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Do any of your characters have a song?
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Very literally in fact.
Equal Opportunity (Spoiler Here) is the name of the song.
A song was actually written about her by a fictional band also in the novels. It isn't all that flattering, so she likes to forget it exists, but no one else can once they find out about it.
It is referenced a few times, and some lines are quoted. I have no idea what it sounds like, but I do know that it is angsty!
All of mine have a song that either helped inspire them, or that just reminds me of them. Can't tell you the ones for my MC, because that's trivia I'm still waiting for someone to figure out.However, for example, her romance with her mate is represented by the song "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling, because he's dying.
Yes of course they do. It almost has to since it's a romance. The couple song is Love by Musiq Soul Child because it fits them both so well. My main character has a song that fits one scene more than others but I have made it her theme song, it's Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande. It's perfect for her because she wouldn't fit the words otherwise, if not for the scene.
I'm working on a book right now and the main character, Carl, is haunted by Johnny Cash's version of "My Grandfather's Clock". Cash has that perfect haunting voice. hahaha
I'm glad I'm not the only one assigning songs. Listening to music is one thing, but sometimes for me a song fits so perfectly and hits all the right emotional notes that it's immediately associated in my mind.Most of the main cast from my current series have songs.
The MC's song is Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace. With his amnesia, he wants to be the good guy, but there are some violent tendencies deep in him.
Skyla's song is Thinking of You by Katy Perry because she's torn between two guys and Jensen's song is It's Been a While by Staind because he keeps messing up.
As a side note I assign songs to other people's characters too. I read a book and hear a song on the radio and think, "That song would be so perfect for so and so"
Mod
I'm working on a piece in my head that I hope to get typed out sometime in the next few months that is partially inspired by "My Hometown" by Bruce Springsteen.
A couple of the characters in one of my WIPs sing Bad Land BluesLillyn Brown and Her Jazz-Bo Syncopaters, recorded May 9, 1921
Story takes pace in the Prohibition Era.
@Thomas sounds epic! Animal I Have Become is one of my favorite songs, even though none of my characters have seemed to fit it yet :D
Oh yes! My CSA survivor (total heroine) in "Broken & Damaged Love" has this (unsurprisingly) as her theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc8b...
(Survivor - Destiny's Child)
It's not mentioned in the book, but I have posted it on Twitter and actually it applies to many survivors I come across.
I love this song; so stirring!
:)
Mod
My CSA survivor (total heroine) in "Broken & Damaged Love" has this (unsurprisingly) as her theme song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc8b...
(Survivor - Destiny's Child)
It's not ..."
I can see that 100%!
Have never mentioned songs for characters in any of mine, but I do kind of associate some of them with music.Rosamunde in 'the barefoot runners' would probably sing 'Crazy' by Patsy Kline, if I hadn't specifically stated that she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket
'Angel' by Theory of a Deadman is the song for Eric Windstrom, my ex-assassin character, about his eventual wife Sonya :) 'Throne' by Bring Me the Horizon and 'Centuries' by Fall Out Boy both apply to Jasmine Black.
I think all my characters have songs that seem to exemplify them or their relationship with other characters--can't think of them all at the moment though :)
S.J. wrote: "Skyla's song is Thinking of You by Katy Perry because she's torn between two guys and Jensen's song is It's Been a While by Staind because he keeps messing up."I like some of Katy Perry's music but I don't think I've heard that one.
Though her song Unconditionally could probably be applied to any love story ever, I still like it for my MC's romantic interest.
Actually, my characters have leitmoiffs and the series as a whole has a theme song.I wrote this song and made a series trailer.
https://youtu.be/eQST3tEytu8
Yes! One of my current projects is a spin-off from my (mostly) fictional memoir. In this separate work we follow a rogue squad of adolescent lemon-warriors on a suicide mission to take out the leader of the oppresssive neighborhood regime. It's the lemon-war to end all lemon-wars. I write parts of it to the "Apocalypse Now" soundtrack. But the squad itself shares a song together: Pink Floyd's "Us and Them." :-)
Nathan wrote: "Actually, my characters have leitmoiffs and the series as a whole has a theme song.I wrote this song and made a series trailer.
https://youtu.be/eQST3tEytu8"
I'm so jealous that you can write your own music. That's amazing!
Here's one of the songs that inspired my newest main character, Celli:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhshM...
My two young lovers from "At Some Point in Time" consider "How do I dream Without You?" from Conair to be their song.
Alice Cooper's Poison seems to sum up the relationship dynamic between Benny and Amy in The Governess, while I Am Not a Robot speaks for Love and Robotics (though which of the leads is it about?) Perhaps I'm overly influenced by Tarantino, but a Morricone soundtrack would suit The Revenge of Rose Grubb nicely.
I'm no musician, but I often write song lyrics in my fiction, in the vague hope that one day someone will add a tune.Jane is a dancer, not a singer, and I've written several scenes where she takes to the floor with whoever happens to be the target of her flirting at the time. I came up with a dance called "Farmer's Daughter" which she teaches to several partners:
It requires a fairly complicated lift and catch at the end which should end up with Jane in her partner's arms, even though she has to rely on her own extreme agility to be able to turn in mid air and land in the right place if he gets it badly wrong.
I've written lyrics to go with the music, which you might call Jane's song:
Farmer's daughter,
Starlit skies,
Moon's reflection,
In her eyes.
In a cornfield,
Sunset's glow,
There I met her,
Long ago.
Through the meadows,
Down the lane,
There I'll meet her,
Once again.
Share my land,
And share my life,
Farmer's daughter,
Be my wife!
All I need now is a country and western tune to go with it.
R. wrote: "I'm no musician, but I often write song lyrics in my fiction, in the vague hope that one day someone will add a tune.Jane is a dancer, not a singer, and I've written several scenes where she take..."
Beautiful!
Missy wrote: "R. wrote: "I'm no musician, but I often write song lyrics in my fiction, in the vague hope that one day someone will add a tune.Jane is a dancer, not a singer, and I've written several scenes whe..."
Thank you.
My answer is yes, yes and yes. Lol! I have songs that have inspired me, or simply seem perfect for a character of mine but I also Spotlight newer artists in my books. Chasing Jonah, she just released her newest video "War Paint" today! My most recent artist? I found him at a local coffee shop. Ya never know where talent can show itself. And, I've written and recorded songs for my Forever series. I love music!
R. wrote: "I'm no musician, but I often write song lyrics in my fiction, in the vague hope that one day someone will add a tune.Jane is a dancer, not a singer, and I've written several scenes where she take..."
I can actually hear a country tune for that in my head. Sadly I'm not a musician, so I couldn't put that tune to it.
At the risk of spoiling it this is what I had on a loop when I wrote the original version of those words.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lg_c...
The first book in The Wardriven series was inspired by having played "Gimme Shelter" on Rockband that weekend, and watching old History channel war documentaries late into the evening. The lyrical meanings rearranged themselves in my mind and a series was born. Those lyrics grace the interstices of the first episode.Perfect timing on the post too, as I just finished the 2113 compilation of shorts inspiring or inspired by the music of RUSH. I think things like music, aromas, quality of light, time of day or night, many of these things influence writing directly, whether we are conscious of them or not.
My British characters from Tales of the Magpie Prince all love music, and have lots of house parties where everyone sings, dances and plays instruments -- mostly folk and jazz in the first novel in the 1950s, later pop and rock as those formats become more influential. Eddie Cochran's death occurs (offstage) during the second book, set in 1960, causing much distress, being so soon after the death of Buddy Holly. Gerry and Brian, two of my main characters, go on to front a blues/R&B/rock band in the early 60s, post-Beatlemania, as was right and proper in Northern England at the time. They do cover versions of American records, including a naughty re-do of "All Shook Up."My zone of influence music for both myself and my characters includes Sun-era Elvis, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Cash, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Holly, early Stones, the Animals, the Searchers, the Hollies, the Beatles (duh!) and a whole lot of other great stuff.
In my upcoming novel, 'An Enlightening Quiche,' I fall back on Leonard Cohen's "Closing Time" - perfect for fleshing out my main character, Augusta Bergeron, during a bar scene where she switches tactics in latching on to a man:I could put the blame on Maine for altering my game plan from seduction to subduction, but the inconvenient truth lay in the acquisition of a whiskey-soured premonition of a lost soul past her prime groping in the darkness through the thicket of another decade, then another, ravished by the winds of change. A vision of myself as a ghoul from Christmases Yet to Come appeared in the guise of a long-in-the-tooth trollop flicking fried-dyed hair and wearing age-inappropriate, skintight attire tautly stretched over my butt of a joke. A comparable image satirized every night by Cohen at closing time inside the chamber of Chuggers put the fear of God in me.
My main character, Jen Cole from my novel Going Underground, is represented by a guitar solo from a song by a guy called Steven Wilson, called regret#9, from the album Hands, Cannot, Erase. This solo sums her up, and I listen to it when I'm writing a scene involving her.
I am curious as to when someone needs to get permission for songs or poems when choosing to use them in a book. How does one decide?
Gerry wrote: "I am curious as to when someone needs to get permission for songs or poems when choosing to use them in a book. How does one decide?"A good question. It all comes down to Fair Use and how much is considered too much.
I would suggest reading more about it here http://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/mor....
My characters don't have theme songs, but I do have original songs sporadically within the books, ala Lord of the Rings. I love lacing my stories with poems and lyrics. :)
Thomas wrote: "Gerry wrote: "I am curious as to when someone needs to get permission for songs or poems when choosing to use them in a book. How does one decide?"A good question. It all comes down to Fair Use a..."
Thanks for the link. I, personally, have not chosen to do this, but a fellow writer in my writer's group was concerned about the use. I will forward the information to him.
This site has been wonderful with its wealth of information. Thanks to all.
Gerry wrote: "I am curious as to when someone needs to get permission for songs or poems when choosing to use them in a book. How does one decide?"I've had very variable advice on this, but the consensus seems to be that quoting one line is allowable, more is problematic, and a whole verse is usually subject to permission.
Hello all - I'm new here - to Goodreads, to self-publishing.I made a Spotify playlist of all the songs associated with my characters and reference it in my bio on Goodreads, Amazon, and Smashwords - I thought it would be a fun promotional piece. I titled the playlist the same as the book so it's easy for readers to find on Spotify. I don't reference the songs in the book, but they are songs that came to mind while I was writing and dealing with the characters, their feelings, their relationships.
I just finished writing on this very topic over on Facebook!I find myself very drawn to Adele's work with this series, especially her cover of Lovesong. Which sounds weird for a noir, but her feelings for one of the men in the story colors a lot of what my protagonist does.
One of my characters had a song but it was played for him by the deejay. I went this route to avoid having to get permission from the writer. Michael Bolton is one of my favorite singers and the song was "When a man loves a woman." I also have another song in the manuscript. It is from the female character to her husband -- "Torn between two lovers," by Mary MacGregor.
What song and why that song?