by Cyn C. (Cyn-Sama)
I have a love/hate relationship with song lyrics being used in novels. If I like the band, and like the music, it can take me right back to a very specific point of time in my 
life. For example, The Seed of Lost Souls, by Poppy Z. Brite, the book references Bauhaus and The Cure, two very influential bands to my impressionable 16 year old mind, so when I read this book, I am brought right back to being 16, and discovering these bands, and it’s a very happy thing.
If the author mentions a band I don’t care for, or I don’t know, it can kind of throw me out of the illusion the book has spun me into. In my mind, the characters always listen to music that I like, so if they mention something I don’t like, it jars me. It’s not something I’m too fond of.
I was thinking about this the other day, and then started thinking about songs that were based on novels, which are a completely different kettle of fish.
One of the first songs I realized was based on a book was Moon over Bourbon Street, by Sting. It’s sung from the point of view of Louis, from Interview With The Vampire, by Anne Rice.
“There’s a moon over Bourbon Street tonight
I see faces as they pass beneath the pale lamplight
I’ve no choice but to follow that call
The bright lights, the people, and the moon and all
I pray every day to be strong
For I know what I do must be wrong
Oh you’ll never see my shade or hear the sound of my feet
While there’s a moon over Bourbon Street”
It’s just gorgeous, and sums up the character completely.
Then, I got to thinking about The Cure, and the novel, Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer. At least two Cure songs were inspired by this novel, the song Charlotte Sometimes, and The Empty World.
Part of the plot of the book Charlotte Sometimes, revolves around two girls. Charlotte, and Clare. Clare is from the year 1918, in the midst of World War I, and Charlotte and Clare keep switching time periods.
This is reflected in The Cure song, Charlotte Sometimes
“on that bleak track
(see the sun is gone again)
the tears were pouring down her face
she was crying and crying for a girl
who died so many years before…”
And, reflected in The Cure song, The Empty World
“She talked about the armies
That marched inside her head
And how they made her dreams go bad
But oh how happy she was
How proud she was
To be fighting in the war
In the empty world”
Some of the lines of the lyrics are taken directly from the book. It’s one of those silly little things that makes me happy, and gets filed in my useless knowledge folder. If people don’t know the books, but know the songs, I get to look all smart and impressive. And, if they know the books and the songs, they will geek out with me.
There are also songs that I just relate very strongly to certain books. Concrete Blonde’s Walking In London, puts me in mind of Anne Rice’s Tale of The Body Thief, with Lestat chasing David all over the world to reclaim his body.
“And I’ve been running all this time
And I’m running out of places to go
And I am oh so sick and tired of every face that I know
Everything I do, everything I say
Everything in my head, every night, every day
I’ve been east, I’ve been west, I’ve been north, I’ve been south
I feel your arms, I hear your voice, I feel your hands, I kiss your mouth”
Now, I know that song wasn’t written with Tale of the Body Thief in mind, but it just puts me in the frame of mind to want to read the book.
To celebrate the connection between songs and novels, we’re going to do a giveaway! One member, chosen at random from the comments about this blog will win two credits to be used at the sister site, swapacd.com. Use them to try out some of the artists I just mentioned, or find some new favorites to inspire you!
What books do you love that were based on songs? Or, what songs make you think of certain books?
Tags: Authors, Book Suggestions
For a long time, I used to think I was a little freaky because I always had playlists running through my head when reading a book I was really into. But then so many authors started publishing (or at least posting in their blogs) play lists that they listened to when writing the books, or lists that the characters might listen to. I realized that I was still a little freaky, but at least I was in some relatively good company.
The first book I ever did this with was Dark Prince by Christine Feehan (I read it when it first came out). At the time Evanescence was one of my favorite bands and I immediately associated Bring Me To Life with that book and the Carpathians in general. Of course, so did a multitude of other people.
I always kind of looked at it as this…books and music are both efforts of someones soul, their imaginings, their hearts. Why wouldn’t we naturally associate the two of them together. And if Hollywood can make movies out of books, why can’t musicians write songs based on them, or authors write stories based on favorite songs?
Interesting article. I never thought about music being based on books.
I didn’t think about it consciously before. But you have a good point. I have read books that quoted lyrics that I am not familiar with or from a group I don’t listen to and it just stops the flow for me.
I recently read one book where after reading the book you could go on-line and by the CD for music written specifically for the book.
The most identified song with a book for me is “House at Pooh Corner” by Kenny Loggins.
That probably dates me, but I love that song. However, it doesn’t enter my mind when I read Pooh stories. I guess I don’t associate music with a book unless the author brings it up first.
There’s an Irish folk song called “Two Sisters” (or Bonny Swans), and every time I read it I remember a short story by Patricia C. Wrede (in Book of Enchantments), which she based on the folk story.
Also I recently read Monstrous Regiment (Pratchett), which has tons of elements from folk songs. I like to think I caught all of his references, but I’m sure I didn’t 🙂
I love the Hikaru no Go anime and manga, every time I hear the theme songs or soundtrack I think of the story. This is different from most soundtracks which just remind me of their movies, I don’t associate the books for some reason (i.e. LoTR, Harry Potter, Pride & Prejudice).
I like this topic 🙂
There are two songs that come to mind for me when I think of the book/song relationship.
You already mentioned the group The Cure. They have another song titled “Killing an Arab” (from Boys Don’t Cry, released in 1980), which Robert Smith, lead singer of the Cure derived from reading Albert Camus’ book The Outsider. In the book, Mersault, his mind imbalanced by the intense heat of the Algerian sun, murders an Arabian man for no rational reason. The lyrics in “Killing an Arab”, ‘Standing on a beach with a gun in my hand/Staring at the sea, staring at the sand/Staring down the barrel at the Arab on the ground’ – allude to the killing on the beach of the Arab in The Outsider.
Interestingly, the Cure has changed the song title and lyrics in the wake of the post-9/11 Muslim sensitivities. Smith performs the song as “Kissing An Arab”, “Killing Another”, and “Killing an Ahab” between 2005 and 2011 (which I didn’t know until looking it up on Wikipedia). Unlike your experience with Charlotte Sometimes, I can’t say that this song transports me to a terribly happy place. But hey, that’s what The Cure (and Robert Smith, in particular) were for, right? Camus… well, enough said!
The other one which comes to mind immediately is Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice” (from their 1993 album, In Utero). Word has it that Kurt Cobain was a huge fan of Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume: the Story of a Murderer, published in 1985. The book eventually was made into a movie by the same title. For those unfamiliar, the story is about an 18th century Frenchman born with a “superior olfactory sense” (to quote from imdb.com). His desire to create the perfect scent leads him to become a prolific murderer of virgins in order to steal their odor.
The book’s style of graphic storytelling can be seen in Nirvana’s lyrics like ‘Every wet nurse refused to feed him/Electrolytes smell like semen’. Having seen the movie, and being a fan of Nirvana, both movie and song transport me to one other. I’ve only glanced at the book, so I’m not as familiar with it overall as I am with the Nirvana “version”, but hope to read it at some point. (Perhaps this message will be a good prompt).
There are others that come to mind as well, but those are two of my “immediate” choices.
After posting the above, I did a little bit of internet research. Wikipedia has a HUGE list of songs inspired by books which can be found at the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_that_retell_a_work_of_literature
Enjoy!!
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