Music, Writing, and...a Little Bit of Politics

It's no secret that music and writers go together. For me, certain songs are hard-wired into specific experiences.[1] It's also no secret that I associate certain songs and bands with particular characters and even scenes in my stories. For example: I can't hear Rolling Stones without going directly into Liam Kelly's (OB&H) head space. To be honest, I never even liked the Stones that much until I started climbing into Liam's head. Can't You Hear Me Knocking is that scene where Mary Kate does the strip tease for Liam. Street Fighting Man is, of course, the opening scene to OB&H, and Led Zeppelin's[2] Kashmir is...well...a certain scene in chapter 3. Heart's Magic Man is totally Liam's mother's song, by the way. Oh, and Johnny Appleseed by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros is totally a Liam song. The fun bit is that it isn't one I came up with. That was my agent. "Lord, there goes the Buick '49. Black Sheep of the angels riding, riding down the line. Think there is a soul. We don't know. That soul is hard to find." Yeah. That. Ha![3]  I could go on and on for that group of novels, but I'll move on to Cold Iron. Nels's first song is The Highwayman. That association is unique in that it was the first time I've ever hit upon a song that got a strong reaction out of my subconscious. Nels hates that song, and that hatred was the reason for the first story I wrote about him. Suvi's songs are Avalon by Roxy Music (the first ballroom scene) and Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics because I can't think of a better soundtrack for a backstabbing, sexually predatory, power-mad, royal court than that one.[4] That's Cold Iron.

Now for some you haven't heard/seen me list before--the ones for Blackthorne. Blackthorne the character is Nels's opposite. He's super grim. So, his soundtrack was made up of a lot of NIN, NIN, Gary Numan, Gary Human, and Alice in Chains, and Alice in Chains, and Alice in Chains.[6]  I hope this doesn't give anything away, but I spent far more time with Dylan Kask and his lover, Darius, in the new novel. They grew on me. A lot. And so, Depeche Mode is their band. Starting with Never Let Me Down Again.[5] In addition, Elton John--particularly I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues. (A love letter from Dylan to Dar, of course. ;)) I also ended up listening to Austin's LGBT radio station Pride a lot which is a lot of fun. They play quite a bit of electronic, dance, and house which I like.

Anyway, today I saw this video.  And I'm so happy about it. Also, YAY! New ALBUM.

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​[1] Sometimes this isn't always a positive thing. And if it's a song I adore, I force myself to listen to it over and over until the associated memory fades and has less punch.
​[2] Another band I wasn't much into until Liam.
[3] In case you weren't aware, Liam is a huge Clash fan because of Charles de Lint who went to all of the trouble of tracking down music that would've been playing on the radio in Northern Ireland at the time. Bless him. And you know, Joe Strummer is just amazing anyway. If you're out to get the honey, then you don't go killing all the bees. Yeah. That one really speaks these days, doesn't it? In more ways than one.
[4] And this cover too because it is possibly the best cover of that song I've ever heard. So sinister and perfect.
[5] It's Dar giving Dylan what for after having abandoned him.
[6] Jar of Flies is about as upbeat as Blackthorne gets. What do you expect from an assassin/ronin type? Also, I started this novel in 2003. So, there's a lot of '90s in the soundtrack.