If you had to pick out music to go with your novel

Tornadoboy · Jun 18, 2007

Here's an interesting question that I just thought I'd throw out there.
If you had to pick out music that would fit with your novel, whether that would be just particular moments or the overall theme, what would you pick?

Don Allen · Jun 18, 2007

It's easy for me, Blackbird by "The Beatles" symbolizes my novel perfectly. Good question, how about you???

maestrowork · Jun 18, 2007

I had a theme song for my novel, and I actually put that in the story (without quoting the actual lyrics). It's Sarah McLachlan's "Angel." If you listen to the lyrics, you may know what the themes of the story are:

Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There's always one reason
To feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Oh beautiful release
Memory seeps from my veins
Let me be empty
And weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight...

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Jun 18, 2007

I'd have to pick what was popular in Classical music in the late 18th Century in England for the WIP and for the one still encased in my skull, mid-18th Century traditional/folk from the American South.

Sean D. Schaffer · Jun 18, 2007

I don't mean to sound bad, but there is a thread -- started by Zoombie, I believe -- called 'Musical Experiment'. It deals with much the same subject as this thread. It's also located in the 'Writing Novels' section of the boards.

I hope this helps you out, and I hope you have a good day.

Tornadoboy · Jun 18, 2007

Don Allen said:
Good question, how about you???

It's funny, I asked the question but I'm not quite sure. The idea came to me while listening to "Bravado" by Rush, which is about needless conflict based on pride, and seems like it would fit some of the scenes where my two protags are either fighting with each other or just with the world in general. Other than that I guess "Run", "Bleed" and "Listen" by Collective Soul always bring my story to mind when I hear them, then perhaps "Stupid Girl" by Garbage and "Thinking of You" by Sammy Hagar would fit different scenes for various reasons, although I'm sure I'd find a gazillion others if I chewed on the question for a while.

Sean D. Schaffer is right, I just checked out the other thread and Zoombie beat me to the punch.

Nangleator · Jun 18, 2007

Eh. It's something with slide whistles and a Jew's harp.

Yes, I'm still on the first draft, why do you ask?

Raindrops · Jun 18, 2007

I listen to New Age, Ambiance, and movie soundtracks. I love the intensity of the instruments/sound and that's what helps me write a strong scene.

badducky · Jun 18, 2007

Anything Shostakovitch. Hm... Okay Symphonies 4 and 10 especially.

Tornadoboy · Jun 18, 2007

I think I'm going to try to delete this thread, we're just running the same discussion as zoombie's so we might as well take it over there.

sadron · Jun 19, 2007

Overall theme would be Dungeon theme from hHeroes Might and Magic V game.

BenPanced · Jun 19, 2007

Barbarique said:
I didn't just pick one song; I actually picked 16 of them, burned them on a CD and imagined them as the soundtrack for the fab movie they will someday make of my novel. I won't bore you with the complete list, but they included "New Kid In Town", "Riders On The Storm", "Yesterday's Gone", "End Of The Innocence", and "Let Your Love Flow."
Eclectic, I know, but what else would you expect from a California Girl? (I left that song out... reluctantly.)

*meekly raises hand*

Yup. Did that for the first manuscript I'd ever finished. The songs I'd chosen are for key scenes or mentioned specifically in the story. I used (among others) Don't Talk to Me About Love by Altered Images, Dracula's Tango by Toto/Total Coelo (I hear the 80's babies screaming in the background), I Drove All Night by Roy Orbison, and Pink Cadillac by Bruce Springsteen.

Hogwaffle · Jun 19, 2007

i almost always have a playlist that gets me in the mood for whatever I am writing. I make fan videos for movies too, so when I'm writing and a song really fits I see it as if making a fan video for the future movie=) The book I just finished was actually all inspired by Hikara Utada's song Kremlin Dusk

Sandy J · Jun 19, 2007

Neat question!!

Murphy's Law = "Shameless" by Billy Joel/Garth Brooks
Free Falling = "Taking You Home" by Don Henley (No, not the Tom Petty song :tongue

)
All the Right Reasons = "Home" by Micheal Buble

I think I go with overall theme, but in Murphy's Law, the song is very important to a crucial scene.

Feathers · Jun 19, 2007

Different music for different charecters, as I have three main MC's.
One last Breath and My own Prison by Creed for my MC Immanuel.
Crash by 12 stones, Blue Horizon's by 3 doors down, and a song called 'Through the fire' by someone I frogot the name, for my MC Blaise.
I have no clue what song I would use for my female MC.
And its funny, but the song I feel describes my story best is Dream on (the clean version) by Aerosmith, even tho it doesn't say that much.
*shrugs*

Scrawler · Jun 19, 2007

My MC thinks it should be set to soft jazz, then realizes soft jazz means Kenny G

Geist · Jun 19, 2007

The one that is currently sucking the life out of me...excuse me...
The one I am currently revising has mostly been inspired by the song, Haunted, by Evanescence. But that happened more by accident than deliberation.

My next work has been specifically inspired by a particular singer, video, and song, and that would be I Alone by Live, and the lead singer Ed Kowalczyk.

Sincerely,

Ed

PS: I'm always looking for signs, and I just learned (when I looked it up to write this post) that the lead singer of Live and I share a first name. I humbly submit to you that that's freakin bizarre!

E.

rwam · Jun 19, 2007

U2

And if it's made into a movie? I can already imagine "City of Blinding Lights" starting up as the screen fades to black and the credits start to roll...

Legionsynch · Jun 21, 2007

I create playlists based on the overall theme of what I'm working on at the moment. The middle grind of my novel came complete with hour long tracks of thunderstorms and the ocean surf, and the finale had a lot of hard rock and crashing sounds.

The overall theme of the novel for my characters, though, is "Crawling in the Dark" by Hoobastank. And the rest (for now) is a lot of stuff by Within Reason, a Norwegian symphonic rock (think strains of Evanescence) band.

Sean D. Schaffer · Jun 21, 2007

Tornadoboy said:
Here's an interesting question that I just thought I'd throw out there.
If you had to pick out music that would fit with your novel, whether that would be just particular moments or the overall theme, what would you pick?

I just noticed this thread is still going, so I thought I would add to it.

I would say an entire album goes with my manuscript, and also if there were a trailer for my book, I can think of a song (by a different artist) that would fit it very well.

The album is Desperado by the Eagles, and the song is the 25 or 6 to 4 remix from Chicago 18.

Varthikes · Jun 22, 2007

For the novel I have in production at the moment...

Probably something from Vangelis, Sarah Brightman, Enigma, or Secret Garden.

Shady Lane · Jun 22, 2007

I've recently started listening to the song We Are Nowhere and It's Now by Bright Eyes quite a bit while I'm writing.

And The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice, too.

sassandgroove · Jun 22, 2007

A friend of mine sent me a story she wrote with a mix CD soundtrack. there were little ticks in the story when I was supposed to play the next song. It was sorta neat.

If you had to pick out music to go with your novel

Tornadoboy

I bite

Don Allen

Seeking a Sanctuary of Intelligence

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?

Sean D. Schaffer

Tornadoboy

I bite

Nangleator

Rep Point Whore

Raindrops

badducky

No Time For Chitchat, Kemosabe.

Tornadoboy

I bite

sadron

Writing Dark Fantasy

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

Hogwaffle

Sandy J

In a state of denial...

Feathers

emerging from the writing cave

Scrawler

Bored fanatic

Geist

rwam

Legionsynch

Sean D. Schaffer

Varthikes

Dragon Writer

Shady Lane

my name is hannah

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut