Imagining books and music in quirky and creative ways
“Tip of My Tongue” by The Civil Wars makes me think of Jane and Mr. Rochester. A love song in the form of a duet, tinged with mystery…
From Jane Eyre, spoken by Mr. Rochester to Jane:
“When you came upon me in Hay Lane last night, I thought unaccountably of fairy tales, and had half a mind to demand whether you had bewitched my horse: I am not sure yet.”
Yay or nay?
Whether it’s heartbreak or true love or “girl power,” we tend to say the same types of things over and over again through music. But have you ever heard two songs that really struck you as fundamentally similar? Ones that seemed to have the same message, even if communicated slightly differently? Sometimes music is similar in both meaning AND mode, yet that doesn’t make one or the other superfluous, at least in my experience.
I was thinking about this idea recently after watching the Christmas movie, “Elf.” I noticed that Frank Sinatra’s “You Make Me Feel So Young” (as heard in the movie) has a similar message to…well…One Direction’s “Act My Age.” While Sinatra’s song talks about feeling younger than normal because of a girl, the modern boy band’s song states that in the future they will feel as young as they do now.
But this one line in Sinatra’s song particularly Continue reading “Similar Songs Across Time: Elf and Boy Bands”
SPOILERS
“Tower (Don’t Look Down)” by Skylar Grey reminds me of Anna Karenina towards the end of the book when she turns crazy and paranoid, thinking Vronsky doesn’t love her. (Both she and the song are preeeeeetty passive aggressive.)
On top of that, the guy in the song is supposedly leaving the girl for the sake of his career. Vronsky is faced with the same dilemma–Anna vs. advancement in the military. And Anna in her befuddled state doesn’t seem all that convinced that he’s choosing her…
“Just leave me here to die
As I watch you climb
Up to the top of your ambitions.”
What do you think? Is it a match?
WARNING: THIS MUSIC MAY CAUSE RECURRING NIGHTMARES, PARANOIA, AND/OR SHIN SPLINTS. LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK.
1) Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams
First, you need some motivation and optimism for the long trial ahead…you shall win the Olympics of exercise! You shall conquer!!! Endurance, strength, power: you have it all.
2) The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky
So much for the babying. This is about a girl who is chosen to die as a sacrifice to the gods. And though it may start out a little slow, you can tell. So you can either start listening right when it gets crazy or take advantage of that nice, slow intro.
3) The Planets, Op. 32: Mars, the Bringer of War by Gustav Holst
WAAAAAAARRRR. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR BATTLE.
4) …To Die For by Hans Zimmer (from The Lion King)
Kind of an outlier in this list, I know, but this piece will always be terrifying. ALWAYS.
RUN, SIMBA, RUN!!!!!!!!!
(These next three are particularly effective if it’s kind of dark or foggy out:) Continue reading “The Only Exercise Playlist You’ll Ever Need”
I was honored to be featured as a guest blogger on author Shannon A. Thompson’s blog! Here is a snippet of my post:
Ah, yes, that terrifying word: inspiration. How do we find it? And if we find it, how do we turn it into something worthwhile?
For those of you like me who bump (or crash) into writer’s block, perhaps the muse may speak to you through music. Here are some specific ways to help get those creative juices flowing:
1) Pop/Rock: Listen to your favorite song, shuffle a playlist, or find new music…there is always a story behind the song.
For example: “Someone Like You” by Adele: who is Adele’s character? Why did she and her lover separate? What prompted her to show up at his door in the first place?
For example: “Mr. Roboto” by Styx: Is the character an actual robot/cyborg? Or is this symbolism for something else? Why does he need to hide, and why is his life in danger?
What are your favorite ways to find inspiration from music?
“The last colors slowly faded from the western sky, and, as they did, one by one the instruments stopped, until only the bass fiddles, in their somber slow movement, were left to play the night and a single set of silver bells brightened the constellations. The conductor let his arms fall limply at his sides and stood quite still as darkness claimed the forest.” –The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
I love how Norton Juster makes music the source of color in his children’s book, “The Phantom Tollbooth.” (For those of you who aren’t familiar with the book, it’s very Alice-in-Wonderland-esque with puns and other wordplay.)
He really hit the nail on the head here: different subtleties of sounds are as beautiful as all the different shades of color! And without music, how colorless would our lives be?
This passage also made me think about synesthesia, the state when a person sees actual, physical colors when they hear music among other things (I knew a band director who had this). It got me thinking: what color would my favorite songs be? Would each song by the same artist have the same basic hue with different nuances, or would there be an entire spectrum in every album? Do all synesthetes see the same colors for the same sounds, or is each person different?
On a related note (ha! Pun not intended), Continue reading “A Colorful Symphony”
(SPOILERS)
Hungarian Rock by György Ligeti
Imagine if Bilbo and the dwarves were robots.
Off they go on their adventure! As robots they can’t feel the hardships of inclement weather or food shortages, so they’re basically happy and oblivious for the entire length of their journey.
(3:01) Suddenly, they find Smaug and things grind to a screeching halt…the dwarves now mourn the deaths of Thorin, Fili and Kili.
Despite their overwhelming loss, the music ends on a somewhat happy note. After all, the hobbit and dwarves did fulfill their quest…albeit at a steep cost.
HAMLET: I did love you once.
OPHELIA: Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so.
HAMLET: You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot
so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of
it: I loved you not.
OPHELIA: I was the more deceived.
…
O, help him, you sweet heavens!
–Act III, scene i
1965 by Zella Day
“Can we go back to the world we had?
With a love so sweet it makes me sad
Can we go back to the world we had?
It’s the world we’ve been dreaming of.”
Imagine that Sherlock is playing the violin while pondering a particularly thorny case. Although tantalizingly close to solving it, he knows he’s still missing something important…
His excitement starts to poke through as he gets closer and closer to untangling the mystery, but he tries to remain cautious in case he’s wrong (even though he feels he must be right).
With the final flourishing notes, it is time to find the proof…
What can you hear?
If you thought there was no way to legally download free music, think again! Many public libraries have this amazing resource called Freegal.
Basically if you have a library card you can download 6 songs each and every week—for free! They never expire and every Monday you get 6 more songs. No strings attached, and it’s perfectly legal. Continue reading “Free and Legal Music Downloads Through Your Library”
If Mermaids Wore Suspenders 
