Every Book Needs a Soundtrack
“Where words fail, music speaks.”
Music is an integral part of my life but it is not part of my writing. I prefer my writing soundtrack to be that of the tapping of keys or the scratching of a pen. I love the depth of silence. I love my early mornings where, before I open my email or attempt to do any other work, I allow myself space to quietly dive into my writing. In the silence of my peaceful workspace, I can pour out words for hours without being even remotely lonely, and though it’s rare these days for me to have uninterrupted hours to dedicate to writing, I do look at those morning sessions as training for the moments I can take large chunks of time away to focus—whether that’s through a solo camping retreat or a writing retreat with friends who are also not afraid of working quietly in community.
Quiet births an internal melody that conducts my process.
It's a beautiful thing.
I know other writers who only write to music. More power to them. I don't understand it—I get all muddled up in lyrics that steal focus from my own composing. It just doesn't work for me.
But what I do appreciate is the way music can speak to my story.
It never fails—no matter what the Project Of The Moment is—everything speaks to it. Conversations, radio interviews, movies, billboards, the acne constellation on the lisping coffee shop boy's face.. .EVERYTHING is about my book, my story, my idea.
That's just the reality of a writer's life. There's no avoiding it. No denying it. We are the centre of our own universes and our work-in-progress is the eye of our personal storm. It is fed by EVERYTHING.
I adore the idea of creating a soundtrack for a project because it plays a beautiful role in establishing themes and invoking emotions. While I plugged away at When The Trees All Burned, I kept track of some of the songs that seem to speak directly to exactly what I was trying to say in prose instead of poetry and I gathered them into a Spotify Playlist should you feel inclined to listen to all the feels of the tale I chose to spin.
I chose songs for their lyrics.
I chose songs for their emotion.
I chose songs that reflect my story-vision.
It's a powerful way to let people get an audible glimpse of my story-feels.
All that being said... here's my pretty little playlist for The Path That Takes Us Home.
Heaven Is A Place on Earth | Belinda Carlisle
Home Again | Michael Kiwanuka
No Rest - Acoustic | Dry the River
Courage | Villagers
Lost On The River #20 | The New Basement Tapes
Hot Scary Summer | Villagers
Heartbeats | José González
The Healing Day | Bill Fay
Cucurucu | Nick Mulvery
The Lion’s Roar | First Aid Kit
The Great Escape | Patrick Watson
Naked As We Came | Iron & Wine
Untitled #4 | The Avett Brothers
The Longer the Waiting | Josh Turner
Daylight | David Kushner
Love Language | Connor Price, Evelyne Brochu
The Other Side | Clever Hopes
I’m Gonna Be | Najwajean
This Time Tomorrow (In The Canyon Haze) |Brandi Carlile
Dust to Dust | The Civil Wars
If I Go, I’m Goin | Gregory Alan Isakov
O Siem | Susan Aglukark
Rivers and Roads | The Head and the Heart
Dead for You | Najwajean
More To This | Marc Scibilia
Ordinary World | Duran Duran
Corner of the Universe | Creed Bratton
Life In My Bones | Mac Scibilia
Follow You Down to the Red Oak Tree | James Vincent McMorrow
This lists feeds the series as a whole, and as I continue to write book 2 and 3, I’m sure new songs will be added that further explore all the themes and feelings. I’m excited to see just how much it grows.
Why a soundtrack?
Because I can’t help it! Without fail, no matter the project I'm working on, music seems to weave its way through the experience of both writing and editing. Whether I hear it on the radio, or in listening to a record I've had for years, bits of my story spill out from the music, whether in lyric or in the emotion of the melody. It could just be the passion I have for music... so it's inevitable that I hear my own narrative within the songs I listen to; OR it could be the universe reminding me that I'm following my heart and that, in so doing, it's compelled to bless me with these little moments of discovery.
Follow Along!
As I begin to count down the days to the release of book 1 — When The Trees All Burned — I will be starting a Music Monday series in which I share about one song on that list and how it fits into the story. I hope it’s a fun way to invite you deeper into the journey of The Path That Takes Us Home.
See you next week when I’m going to start by unpacking the song “The Lion’s Roar” by First Aid Kit.
