A Playlist for The Fiennes

One of my favorite resources for writing, besides Wikipedia (a great source of moderately-detailed information on drugs and diseases), is well-chosen music. Having a song in the background that reflects the mood of the section or a character's personality I'm working on helps me visualize the scene, intensifying the actions and dialogue.

Often, I turn to my bookmarks in Firefox for a "mood" song not in my iTunes library (mainly instrumentals from James Horner and late 90's/early-to-mid 00's pop, depending on the scene).

I also have an iTunes playlist, mostly of 90's and 00's pop and alternative, for this very purpose. Most of the songs I think direct relate to Helen's stubbornness and passion ("Fighter" and "Beautiful" being two of the main ones), while others voice her envy of her peers' less stressful lives ("Could be Anything" and "Where Does the Good Go"). There are also "triumph" songs for the high points when Reuben and Helen manage not just to survive, but to come out stronger than before.

To see the full playlist, click on "read more."

1) "Running" - No Doubt
2) "They" - Jem
3) "Grace" - Sara Ramirez and the Grey's Anatomy Cast
I put this song on repeat to write the part of the prologue in which Helen's mother dies. It both provided the mood (horribly, but beautifully, sad) and helped me slow down the scene to extend the emotional intensity. The line "turn my grief to grace," and the way in which Sara Ramirez sang it, inspired me to give Helen the middle name Grace. As the song goes on, though, it also reflected the raw, visceral nature of Reuben's grief over losing his wife, who was his first love and was, before Helen came along, his only real family.
4) "Just a Girl" - No Doubt
5) "Inara's Suite" - Firefly OST
6) "Fighter" - Christina Aguilera
7) "Could be Anything" - The Eames Era
8) "Where Does the Good Go" - Tegan and Sara

Mainly salient for the line "how do you live so happily/while I am sad and broken down," a sentiment which seems to go through Helen's mind a lot.

9) "A Cold Wind Blows Through Your Door" - Bill Ricchini
10) "Beautiful" - Christina Aguilera
11) "All These Things That I've Done" - The Killers
My first exposure to this song was a YouTube music video syncing this song to scenes from the TV show Firefly, so I have an association with the song and footage of Malcolm Reynolds fighting the Alliance and space thugs. But the song itself, Firefly associations aside, both voices the speaker's inner determination to prevail and his seeking help from another person, and has a strong backbeat. In my mind, it's great as a triumph song for the book, as well as a "get up and write" song for me.
12) "Hollaback Girl" - Gwen Stefani

At the peak of Helen's conflict with Jess, I imagine her listening to this song in her living room and kick-boxing to the beat. Since it was a #1 hit in 2005 (when this all happens), she probably would have been listening to this song on the radio all the time.

13) "It's My Life" - No Doubt
14) "Flying Theme from E.T." - John Williams
15) "She's Always a Woman" - Billy Joel
As much as the line "she's always a woman to me" line in this song annoyed me (I can never figure out what Billy Joel means by that - she's a woman to him but not to others?), the woman in the song reminded me a lot of Helen. Independent, strong-willed, and often swinging from embracing others to ignoring them or pushing them away. 
16) "You Get What You Give" - The Radicals
17) "Don't Speak" - No Doubt
18) "Nobody's Home" - Avril Lavigne