I forgot...
Sometimes I forget the most basic things, those things that feed my soul and make me happy. They are simple, everyday things too. Like music. Not music in the car, or music on your iPod, but music you can hear throughout the house. The CD you stick in just to relax and come down from all the craziness and running around of the day.
It's easy to forget. I haven't had an actual CD player in years. In the apartment, I always just used my computer. Now, the computer is in my office. Music doesn't leave that room, unless I turn it way up. So when I come home, the television often goes on to act as background noise and break the silence. It's been on a lot lately, since R is still working on the other side of the state. But I missed my music. So over the weekend R and I treated ourselves to a CD player that can be heard throughout the condo...without being turned up to the max. One we'll have for years to come.
And now it sits in my dining room, happily playing my mix of French Jazz, while I do my laundry and make lunch for tomorrow.
I'm lovin' it! It's like a piece of my soul has been returned. It's got my creativity flowing again, in a most unexpected way.
What have you forgotten lately? What feeds your soul that you've been ignoring? Labels: music, random musings
Great theme songs...
I'm always listening for a great theme song. Not a catchy jingle, necessarily, but a theme. One that takes the entirety and winds it all together. Recently, while watching John and Kate Plus Eight, I caught an ad for The Tudors, a Showtime series about the Tudor royal line. The opening shot is of Jonathon Rhys Myers on a throne in full regalia, with Queen's I Want It All playing in the background. Perfection!Not only is it Queen (which, let's face it folks, is awesome), but it was the perfect song to intro this series. Which got me thinking about about an old meme, What would the theme song of your life be? Mine, at least during report card time, is Queen's I'm Going Slightly Mad (for obvious reasons). What would yours be?Labels: music, random musings
Sometimes I even surprise myself...
I'm a classic rock kind of gal. I love the beat, the songs, the voices...you name it, I like it. I grew up with that music and I still turn to it when I need a good song to sing along to. I guess in light of this, I really shouldn't be baffled my why I enjoy Kid Rock's latest, All Summer Long. It combines two fabulous songs, Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves of London, both catchy tunes in their own right. Still, I just can't figure out why I like this song...or why I'm starting to think he's not such a bad musician. Anyone else have realizations like this?Labels: music, random musings
Books and their soundtracks...
Why is it that movies can have soundtracks, but not books? I mean, seriously, anything put out by Disney these days has its own soundtrack. Sometimes the songs are written purposefully for the movie, other times popular songs are adapted to fit the movie. Take Ella Enchanted, for example. You have the scene in the giants' village where Ella is told to entertain the crowd. She bursts into a somewhat decent rendition of Queen's Somebody to Love, one of my favorites. The movie ends with Don't Go Breakin' My Heart, and its surprisingly good. Long after the movie is over, you remember the scenes whenever you hear here the songs.
Another recent movie to do this is Happy Feet. Popular songs from Queen, Prince(hm...royalty anyone?), and Elvis are mixed with songs written specifically for the movie.
So I ask, why not a soundtrack for books? I know I write best when I have music to listen to. On top of that, each book seems to evoke the need to listen to certain music above others. For example, the novella written for my senior thesis was written almost exclusively to Barenaked Ladies. Two books ago brought on a need to listen to Dierks Bentley. This book? It's got me listening to a whole slew of things, most of them mellow. Megan, my college roommate, sent me a mix she had made. The mix itself is mostly love songs, everything from Johnny Cash to Blues Traveler, Lynyrd Synyrd to Velvet Chain. Starbucks' cd Crush on You has made the cut, as well as a cd my aunt brought back to me from Israel. I can't even tell you what this man is saying, but it sounds great.
To me the music mimics the feelings I'm trying to pull from, creating a head space where I can create. I've seen authors post the songs they believe belong to their books, the songs that call to mind their hero or heroine. Maybe that's what I'll do one day. It can all be part of the experience.
So how about you? What is the soundtrack for your book? For your life?
Labels: movies, music, writing
Why I love shuffle...
Many of you know I love to write to music. It somehow makes the words come faster, easier...except when they don't. Usually I have one cd I'm in the mood to listen to, or a mix of songs that I love to write to that I'll play. Today, however, I put my Windows Media Player on "All Music", on the shuffle method, and sat down to type. So far it's played:
- Toby Lightman
- Stevie Wonder
- Euphoria
- Bonnie Raitt
- Alana Davis
- and Widespread Panic.
What's playing on your computer?
Labels: music, writing
