SOUNDTRACK TO A STORY

A little while ago I became aware that some writers are including in their books a playlist of songs and music which inspired, influenced, enhanced and/or reflected their work. My knee-jerk reaction was well that's a bit silly, who does that, what reader would be interested? I now realise that the emphasis should be on 'jerk' because as I considered this new (to me anyway) phenomena, I realised that this inclusion is not much different to when a writer adds a quote or quotes at the start of their book. Like a song or a piece of music, these quotes are other people’s words and emotions which reflect, enhance, inspired or influenced the writer's work. I used a Kurt Kofka and a Marcus Aurelius quote at the start of The Sum of all Parts. There were quite a few others I wanted or could have used including the following:
Awareness requires living in the here and now, and not in the elsewhere, the past or the future - ERIC BERNE
Telling others about oneself is...no simple matter. It depends on what we think they think we ought to be like - JEROME BRUNER
All that makes a lunatic are the very ordinary ideas of mankind shut up inside a man's head - LOUIS-FERDINAND CELINE
Perception is real even when it is not reality - EDWARD DE BONO
What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but the interpretation of their significance - EPICETUS
There is no truth. There is only perception - GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
Just as words impact our thoughts and feelings, so does music. Music has the ability to inspire, to bring joy, to release pent up emotion. It allows us to dance, to cry. It even allows us to time travel - I bet we all have a song or songs that when we hear them we are taken straight back to a particular point in our past. I have quite a few that have the power to do that. I even mention music within The Sum of all Parts:
We played out our youth like a cheap soap opera. We had our own soundtrack, a song to reflect and enhance our every emotion.
For me, music and singing has always been prominent in my life. I have favourite albums I return to depending on what I need - whether I want to be uplifted or to cry or to relax or to dance like no one's watching. I still have that soundtrack to reflect and enhance my every emotion. I play my music loud - no headphones - and I sing along or sit quietly and immerse myself. This normally ends with a bit of role reversal as invariably my teenager will come in and ask me to turn the music down. But music has to be heard. To be felt. And I certainly heard and felt music whilst writing The Sum of all Parts. Whether the music I was listening to influenced my writing or whether my writing influenced my choice of music, I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that certain songs struck a chord (pardon the pun) with me whilst I was writing. I would hear a particular song and think that's the patient or the lover or one of the other narrators. So, in case you're interested here in no particular order is my playlist for The Sum of all Parts:
• Everybody Hurts - REM
• To Love Somebody - Nina Simone
• Please Read Me - Nina Simone
• Just Like A Woman - Nina Simone
• Don't Ask Me Why - Eurythmics
• When The Day Goes Down - Eurythmics
• I Remember You - Eurythmics
• I Need You - Eurythmics
• Brand New Day - Eurythmics
• Babe Rainbow - Melanie
• Save The Night - Melanie
• Momma Momma - Melanie
• You Learn - Alanis Morisette
• Wake Up - Alanis Morisette
• Little Bird - Annie Lennox
• Why - Annie Lennox
• A Thousand Beautiful Days - Annie Lennox
• Cold - Annie Lennox
• Pattern Of My Life - Annie Lennox
• Stay By Me - Annie Lennox
• Only A Woman's Heart - Eleanor McEvoy
• Not Quite Love - Eleanor McEvoy
• Stray Thoughts - Eleanor McEvoy
• I'm Alive - Imelda May
• Let Me Out - Imelda May
• Easy On Me - Adele
• Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin
• When I Dream - Carol Kidd
• Run, Run, Run Cinderella - Carol Kidd
• Over The Rainbow - Eva Cassidy
I'll leave you to decide which song belongs to which narrator, and as for the song when the titles run at the end as it were - well, there are a few contenders. It all depends on my mood.
The story I've just finished writing has an altogether different playlist. The soundtrack for that is the dawn chorus, the glorious cacophony of rooks as they soar above their rookery, the blackbird's fluting song, the crunch of leaves and twigs underfoot, the patter of rainfall, the buzzing of somnolent bees, and the sound of the wind soughing through the trees.
But that's another story. 

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