I play a game with myself at work. My bosses play a classic rock station on the radio, and I try to identify as many songs and artists as I can. What’s scary is that I’ve been able to identify almost all of them.
What’s interesting is that they evoke so many memories for me.
For instance, any song by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons brings up memories of my childhood at our old house. It’s summer. Dad’s working on one of his cars. Mom’s in the kitchen cooking. My sister and I are in the living room dancing to Dad’s Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons tape (yes, this was before CDs and DVDs). I remember vividly “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Rag Doll,” and “Sherry.” There are many more.
“Send Me an Angel” by the Scorpions speaks to my teen years, of discovering heavy metal. I had a paper route for 9 years (ages 11 to 20) and we – as a family – had 5 paper routes between us. So on weekends, we’d split up the work. We had to get up at the ungodly hour of 4 a.m. to get the papers from the station. Dad and I always did his three; Mom and my sister did my two. Dad would always play a cool radio station and if I close my eyes while listening to “Send Me an Angel,” I can almost feel myself out there again, freezing cold in Dad’s truck, throwing papers with Dad’s radio blasting. I can remember feeling oh so tired and enjoying the good music. Because when Dad was around, he’d always play the best music.
“Stinkfist” by Tool brings up memories of commuting back and forth to college with my sister. Again, ungodly hours of the morning. On the freeway. Playing the radio. Thinking about what was in store for me. Or what homework I needed to finish. Or what pictures I was going to print up in the darkroom. Other songs that evoke these memories are “E-Bow the Letter” by REM and “Counting Blue Cars” by Dishwalla. You can tell I was a 90s child at one point in my life. What’s scary is that I moved away from 90s grunge and alternative completely and recently rediscovered it on my sister’s iPod backups. And had to add them to my iPod, of course!
When I hear “In my Dreams With You” by Steve Vai, I remember an old flame and the first blush of infatuation. I also remember how it ended, how bittersweet and soul-shattering. I remember him, the man who I thought was my soul mate.
I use music a lot in my writing for this reason. Whether I’m purposely trying to evoke memories or just set the mood, it’s there. I can write without it, but it’s like trying to type in the dark – it’s possible, yes, but difficult.
All of my stories have theme songs. All of my main characters have theme songs as well. Sometimes I’m just going for mood, so it’ll be a mix of different things, not necessarily one band or one song. I have, on occasion, played one song on repeat for a whole writing session.
I have my go-to songs for various things. Fight scenes get Nightwish, because it is my “epic fantasy” music; romantic scenes get either romantic or sexy music (sometimes a song isn’t sexy by nature. Sometimes it’s the associations I’ve formed with the song). When I’m struggling with a character, sometimes I’ll play his or her theme song. Currently, Alisia Duval, the Faerie Princess in Pirouette, my current novel, likes Lunatica’s “Who You Are.” It encompasses who she is now and who she ends up being, and how both circle around each other. When I heard it for the first time, I got goose bumps. I thought of Alisia and had a sort of aha moment of writerly glee. It’s now on my iPod.
Ipods are marvelous things, aren’t they?
Do you have certain songs that evoke memories for you? If you’re a writer, do you use music as well?