Here is Jamila's '80s video pick, which I like in all the ways, but specifically because this was the first 45 single I owned when I was but a wee lass.
I was very proud of my single and played it all the time, meaning that "Come On Eileen" is basically always running somewhere in the back of my brain. Not a bad song to have on constant loop!
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Dedicated to Jamila
Songs on Repeat
Do you listen to the same song over and over? Or does that drive you nutty?
I'm in the former camp. And it gets especially bad when I'm writing and a certain song evokes a certain feeling that I'm trying to capture. Sometimes I'll make a playlist of only that song, start writing, and then, a half hour later, I look up and that song has played 9 times. Gurgle.
"Light & Day/Reach for the Sun" by the Polyphonic Spree was much on repeat this past weekend. It's a good one that people who make movie trailers regularly use to invoke joy.
Also, don't you absolutely love songs where both women and men sing?
So, what's your repeater?
Small Inspirations
A famous sci-fi author visited my college writing class and revealed something I never forgot: He got an idea for a book series by reading the back of a can of household cleanser.
Since then I've looked for inspirations in small places rather than large. Here are a few things that have played a part in inspiring the "Wilfair" series.
-- That moment in the 2005 "Pride & Prejudice" when Bingley furtively touches the back of Jane's dress. I'd look up the exact time but I think it comes about ten minutes into the film, at a party. It lasts for all of a second. It fills my head with glitter.
-- The middle part of Pete Yorn's "Life on a Chain." The chorus goes "I was waiting over here for life to begin. I was looking for the new thing and you were the sunshine in my frontline. I was alone and you were just around the corner from me."
-- The smell of tar and methane around the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax in Los Angeles.
-- "Something" by the Beatles. George Harrison, my favorite Beatle, makes me think of Gomery. Gomery looks quite different, in my mind, but when I see photos of George Harrison from the late '60s I sometimes think of a fictional motel employee. Maybe it is in how the musician stands or his love of corduroy. George Harrison's hands, too, playing guitar. Please. :)
-- The way an orange hangs heavily on a branch.
-- This kiss from "The General." I'm a huge silent film fan and the moment Buster Keaton plants one on his ladyfriend, while they're trying to stop a runaway train, made me think a lot about runaway trains, couples, and how sometimes you need to stop, despite the imminent danger, and plant one, hard.
This kiss is pretty hot for 1926.
Well, film kiss, I should say. People in 1926 kissed just like we do today.
Sweet Spot
My pal Amanda Bauman -- she goes professionally by AmA -- is a huge talent. I love her song "Sweet Spot" so much and the video's effervescent vibe matches perfectly with what I'm feeling when I write about Fair and friends. In fact I listened to this particular song while going over the last third of REDWOODIAN and its edits.
If you've read the last third of REDWOODIAN you know it has sweet spots aplenty. That was my intention, anyway; I do hope that was your experience.
Warning: The sweet spots very much continue in STAY AWHILE.
From the Free Dictionary: sweet spot n. The place on a bat, club, racket, or paddle, where it is most effective to hit a ball.
Yes to that.
Michelle Shocked -- "Come A Long Way"
"I've come a long way, I've come a long way, and never even left LA..."
For Carly
Hi Carly!
I'm so charmed by your comment on my Stay Awhile playlist post that I wanted to write you a thank you -- thank you! -- and elaborate a bit further.
Many of those songs I listed, as well as the songs found elsewhere on the Wilfair blog, inspire me simply via sound and feel. While I absolutely adore lyrics, sometimes the emotion a song evokes, just through tone and instruments, is what fills my well.
But there are few significant songs in the Wilfair world. Here are five.
Sunshine by Keane. This wasn't a band I regularly listened to; a friend of mine loved them, though, so I decided to check them out. I really liked this song in particular, and it was the first song I remember listening to as I waded into the first few pages of Wilfair. I had it on repeat when Fair first walks over to Motel Fairwil, if memory serves.
Sometime Around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic Event. This song is a bit more melancholy than the feel of the books -- although the books may yet walk some melancholy roads -- but it really captures the moment when someone you weren't expecting to see crosses your path and you nearly liquefy. Plus, this is a local band, and I like having some LA acts on my list.
Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake. Guy in lust with a lady exec. Uh, hellz yes, this was going on the Wilfair playlist!
Diving for Hearts by Corinne Bailey Rae. I first heard this song the week I decided if I was going to write some light, superficial books about an heiress who gets into some crazy high jinks or if I was going to write some books that spoke to real emotions and real matters and how it feels to make a foe your friend. I opted for the latter (with some high jinks thrown in). The diving and underwater imagery in the song appealed for obvious pool-based reasons, too.
The Golden State by John Doe (with Eddie Vedder and Corin Tucker). This is a LOVE SONG. The lyrics just twist my toes. And I'm mad for the title, which is both California's nickname, of course, and an apt way to describe how being in love feels. (Also, all the Wilfair hotels are in California. California is flat-out, 100% magical, in my opinion.)
Thank you, Carly, for indulging me!
I may post a few Stay Awhile songs that do give clues to what's going to happen. Now I'm tempted! Watch this space. :)
Stay Awhile Songs
On the playlist:
"Lights" (Bassnectar remix) -- Ellie Goulding
"Layla" -- Derek & the Dominos
"Giving Me a Chance" -- Gotye
"You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" -- Spoon
"Falling" -- Ben Kweller
"Wonderful" -- Gary Go
"Shake It Out" -- Florence + the Machine
"Be Here Now" -- Ray LaMontagne
"Dreaming" -- Mayer Hawthorne
"Daydream Believer" -- The Monkees
"The Whip" -- Locksley
"Landed" -- Ben Folds
"Hate on Me" -- Jill Scott
"Sweet Child 'o Mine" -- Guns N' Roses
Redwoodian Songs
Some songs I had on repeat:
Academia by Sia
Knocks Me Off My Feet by Stevie Wonder
My Junk from Spring Awakening
Autrefois by Pink Martini
All My Stars Aligned by St. Vincent
My Love by Paul McCartney & Wings
By Your Side by Sade
Hang with Me by Robyn
I'll Be Waiting by Adele
Pyramid Song by Radiohead
When We Fall In by Sean Hayes
Tongue Tied by Grouplove
Suddenly Stars by Stereolab
On/Off by Snow Patrol
You're All I Need to Get By by Aretha Franklin
She's Electric by Oasis
Monster Love by Goldfrapp
Asleep at the Party by Memory Cassette
Sway by The Perishers
Midnight by Yaz
Lyric
The Wilfair books can be summed up in this line: "You can dip your foot in the pool but you can't have a swim."
Yay, Howard Jones. Yay, "No One Is to Blame." And yay, Howard's fantastic haircut and shirt:
Sean Hayes -- "When We Fall In"
If you don't know Sean Hayes, know Sean Hayes. If you do know Sean Hayes, heckity heck yes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
