
We all have soundtracks for our lives that evoke for us different times, different emotional states and states of mind. Music and song lyrics are hugely evocative.
They are a powerful way of getting into the world and the mood of a book; a direct line into a character’s thoughts, feelings and emotional states. I make compilations and playlists for all my books, whether its 18th century seafaring songs for Pirates!, folk ballads and The Beggars’ Opera for Sovay or Elizabethan songs for The Fool’s Girl. For This Is Not Forgiveness, I had a mix of music. Some tracks conjured mood and character; some provided music for the characters themselves to listen to; somedid both.
My Playlist (in no particular order):
Vaccines – Wreckin’ Bar; Post Break Up Sex
Cold War Kids – Sensitive Kid; Broken Open
Friendly Fires – True Love; Blue Cassette
Crystal Castles – Vanished
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs; We Used To Wait
Libertines – Don’t Look Back Into The Sun; Can’t Stand Me Now; Time For Heroes
The Smiths – There’s a Light That Never Goes Out; Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get
What I Want
Stone Roses – Waterfall
Bob Dylan – Billy #4 – Soundtrack: Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid
Van Morrison – Cyprus Avenue; Madame George
Alison Krauss – The Scarlet Tide
The Cardigans – My Favourite Game
Mumford & Sons – Winter Winds; Little Lion Man
Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The U.K.
The Specials – Friday Night, Saturday Morning
The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
Noah And The Whale – 5 Years Time
Wheetus – Teenage Dirtbag
Depeche Mode – In Your Room
Brecht/Weill – Pirate Jenny – The Threepenny Opera
Kraftwerk
And, of course…
The Boom Town Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays
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What an amazing list, I LOVE Boomtown Rats, especially that song and The Undertones, The Specials and The Vaccines! I love associating songs to books too and the idea of a book playlist is awesome! Thank you Celia!
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4 Comments
Anna @annascottjots
A truly excellent playlist – just have to read the book now! x
SisterSpooky
Omg! A-mazing playlist! Classic stuff there! Esp The Smith track!
Jenni
The tracks I recognise on that list are so good that I’m going to be checking out all of the ones I don’t recognise. Great post!
SusanKMann
What a great playlist. I love Teenage Kicks and Teenage Dirtbag, two of my favourite songs. x