Ezra (hometown starcrossed pair of interracial lovers--I picture the girl on a bus and the guy is running after her. I'll probably cut to years later when she comes back)
18. A Thousand Years by Sting (About the complete irrevocable love that he has for a woman)
19.The Book of My Life by Sting (this person has years on them..they have seen and experienced much. They are reflecting back. I could picture Anthony Hopkins doing this set to the song).
20.My Antarctica by Duran Duran (he's in love with a woman who just isn't in as deep as he is)
21.Last Chance on the Stairway by Duran Duran (he's young and willing to risk love but afraid at the same time).
22.Forbidden Love by Madonna (loving the one you shouldn't love...perfect for an interracial love affair. The problem is I try to write ones where that's not the main issue.)
23.The Love Thieves by Depeche Mode (I picture that scene in La Femme Nikita when she goes away after faking her death. It's been years but it's stuck in my brain. She's gone and he mourns her with his whole heart and soul although words of love remain unspoken).
24.Shiver by Coldplay (This man is not going to ever leave her or let her down!)
25.Green Eyes by Coldplay (Sounds country but the simplicity and the emotion wins me over and sends my brain wondering. This one I haven't worked out yet).
26.Amsterdam by Coldplay (He's committed even when the obstacles are against him)
27.I Still Love You by 702 (This guy isn't the best fit for her...things aren't ideal..but she's still in love and committed to him).
28.Kissing You by Total (She's just awakening to the attraction and she's daydreaming about how it would feel just to kiss him.)
29.An orchestral piece from The Specialist (the scene of the fake funeral. I love the feeling it inspires of a couple who are so into each other but circumstances prohibit them from being together, but just maybe the can be together in the end).
There are so many ...here's a few. I'm sure I'll find more songs that hit me where it hurts and make my fingers twitch to write a book or scene to do the beautiful piece of music justice. So expect a part II....
Literally there are songs that make me want to run the nearest computer and plug away at my innumerable unfinished stories. Since a great love of mine is romance, those melancholy songs really seem to hit home with me. They make me want to write of great lovers struggling toward their happy ending together.
One example that comes to mind is Lindsey Lohan's Over. That song really gets me. My interpretation is one in which a woman mourns the death of a very intense, meaningful relationship. She wants closure but then she doesn't. Isn't love such a feeling. Like a pain that reminds you that your flesh lives even as it throbs. Songs like this take my mind to the next step. I want to fix that pain by getting the couple back together. I haven't came up with a concrete storyline yet, but it did remind me of my story with a hero who looks and acts remarkably like Josh Lucas. But if I pursue that story I'll have to figure out a way to break up the couple, and the idea didn't initially go in that direction. So it's still brewing away in my overstuffed brain.
Usually a certain song will make me think of one of my interracial stories, since that is a particular literary urge of mine. As a matter of fact, the Josh Lucas story is an interracial. Another song that get's me going is Maria's "My Soul." What a lovely song and I want to write a story that fits the dreamy, anguished quality of the singing.
"Are You Happy Now" by Michelle Branch is a song that inspires me to write of a woman who has faced the same trial as Lindsey sings about but she seems more angry. Alas, how to make that right, I don't know.
It's really frustrating in a way because the connection between song and story doesn't usually help me to find a workable plot.
Going a little off subject, there is a song that reminds me irrevocably of a certain moment in movie time: "You Were The Last High" by the Dandy Warhols. That moment is not a happy one. It is the scene where Terry Sheridan betrays himself and Lara Croft by choosing to do the wrong thing, trying to kill Lara and take Pandora's box back to civilization and the highest bidder. This makes me feel very melancholy but I love it. Why? Because my mind doesn't mind thinking about Gerard Butler at all. The sadness comes in that he will die. Perhaps one day I will write a story with a Terry-esque hero who makes the right decision. He lives to turn his life around as you can clearly see Terry wants to. He seems to have regrets over how he disappointed Lara and ended up on his dark path. Sense I like nothing more than a bad boy on the path to redemption, I will not be surprised if Terry Version 2.0 doesn't end up in one of my stories.
I think I should just make a writing CD and get it over with. Put all those songs that drive my brain crazy and stimulate the massive writing urge. What songs would I put on it?
Some I mentioned above:
1.You Were the Last High
2.Lonely
3.Over
4.Are You Happy Now
and others...
5.Small Town Boy by Bronski Beat (ironically about a young gay man leaving his restrictive home--it makes me think of uncertainty and pain, which is universal)
6. Put Me Down by the Cranberries (desperation and anguish are part of the character's journey)
7.This Life by Mandalay (Moody and atmospheric, beautiful. The perfect soundtrack for a darker, spy-themed love story).
8.Home by Depeche Mode (The strings part always gets me! It builds to a climax. This would be good for a spy story too).
9.Who's That Girl by the Eurythmics (always makes me think of a female spy who's a femme fatale and a mistress of disguises)
10.Don't Ask Me Why by the Eurythmics (another broken love affair song)
11.Ice King by Res (A woman who loves a man whose heart is frozen)
12.Lose Control by Silk (Sexy and seductive song, perfect music for a love scene)
13.Wild Horses by The Sundays (whistful, melodic, speaks of missed opportunities)
14.Fade Into You by Mazzy Star (someone reflecting on their feelings for the person who captured their heart)
15.Live Again by Better Than Ezra (in the midst of that crazy fixation of love and infatuation)
16.Over You by Better Than Ezra (about the way it feels to make love to someone)
17.Speeding Up To Slow Down by Better Than Ezra (hometown starcrossed pair of interracial lovers--I picture the girl on a bus and the guy is running after her. I'll probably cut to years later when she comes back)
18. A Thousand Years by Sting (About the complete irrevocable love that he has for a woman)
19.The Book of My Life by Sting (this person has years on them..they have seen and experienced much. They are reflecting back. I could picture Anthony Hopkins doing this set to the song).
20.My Antarctica by Duran Duran (he's in love with a woman who just isn't in as deep as he is)
21.Last Chance on the Stairway by Duran Duran (he's young and willing to risk love but afraid at the same time).
22.Forbidden Love by Madonna (loving the one you shouldn't love...perfect for an interracial love affair. The problem is I try to write ones where that's not the main issue.)
23.The Love Thieves by Depeche Mode (I picture that scene in La Femme Nikita when she goes away after faking her death. It's been years but it's stuck in my brain. She's gone and he mourns her with his whole heart and soul although words of love remain unspoken).
24.Shiver by Coldplay (This man is not going to ever leave her or let her down!)
25.Green Eyes by Coldplay (Sounds country but the simplicity and the emotion wins me over and sends my brain wondering. This one I haven't worked out yet).
26.Amsterdam by Coldplay (He's committed even when the obstacles are against him)
27.I Still Love You by 702 (This guy isn't the best fit for her...things aren't ideal..but she's still in love and committed to him).
28.Kissing You by Total (She's just awakening to the attraction and she's daydreaming about how it would feel just to kiss him.)
29.An orchestral piece from The Specialist (the scene of the fake funeral. I love the feeling it inspires of a couple who are so into each other but circumstances prohibit them from being together, but just maybe the can be together in the end).
There are so many ...here's a few. I'm sure I'll find more songs that hit me where it hurts and make my fingers twitch to write a book or scene to do the beautiful piece of music justice. So expect a part II....
posted by Danielle at 4:34 PM
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