Every Writer Needs A Song


Okay, this may not, technically, be a lesson...more like a lesson I've taken to heart over the past couple of years. You know, since bebe got to be Demanding Age. I bought a couple of sing-a-long videos for her from the different Disney "Princess" movies. So every few days I get transported back to my own childhood with "Someday My Prince Will Come" or the "Wishing" song from Snow White. You know what I've learned? All of these songs are usable inspiration in my writing life.

Take "Lesson Number One" from Mulan II - Like a rock, I must be hard, like an oak I must stand firm. That's a lesson for we writers, isn't it? We have to have a hard shell to deal with rejections and 'not for us right now'. We have to stand firm in our conviction that We Can Do This...and support one another through the journey.

Take "Someday My Prince Will Come". Our heroines need to believe this, but not rely on it tooooo much. What do I mean? Well, we want strong heroines, right? So they have to be capable of living on their own and being happy...but finding their prince (or cowboy, billionaire or were-whatever) makes their life so much better. They have another person to rely on, someone to love and to be loved by. So even when they aren't truly looking for that prince, they have to know, somewhere deep down, that their prince will come.

How about "The Love Song" from Robin Hood (the cartoon version with foxes and chickens and rabbits). 'Life is brief, but when it's gone, love goes on and on.' That is my favorite line from the song because it's so true - in fiction and in the real world. What are we fighting for - or writing for or living for - if it isn't the people we love? The love we share, whether it is shared by our children watching us or readers reading our books, lives on long after a book is closed or a loved one passes on.

I'm not sure why I had that realization today. Probably because I was adding songs to a playlist for the new WIP which is swimming along nicely in the bits and pieces of time between bebe interruptions. If your life (writing, romantic, business) had a theme song, what would you choose?

Comments

  1. My husband's been working on Cole Porter songs lately. (Porter was from where we live, and when Duane & Jerry play in nursing homes, residents love the old swing music) Anyway, he's been singing "True Love," which Bing Crosby sang in "High Society." Honestly? The words don't do that much for me, but I watched the movie the other day and felt the whole thing way deep down. Sometimes I think songwriters have gotten better at saying things, but have lost something in the emotion department.

    Good post, Kristi! I think you need to make bebe a co-writer.

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  2. I don't think I know that song, Liz...off to YouTube... and you're probably right about bebe ~ she needs a little bit of a byline. :)

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  3. My song is definitely "No Rain" by Blind Melon. If you've ever seen the video, I can totally relate to the bee. :-)

    "All I can do is read a book to stay awake,
    And it rips my life away but it's a great escape..."

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  4. I think I change my song with my mood or what is happening in my life. Right now I've been singing Summer Nights from Grease, but I've changed the words around a bit because I recently got my upcoming cover for my new book...so Summer Loving has now been replaced with Cover Loving. I think I'm driving the family crazy. teehee!

    Who knows what I'll be singing next week...

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  5. I *love* that song, Kyra! Just took a little trip back to high school....

    My song actually changes from season to season, too, Christine (and I don't just mean winter/spring/summer/fall)! Love that you're having some 'cover' lovin'. :)

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  6. When querying, "The Waiting" by Tom Petty is my theme song.

    Also, "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.

    And when it get's really tough, another Tom Petty Song, "I Won't Back Down."

    Maybe I need to update my iPod.

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  7. LOL, Kristina, on 'The Waiting' ~ now Tom's wail is going thru my head! :) Nah, Tom should always be on the Keeper iPod shelf ~ great songs!

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  8. oh tough one this, Kristi!! I originally thought -- I'm free to do whatever I choose, whatever I choose and I'll sing the blues if I want. But that's not strictly true! And then I thought as a soundtrack to my life would have to be Boys of Summer by Don Henley, simply because I had so much fun dancing to it when growing up!!

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  9. Nice post, Kristi! I've had my theme song for a while now, since I began writing seriously and my daughter introduced me to Natasha Bedingfield. She has one song titled Unwritten. The lines that resonated with me, as a person and a writer, that made me choose it as 'my song' goes;

    I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
    I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

    Staring at the blank page before you
    Open up the dirty window
    Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

    And this part;

    Drench yourself in words unspoken
    Live your life with arms wide open
    Today is where your book begins
    The rest is still unwritten

    The whole song just speaks to me and inspires me. Is it ok to post this here? I got it from this link: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/natashabedingfield/unwritten.html

    if anyone wants to read all the song words.

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  10. What I listen to depends on what I'm writing. I have different songs for different scenes. But when I start a story, I always listen to the Taiwanese Drinking Song by the Difang elders. Parts of the song was illegally sampled by the group Enigma. The case was settled years ago.

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  11. Love that song, Cait, always a good one to get me movin'!

    Calisa, *love* that one; it's an amazing song. Not just for writers, but I think it really speaks to a lot of us!

    Okay, I just Youtube'd that one, Shawn, and I think I have a new gotta-have-it iPod song!

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  12. No modern tunes do it for me, but some Motzart will put me in the mood.

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  13. I've been trying to stay positive, so my in my head songs have been: Walking on Sunshine, Party in the USA, and anything by Fun--I just love their sound :)

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