Five Songs that make a Story

Music can be as important to a story as it can be in our daily lives. As one person once said, they are the soundtrack to our lives.

Before the printing press, before widespread distribution of the written word, songs were used to convey stories, to make them more memorable.

In Café Insomniac, songs are used as clues to what's happening in the characters' minds. Some are played by the house band, called The Bedless. Others are played at the piano by Delilah.
That's How People Grow Up by Morrissey
In Café Insomniac, Justin suffers from chronic insomnia. The reason for this is a matter for conjecture. One possibility is that it's the legacy of a failed relationship. This song from "The Moz" is about the search for happiness through relationships. The video is very funny. It's a live concert during which a succession of people hurl themselves at Moz. Look for the security staff throwing one unfortunate person off the stage like a sack of rubbish.
Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads
I love the idea behind this song. It's as if the singer has been asleep for twenty years and suddenly wakes up. He can't work out how he got to where he is: 

"And you may tell yourself, that's not my beautiful wife. And you may tell yourself, that's not my beautiful house."

In Café Insomniac, Justin, owing to his insomnia, lives in a half-awake, half-asleep state. Every day holds new experiences that mystify, enchant and bedevil him.

This version of the song is by The Bad Shepherds, which is Adrian Edmondson's band.
We're Not Going To Take It by Twisted Sister
Everybody loves a song of defiance. Defiance is the rock that rock 'n' roll was built on. Defiance was etched on the rocks that were thrown at the established order as the word "teenager" was born, and Bill Haley decided to rock around the clock.

This Twisted Sister song has a fantastic mix of defiance and camp glam-rock.

In Cafe Insomniac, defiance is a theme that runs throughout the story — Justin's defiance of his dad, and Spinner and Juggles's defiance of normality.
Praying For Time by George Michael
In Café Insomniac, this George Michael song is the last one played by the house band The Bedless, and the first time that Justin hears Delilah sing. The band is made up mostly of homeless people, unbowed by their plight — a guitarist with only four strings, a harmonica player with three teeth. Undaunted, and with talent from the gods, they play on.
You'll Never Walk Alone by Johnny Cash
Before it became a football anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone" was a song in the musical, Carousel. In the musical, it's a song of comfort for Julie, whose husband has committed suicide.

In Café Insomniac, the title is partly ironic. Justin would love to be free of the unexplained images that keep popping up in his life.

This version is by Johnny Cash. He was getting on when this was recorded, shortly before his death. His voice never sounded richer and so full of emotion.
The full playlist for The Bedless and Cafe Insomniac can be found on Spotify. The novel Cafe Insomniac by Mark Capell is available on Amazon and Amazon UK .