The Soundtrack of your Life

Music is a powerful thing. It excites, calms, energizes, and acts as a fortune teller?

Recently, my inner soundtrack has been trying to tell me things. Not creepy, emotional vampire earworm kind of things, but more like a secret codes to my inner psyche. On days I’m feeling confident and optimistic I might get Katy Perry’s “Roar” or Colbie Callat’s “Try.”

On days where things aren’t going so, hot I might get P!nk’s “True Love” where it talks about how much she wants to throttle her significant other.

Occasionally I’ll get a touch of classical. Does it mean I’m feeling refined? Absolutely not.
Photo by Stefany Andrade on Unsplash

So, there are these parties I don’t want to be at

These last two months have ushered me through a whole lot of experiences that I wouldn’t personally choose. Nothing bad, but not my thing. I’m not super social by nature, as navigating the whole social thing tends to be exhausting. This is the text book definition of being an introvert, by the way. We don’t mind being in public or with people, but we find it tiring and need time to rest and recover before doing it again.

This was the song that played endlessly in my head for six weeks:

I’m at a party I don’t wanna be at
And I don’t ever wear a suit and tie
Wonderin’ if I could sneak out the back
Nobody’s even lookin’ me in my eyes
Then you take my hand
Finish my drink, say, “Shall we dance?” Hell, yeah
You know I love you, did I ever tell you?
You make it better like that

Don’t think I fit in at this party
Everyone’s got so much to say, yeah
I always feel like I’m nobody, mm
Who wants to fit in anyway?

“I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber

The first time I stopped to think about why this song might be stuck in my head I didn’t get past the first phrase. “I’m at a party I don’t want to be at.” Most of these social events were formal parties, with dresses and shirt and tie. Unlike any other party, layered on top of being required to socialize with people you don’t really know yet, there’s that added awkwardness of wearing clothes that aren’t terribly comfortable, heels, and makeup. Ick.

So yeah. It was a party I didn’t want to be at.

Chic, lovely, and really not my thing.
Photo by Alasdair Elmes on Unsplash

But, there’s hope!

But then I read down further into the song and saw that there’s this cute moment where the person who doesn’t want to be at the party finally hooks up with their girlfriend and they dance and have a good time.

My dearest hubby makes these events worth going to. Even when he’s super busy with whatever responsibility he’s been shackled with, he makes a point to be sure I’m having a good time. [Thank you sweetie, you’re the best.]

The other song I’ve had stuck in my head is “Sweet, but Psycho.” Fellow authors will understand. Sometimes the stuff that goes through our heads for a story are a little out there.

What was the last song you had stuck in your head? What do you think it says about you?


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A Love Letter to Epic Music

Music is a powerful thing. There’s no other force on earth that can manipulate the whole spectrum of human emotion using only vibration. The closest parallel I can think of is what writers do using only symbols on a page. Go figure…

Growing up, I could never sleep (thanks anxiety!) and would lie awake in bed for hours. To keep me quiet and hopefully lull me to sleep I would listen to music cassettes. Yes, cassettes. There was once an incident involving the soundtrack to A Chorus Line. I must have been three or four years old.  Apparently, one day I started wandering around the house singing “Dance 10, Looks 3” (famously known as the “Tits and Ass” song). Google at your own risk there. Somehow that cassette disappeared from my collection and was replaced with famous classical pieces … odd.

I still have sleepless nights, but now I keep myself busy coming up with new things to do to my characters.  Insert evil laugh here.

An endless parade of violin lessons, orchestras, ensembles, and quartets later, and you can say classical music is in my blood. But, not the boring uppity stuff. Nah. Give me Dvorak, give me Wagner. Give me modern-day movie soundtracks! Get my heart beating. Excite me, people! Loud horns. Drums that shake the floor. Sweeping strings. I love it all.

It’s no surprise that now as a grown up, or at least someone pretending to be one, intense classical music works a special kind of magic over me. I am transported. I use it to summon up the right feelings when writing and editing intense and/or emotional scenes. Thanks to Mr. Internet, there is a wealth of music that really scratches my itch. Here are some of my favorites.

Do you have a favorite piece of music that stirs you? Share it in the comments!

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New Favorite Musicians – The Piano Guys

Pop culture has everything to do with the latest and best incarnations of our favorite things, and music is no exception. In my high school years I loved the piano music of Jon Schmidt almost as much as I loved and still love soundtrack music.

Yesterday I found the best of both worlds – Jon Schmidt playing awesome mixes of some of the best soundtrack music out there along with his awesome buddies in The Piano Guys. Here’s my new favorite mix, Batman Evolution.  Not only do they weave the best of the Batman theme songs from across the years, but they have been allowed to borrow three of the original Bat mobiles as set pieces.

Check it out: