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[Pengi]

I was curious if, given the response we had in the Questions thread about music and how it interacts with our writing, anyone was interested in sharing playlists they create for their stories? I thought this might be a fun way for readers/writers to get even more involved in the stories interested in hearing about how the songs that inspired certain scenes, etc.

Thoughts?

[RokofAges75]

Sure!  Why don't you post one of yours as an example of what you had in mind?

[Sakabelle]

This sounds like a fun idea!

[Pengi]

Okay, here's my playlist for Borrowed Time. I only wrote reasons for some of the songs because well some of them I can't explain yet because their scenes haven't come and others they don't particularly have a purpose other than to simply set the mood.

1. Breathe (2 AM) - Anna Nalick
This is sort of the "theme song" for the story, it projects the overall mood that the story carries thoughout it, sort of a self-inflicted, unravelling feeling. I've played it several times on repeat while writing various chapters, and the song just really fits all the aspects of the story emotionally. It's about times when things seem to fall apart and getting the words out to ask for help isn't so easily done, which is exactly the situation that Borrowed Time struggles with through all the characters - Brian, Nick, and AJ most espcially.

2. Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely - Backstreet Boys
It wouldn't be a story about 1998 BSB without a cameo by SMTMOBL - especially considering the music video was the first time Brian really demonstrated his emotions about the surgery. The song really depicts the isolation Brian must have felt in both real life and in the story, and I use it for moments when he feels most alone during the story.

3. Chasing Pavement - Adele
4. Angels and Heroes - Brian Littrell
5. My City of Ruins (Live) - Eddie Vedder
6. Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls
7. How to Save a Life - The Fray

8. Superman (It's Not Easy) - Five for Fighting
This song usually makes me think of Nick - but in this story I'm using it for the overwhelming feeling Brian's got building and all the questions he has looking between the band members. When they don't notice their song on the radio in the first chapter, or when he questions when they stopped noticing each others' pains, etc.

9. Fire And Rain - James Taylor

10. Dusk and Summer - Dashboard Confessional
This song is sad and beautiful, and I used it for the Castle Windy trail date because I could picture the diffused light through the trees with the song's tune. The sad emotion of the song will probably make it come back for a future tender moment as well.

11. Paradise - Coldplay
The beat of this song really makes it sound sadly sexy to me, and because of that it is what I've been using as a love-makin' song. The scene when Brian and Leighanne were interrupted by the fire alarm for example.

12. It Will Rain - Bruno Mars
I used It Will Rain for the Prologue and will be using it in the future for a couple other scenes dealing with Brian and Leighanne's relationship as the story progresses. The feeling of the world crashing down in the song really captures the lost feeling in the Prologue, when Brian's standing on the dock in Madrid holding the canary yellow diamond in his palm. It really helped to capture the emotion.

[usako]

2. Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely - Backstreet Boys
It wouldn't be a story about 1998 BSB without a cameo by SMTMOBL - especially considering the music video was the first time Brian really demonstrated his emotions about the surgery. The song really depicts the isolation Brian must have felt in both real life and in the story, and I use it for moments when he feels most alone during the story.

In the first web chat he did, someone asked Brian what was his meaning of "Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely" and he answered that it was the last part, the being lonely, because that was what he felt during the hardest time of his life, when the four people closest to him left him alone.

[Sakabelle]

^That is so sad Poor Brian.

I'm definitely going to post up some of my playlists when I get home from work. Thanks for sharing yours with us, Hannah! It was really interesting.

[RokofAges75]

That made me sad, too!

I still remember staying at home on New Year's Eve '99 instead of going to my friend's party because I had to watch the premiere of the SMTMOBL video on MTV... and then I watched it, and it made me cry and thoroughly depressed me the rest of the evening.  Happy New Year! LOL  I love that video BECAUSE it's so angsty, but it wasn't really the best choice to ring in the new millennium with LOL.

[RokofAges75]

The only stories I could really do this playlist thing for are Broken & BMS, so I'll try it with those.  I actually posted a soundtrack for each of them on my site, even though that's really cheesy... but I did it because music really was a huge inspiration for me when I was writing those stories.

This is the Broken soundtrack: http://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/brokensoundtrack.html

This is the By My Side soundtrack: http://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/bmssoundtrack.html

I actually had music players up where you could listen to the songs, but they don't work anymore.  I should take them off.

What's funny is that a lot of those songs annoy the shit out of me now LOL, but I'll post some of the ones that don't.

1. In the End - Linkin Park
I love Linkin Park, and I love this song because it's angsty, but its lyrics fit the whole theme of Broken perfectly.  It's a story about an arrogant douche who thinks he's got it all, until he gets knocked down on his ass and has to pull himself back up again.  During the process, he learns what's really important, and in the end, his life is better than it was before in a lot of ways.

2. Who Needs the World - Nick Carter
Nick sings this song in one part of Broken that is really cheesy, but I couldn't post a Broken playlist without it.  This has always been one of my favorite tracks on NON because it's just so pretty and simple.  And that's what it's all about to me: simplicity.  It fit what I was going for in developing the relationship between Nick and Claire.  Even though they're going through this major thing together, or maybe because they are, they're all about the simple pleasures in life, and they were able to provide each other with sort of an escape from everything they were dealing with.

3. Lean On Me - Bill Withers
Broken is one big giant hurt/comfort fest, so this is one of the many songs on this playlist with that theme.  It makes me think of the Boys and how they were there for Nick, letting him lean on them before figuratively and literally LOL.  Also, the Boys covered this song once, which made me incredibly happy after I used it in this story LOL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbo1QupHDTA

4. Changes - 3 Doors Down
This song fit Nick's post-choppage angst really well!

5. Open Arms - Journey
This became Nick and Claire's song in Broken, and I used it in BMS to guide the path their relationship would take.  It also may be where I got the title.  "We sailed on together, we drifted apart, and here you are by my side..."

6. My Last Breath - Evanescence
I wrote the climactic scene of Broken, when Nick's about to go into surgery, around the lyrics to this song, and to this day, I can't hear it without thinking of that part.  It's not a coincidence that my Evanescence phase correlated with the writing of Broken and BMS.  Angst angst angst!!!

7. Rush Over Me - Backstreet Boys
This was a Never Gone reject that didn't leak until after I was done writing Broken, but it fit so well that I went back and replaced Drowning with it as the last song on the "soundtrack."  It sums up the place of peace that Nick has reached by the end of Broken so well.

8. Broken - Seether feat. Amy Lee
I discovered this song near the end of writing Broken, before it became mega-popular, and it was like a gift from Heaven.  If I had to pick just one song to put on this playlist, this would be it.  It was incredible to me that, without knowing it, I gave my story the same title as this song, and then this song came along that just happened to fit it perfectly.  Actually, it fits BMS even better, so that's where I used it.  Open Arms may be Nick and Claire's song, but this is their freaking anthem.

9. My Immortal - Evanescence
I listened to this song a lot when I was writing the lead-up to Claire breaking up with Nick.  Again, angst angst angst... probably too much angst!

10. Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt
This was the Nick break-up song.  ANGST ANGST ANGST!

11. Incomplete - Backstreet Boys
Like the Seether song Broken, this song was another gift from the writing gods.  The day the first clip of Incomplete leaked, I literally cried the first time I heard it, because not only was it beautiful, but it was SO Broken Nick!  And real life Nick feeds my little angst fetish so well with this song, every time he drops to his knees and belts "In... come... puh-lee-ete..."  *sigh*  Never Gone was a very inspirational album for me.

12. Comfortable - John Mayer
This is another song that just defined Nick and Claire's relationship and its original simplicity so well.  "I loved you... gray sweatpants... no makeup... so perfect."  That was the way I set out to portray Claire, not as a perfect Mary Sue, just as a normal, down-to-earth, low-maintenance kind of gal, and that was what Nick came to love about her.

13. Crash and Burn - Savage Garden
Another of my favorite hurt/comfort songs.  I used this one around the turning point in BMS when it was Claire going through shit, and Nick had to be there for her.  Up until that point, it had mostly been the other way around, so this was his moment to do the comforting.

14. Fix You - Coldplay
I drew inspiration from how this song was used in The OC and used it for a big moment in the story when Nick goes running to Claire to help her pick up the pieces.

15. Ever the Same - Rob Thomas
Another Nick/Claire relationship song.

16. Lips of an Angel - Hinder
I know a lot of people hate this song and the way it seems to promote cheating, but because of what I was writing in BMS when I first heard it, I always saw it differently - a song about two people who are still in love, even though they're both stuck in relationships with other people.  Sure, they're emotionally cheating on their significant others, but it's because they're MEANT TO BE TOGETHER, DAMN IT!!!  Not gonna lie, I still love Lips of an Angel LOL.

17. Far Away - Nickleback
Oh, it gets worse LOL.  Nickleback has become the band everyone loves to hate, but they were still popular when I was writing BMS.  I'm still embarrassed to include this song on my playlist, but I can't not, because it was the song I used for the big dramatic climax in Chapter 196.  And yet every time that I've read that chapter, I've gone "Wow, this is so good..." until I get to the fucking Nickelback lyrics, and then I'm just like... *head desk* "Ruined it."  Total fail.  This song is on the playlist as a reminder of why I will never paste song lyrics (especially Nickelback lyrics) into the middle of a scene ever again.  Lesson learned!  That said, I really don't hate this song, and if I'd been writing a screenplay or a music video treatment instead of a story, it would have been fine as background music.  Things like that just get lost in translation in a story.

18. Bless the Broken Road - Rascal Flatts
I know, this has become such a cliched wedding song, but it's still a great song, and it fit the end of BMS so well, representing the LONG (200 chapters long) journey Nick and Claire took to find their way back into each other's arms.

19. True Companion - Marc Cohn
It took me almost four years to write BMS, and the whole time, this song was the inspiration to get to the end, so I could finally write the two scenes that became the Epilogue and Post-Epilogue.  I want this song played at my wedding!

20. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
"I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more..."  Yeah, that song.  I couldn't make a Nick & Claire playlist without it.  It's such a fun, quirky song, and that was how I always saw their relationship, even through all the dark, melodramatic times.  When Nick's offering to walk 500 miles on a fake leg, that's love! LOL


I know that's a lot of songs, but the original Broken & BMS playlists combined have 115 songs, so this is definitely the condensed version LOL.

[FrickingKaos]

Ok so I don't really have a playlist per se but here are some songs that have inspired stories.


1. "I Think I'm A Clone Now" by Weird Al. This story sparked my clone series which I've rewritten into one single story, Weird World. It has been really difficult combining four stories into one but I'm having fun with it. The song sparked my imagination with the line "There's always two of me just hanging around" and I got to thinking- What if Nick had a clone of himself???

2. "Still The One" by Shania Twain. I'm a big fan of Shania and my Nick and Amanda series uses a few references to her songs. Like in By My Side (first in the series) Nick and Amanda at 18 years old share a slow dance during prom to this song. Its a big scene in the story, where Nick realizes he likes her more than a friend and has his first kiss. The lyrics really go along with the actual story "Still The One" which is about Nick and Amanda getting married....goi ng through trials and tribulations along the way.

3. "You Give Love A Bad Name" by Bon Jovi - This song inspired my first romance story, the second in the Nick and Amanda series. The lyrics fit with Nick's emotions...."you promised me heaven but put me through hell" and "Shot through the heart, and you're too late..." it just goes with the story.

4. "Just Want You To Know" by BSB - This song actually inspired the whole story of Nick and Amanda back when I wrote the original draft in high school.
5. "I'm Just A Kid" by Simple Plan - I wrote a songfic to this song but when I want to write an angsty scene I usually listen to Simple Plan. "Addicted" is another one I like to use as well.

6. "When I Grow Up" by The Beach Boys - this song, along with the movie 13 Going On 30 inspired me to write When I Grow Up. I often listened to The Beach Boys while writing this story.

7. "From This Moment On" by Shania Twain - Shania's music is very good for me when it comes to writing romance and her lyrics just speak to me. This song is meaningful and the perfect wedding song.

8. "Figured You Out" by BSB - when writing FYO I listened to this song a lot. It is about a girl that is crazy....using him for money. I also listened to it for inspiration for the Nick and Amanda Series because the character in the song sounded like a gold digger, and I had a character like that named Katie.

9. "You Don't Love Me Anymore" Weird Al- I know the lyrics are a bit unconventional but this song is good for when my characters are having conflict.

10. "I'm Taking Off" - Nick Carter - I used this song in From This Moment On....when Amanda is giving birth to their son. The lyric "another big bang explosion" causes Amanda to go into labor as she is listening to the album.

11. "Anywhere For You" - BSB - I had Nick singing this to his baby girl in You Give Love A Bad Name. Part of the song just seemed like a nice theme for the father daughter relationship.

12. "Father Of Mine" - I can't recall the artist but I listened to this song a lot while writing about Nick's relationship with his father during the Nick and Amanda Series. He had not seen his dad in 20 years and had resentment towards it, the song was perfect.

That's all I have for now

[Pengi]

This is cool! I hope everyone remembers to post new "soundtracks" and purposes as they update!!

[Sakabelle]

I'll do mine for Running Up That Hill, since there's so many songs for that.

1. Running Up That Hill - Placebo
Obviously the title track. I love the angsty tone of this song, I think it really sets the mood for the whole story. I loved the way it was used at the beginning of Season 4 of The OC, and I was really into that show when I was first writing this story, which probably really shows. Whenever I need a little push of inspiration, I definitely put this song on. Also, when this song randomly comes on my iPod shuffle, I feel guilty for having not updated in a while LOL.

2. Can't Happen to Me - Charlie Major
This has always been one of my favourite songs, and the theme of it is about people who have the idea that their lives are untouchable. I think it really fits the beginning mood of the story when the guys think that things are great, and even though AJ's got problems, they never expected it to get to the point where the tour would have to come to a screeching halt.

3. Letters to God - Boxcar Racer
This song is really, really angsty. I just picture someone sitting in the dark playing their guitar every time I hear it LOL. I think the dark tone of this song coupled with the regretful lyrics are the perfect fit for when the guys are doing their TRL appearance to announce AJ's rehab.

4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
I actually really don't like this Green Day song, but the extreme angst and the lonely theme of the song represented the separation of all the guys once they'd gone home and were doing their own thing.

5. Float On - Goldspot
I didn't want everyone to be angsty forever, so I went with something that was a little on the lighter side. The idea was that the guys were beginning to come to terms with what had happened, and that even though things were rough, they had hope that they were going to come out of it a-ok.

6. My My, Hey Hey - Neil Young
I used this song for the chapter when the guys find out that the record company is going to screw them over by putting out the greatest hits compilation. I've also found the lyrics in the song, "Out of the blue and into the black / They give you this but you pay for that / And once you're gone you can never come back / When you're out of the blue / And into the black" to be eerily close to what happened to BSB (the fact that they were never quite able to make a comeback after B&B) and have always connected that song with them and that time period. Though I'm sure Neil Young would be disgusted to know that haha.

7. Left and Leaving - The Weakerthans
I actually named an entire other story after this song too. It's another one of my "Backstreet songs" that I'll forever connect with them. The lyrics "The strangers whose faces I know / We meet here for our dress-rehearsal to say 'I wanted it this way' / Wait for the year to drown / Spring forward, fall back down / I'm trying not to wonder where you are." and "I'm back with scars to show / Back with the streets I know / Will never take me anywhere but here" remind me so much of the break after B&B and when they came back for Never Gone. I always picture the five of them meeting up again for the first time when I hear this song, but I put it in Running Up That Hill because of all the stuff that happened during the B&B era which caused them to have that extended break in the first place.

8. The Hell Song - Sum 41
The fact that this song is about coming to terms with something awful that happened to a friend, and that it makes you realize what's really important in life made this song the perfect fit for the story, as the guys begin to think about their lives outside of BSB a little more.

9. Airplanes - B.o.B/Hayley Williams
I love this song, and I love the fact that there's an excellent IWITW mashup for it. I love the fact that this song is about how the music industry changes you, and how things aren't always what you expect them to be when you go into it, and you just want to make good music and have people care about that instead of all the other stuff. I thought it was really reflective of BSB's rise to fame.

10. Little Rock - Colin Raye
This song is just behind Running Up That Hill in the inspiration and theme of the story. It's about this guy who has a drinking problem and leaves his life behind to turn it around. It was absolutely perfect because thte guys go to visit AJ on Day 19 of the break and there's a lyric in the song that says "I haven't had a drink in 19 days / My eyes are clear and bright without that haze" which I almost used as the lyrics at the top, but decided to go with "I don't know why I held it all inside / You must've thought I never even tried" because I thought it would be more reflective of what all the guys were going through in that chapter, not just AJ. This song is just perfect for the story. It's sad, but hopeful. And I think that, even though a lot of bad things are happening while AJ's in rehab, AJ himself is on his own journey while the story's taking place, and his part is definitely hopeful.

11. Brothers - Vic Mignogna
I love this song about two brothers who take the same path, and are trying to atone for their sins. I think it definitely fits as though all the guys are dealing with this break differently, they all took the same path (that is, being in the group) to get there, so they're really not all that different. They were all responsible for the group, and they all did things that lead to their much needed break.

12. Morally Deficient Business - Novillero
This song about doing something just because you feel you should be, and going through the motions even though you're not into it anymore really fits the guys at this point, I think. They really seemed like they were still just in the group because they had to be, not necessarily because they wanted to be.


There are lot more songs used in that story, but those are definitely the more important ones. A lot of the other songs are just ones I was listening to and liked the melody of, not necessarily the lyrics. That, and I wanted to explain ones where the reasoning behind the lyrics might not have been so clear.

[RokofAges75]

Running Up that Hill is a GREAT angsty song, probably because it reminds me of The OC as well LOL.

And I would love to hear the mash-up of IWITW and Airplanes!  I'm too lazy to look for it right now, so if you have a chance, post a link!

[Sakabelle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMElcUXFDZQ

I can't get enough of it. I love it!

[RokofAges75]

Thanks!  I love it!