What's the Soundtrack for Your Book?
Okay . . . don't forget to send in your quirks of courting the muse for the blog contest (see entry below this one). Time is running out.
In the meantime, we turn to Brian's desk.
Brian talks about his tbr pile, and his desk and clutter. But what FASCINATES me is his soundtrack. This is a man who knows how to court his muse with his playlist. Here it is:
- Boingo - Sweat, Only A Lad
- Concrete Blonde - God Is A Bullet, It'll Chew You Up And Spit You Out
- Celldweller - I Believe You, Switchback
- Bare Naked Ladies - Shoebox, The Old Apartment
- Velvet Revolver - Slither
- Squeeze - Is That Love
- Joe Satriani - Crush Of Love, Ice 9
- Disturbed - Prayer
- ncubus - Megalomaniac
Do creative people respond more to music than ordinary mortals? ;-)
All I know is when I hear music, my soul sometimes leaves me. My breath can be knocked out of me by hearing a fantastic new song. As a poet I can be brought to my knees by the turn of a phrase, the beauty of it.
So what's your soundtrack?
posted by Erica Orloff at 9:36 PM
10 Comments:
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT, by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
"...rapped up like a douche, another roller in the night..."
"...little Early Burly kicked my anus curly wurly, and asked me if I needed a ride..."
Those aren't the real lyrics, of course, but that's what it sounds like.
Ten bites of smoked salmon from a sterling silver fork, Erica, if you can tell me who wrote that song.
No fair Googling...
Springsteen.
Didn't need to Google.
He has always been my "gimme." No matter what relationship I have been in, if I had the opportunity . . . well, good-bye little children, sweetheart, hubby, boyfriend, whatever . . . this IS Springsteen, after all.
Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night
. . .
And little Early-Pearly came by in his curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride
:-)
Speaking of Springsteen, the songs of his on my permanent life soundtrack, courting the muse and all, are "She's the One," "Empty Sky" (as a New Yorker, as anyone watching the towers burn, but the connection to NYC for me . . . that album makes me cry every time I hear it, but most especially that song),"Night," "Candy's Room" (would have to be in the movie of The Roofer if that ever gets made).
He is one of those songwriters I refer to when I say I am so awed that it almost paralyzes me---I will never write anything so perfect. John Hiatt is the king of that for me, though.
Fish is on the grill, Dom on ice. :)
Thanks for posting the picture of my desk... I think. :)
Springsteen is an amazing artist and talented song writer. My only problem is his voice. I just cannot listen to it. But hey, that's my problem. As long as ya'll like him, keep listening.
OK, so back to working in the WIPs. Thanks again Erica. Your blog totally rocks, by the way :)
I didn't get Brian's name at first, thought he had some exotic thing going, African or something.
Just call me Eduj Nidrah.
I like Springsteen's voice okay, but I know what you mean about great songwriters not always being great singers (Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, George Harrison, just to name a few).
I made sure my soundtrack will include John Coltrane's "Spiritual" by having my character listen to it in the book. :)
Brian:
I think there's something very raw there, so I guess I like his voice. But it's the energy of the whole song as a whole. I mean, there are stunning singers who sing such tripe I can't bear it, so . . . you know, it goes both ways, I guess.
:-)
E
I like tripe sometimes. :)
I like gutsy rock and roll with a heavy groove, and sometimes the lyrics just don't matter that much.
I'm not always in the mood for poetry or songs with a message. Sometimes the tripe satisfies that primordial reptilian portion of my brain that reacts to sensory... nonsense.
I like John Lennon's "Imagine," but I also like "Come Together," the lyrics of which John himself said were "gobbledygook."
I like Bad Company (the original band with Paul Rogers), Zepplin, Creedence, a lot of stuff that might not seem very "writerly," but that touches my soul on some primitive level.
The Beatles sang "All You Need Is Love."
Sometimes, all you need is tripe. :)
Jude:
All You Need is Tripe. I think that could be a hit song. ;-)
BUT . . . taking this conversation 360 and back to writing for a minute . . . that statement proves the point that all writing isn't for everyone. I hate when some people will denigrate a genre of novels or even a writer specifically. There is a writer and book for everyone, and sometimes you just want to curl up to tripe or a happy ending or a fun read. Other times, you're content to slog through War and Peace.
E
P.S. OK . . . I just realized I will NEVER AGAIN hear "All You Need is Love" and sing it properly. Tripe will roil through my brain.
LOL, Erica!
"...all you need is tripe, tripe. Tripe is all you need...EVERYBODY now...."
What's funny is I see a lot of authors who do a "song list" or "mix tape" for their characters, as well as talk about what they listened to when they were writing the particular book. And though I started out to do that with what I'm working on, I sort of veered in a different direction for one particular character, who's a film nut (and you know where this is going, Erica). So I have a "movie mix tape," if you will, for her, full of Godard, Wong Kar-Wai and Wes Anderson movies.
But what I listen to when I sit at my bare, uncomfortable desk? I either put the iTunes on party shuffle, or blast disc one of The Pretenders' Pirate Radio boxed set. Especially the fast and loud songs, full of attitude. The better to crank out my own Mystery Achievement.
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