Monday, November 16, 2009

You Tell Me: What's Your Anthem?

Anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook (or who knows me in real life) has probably already gotten a dose of my mad love for this first season of GLEE. Glee takes me back to my own high school theater club memories and a point in time when belting out the lyrics of showtunes--whether from the stage, or backstage, or up-and-down the hallways after school, or in a car with my friends, or at home in front of my mirror--seemed like the perfect solution to every moment of high school drama. Thinking about it with just a little emotional distance now, I suppose the best explanation I can give is that musicals are all about highs and lows, about the moments when the intensity of life is so far beyond mere words that one must simply burst into song to come anywhere close to expressing it. In short, they're the perfect match for the utter and ongoing angst of high school/teen life! :)

I started thinking about all this over the last few days, not long after I downloaded the Glee soundtrack. With apologies to my neighbors, I've listened to the duet of "Defying Gravity" approximately 67 times and counting since last Thursday, my flimsy excuse for that aural behavior being that I never really had a "Wicked" phase, since it came out a good number of years after my own High School Musical experience had passed. On my walk home from the subway last night, listening to it yet again on my ipod (have I mentioned I have a wee tendency to wear out new songs once I get attached to them?) I started thinking about that high school self of mine. Would Molly-in-high-school have liked "Defying Gravity"? Well, yes, of course--up to a point. It's undeniably a great emotional turning point/defining moment kind of song. It gives a nice bounce to your step, makes you stand up a little straighter, a little stronger, a little bolder, makes you eager to belt out those lyrics whether or not you're actually capable of belting all that very well or not--in short, it's kinda the vocal definition of an anthem. But would Molly-in-high-school have loved the song to the point of inhabiting it, of declaring to the world that it, like, totally defined her? As much as my current iTunes play count might hint otherwise now, I think the truth is no--it's a terribly upbeat song, after all, and, truth be told, at 15 and 16, I liked my anthems far more heartrending and melodramatic and tragic ("On My Own," anyone? Or "Someone Else's Story" ?).

Of course, pondering any topic too deeply tends to eventually lead me back in one direction--to books and writing, and Glee and its soundtrack is no exception. It's not a new trend for writers to talk about the playlists they create as they write their novels--the music they feel captures the moods and world of their story. I'm curious, though--if asked directly, what would your book's main character (ooh! or your book's antagonist!) tell you is the song (and it doesn't have to be musical-theatre inspired, of course) that's his or her anthem, that one song that defines the world as she/he sees it, or defines the very core of him/herself? The song that she or he would put on repeat over and over and over when they're feeling lost or alone, or trying to pump up him or herself or a big moment? What song makes your character feel like the songwriter practically crawled inside his or her brain (or heart) and somehow managed to express everything that was in it?

As ever, I love to peek inside writerly brains, so if you're game, tell us in the comments comments about what your main character's (or other characters') anthems would be. And just for kicks, I'd definitely love to hear what your own anthem was when you were in high school, too.

(P.S. Also? If you're a writer who's got a Glee-like manuscript--for the love of Lerner & Lowe, please have your agent send it my way!)

17 comments:

  1. When I saw your comment on Twitter I thought you were looking for OUR songs. Silly me. I will have to put some thought into my characters (aka run through my playlist for the book again since I've been working on something else).

    Just curious though -- am I the only one who DIDN'T like the Glee version of Defying Gravity? I have mad love for Glee and I <3 that song, but I thought it was emotionless and dull when they did it on the show.

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  2. Okay, for Elle it is "Miracle" by Paramore and for Cass it's "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks.

    I would look for my antagonist, but I think that would take a lot more time than I can afford today LOL.

    Great idea, btw :D

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  3. Ooo... great post, Molly! I'm one of those people who always creates a soundtrack for each book, so I love this question. For Jess in The Cinderella Society, her theme song is Who I Am by Jessica Andrews. The theme song for the book is Soar by Christina Aguilera.

    And wasn't GLEE good last night?! I actually teared up during the finale (am also sick, so that's my excuse). ;-) So glad most of the secrets are out in the open now. And good to see that Sue will be back next week. The shows just aren't the same without her.

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  4. Yay! GLEE! (but no spoilers! some of us have to wait until their husbands have a free night to watch the fun on Hulu!)

    The song that strikes me the most for my ms is "Boys (Lesson One)" by Jars of Clay. I think it's all the stuff my protag's dad would want her to know, if he'd lived into her teenage years.

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  5. Wow--I got such a revelation out of this. I have not had any luck picking music/playlists for my characters or WIP. BUT I did have an anthem when I was young--still works for me in many ways. Joan Baez' Honest Lullaby ("I had a mother who sang to me an honest lullaby." And I just realized, reading this post, that this is about as far as could be from my MC's anthem as could be. There's a meaning in there somewhere! Thanks for the prod. :)

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  6. I've never seen Wicked, but I did love Defying Gravity! I don't have a specific anthem for my MCs, I definitely have a playlist for my chapters.

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  7. I love this post! Music is something I love to listen to before sitting down and starting the next chapter. My MC is an amateur sleuth who's developing feelings for her hot, older teacher. That said, her song with him would have to be "Let's give them something to talk about" by Bonnie Raitt (old school, I know.) And, "When the heartache ends" by Rob Thomas would have to be the song between her and her ex she almost gets killed. But, there are SO many more songs that I relate to certain chapters of my novel.

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  8. I love finding songs for my characters (and I spend way too much time looking for songs for them...) but my favorite song is "My Skin" by Natalie Merchant. That song is perfect for the male lead in my novel STREAM PIRATE. So perfect I often wonder if Natalie read STREAM PIRATE before writing the song...

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  9. Sometimes when I listen to music I get so lost in the story it provokes that it makes me want to write a scene over and over again. For my current wip, Kings Of Leon's "Closer" seems like the perfect song for my male lead. He's dark and brooding, but he wants to be closer to this girl, so the song really fits him.
    As for the female lead, Linkin Park's "What I've Done" fits very well for her. She has to come to terms with who she is as well as face the consequences of the actions she takes. Even though the song makes me think of Transformers (it was on their soundtrack) it works better for my story-lol.
    Great post!

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  10. I think my male lead is much easier to find songs for. I've got parchute's "Under Control" and Matt Hires "Honey Let Me Sing You A Song". For my female lead I think it would have to be "Untouched" by the Veronicas.

    Love this blog post.

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  12. Great post! My protag's name is Samantha Kidd, and ever since I heard the Junior Wells song "Messin' With the Kid" I knew it belonged to her!

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  13. I am apparently the only Luddite on earth who hasn't seen Glee. That's going to change soon.

    Before Livi's ascension to goddesshood, I'd go with "Lady Picture Show" by Stone Temple Pilots, and after she woke up with blue eyes, I'd say "You Gotta Be" by Des'Ree.

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  14. I'm a fellow drama geek who waited a little too long for the husband to have the time to watch Glee on Hulu. Then they pulled the earlier episodes--ack! Since I don't want to jump in mid-season, I'm waiting for DVD (or iTunes?).

    For Claire, the protag of a MG of mine, I'd choose "I Don't Want To Live On The Moon" (Yeah, that's right--I chose a song by Ernie on Sesame Street). That would be her lost/alone moments. For her pump-up moments, I'd pick "All Star" by Smash Mouth. Fun to dance around to, for one thing! For the in-between times, "It's Only a Paper Moon"--the Benny Goodman recording.

    For Robin, the protag of my theater-oriented MG/YA, I'll pick "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" by U2. Now you've got me trying to find her a pump-up song. Good post!

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  15. Oh I am more than obsessed with Glee. Every week I go in and download the new songs off iTunes.

    Last week the hubs said "Hey, have you noticed that apple is charging us like six bucks a week?" I smiled and changed the subject to candy. He loves candy. :)

    My main character is a fun girl with a bad streak, so I am thinking she's a total "The Roof is on Fire" Kind of girl. :)

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  16. My main character's song is "Winners and Losers" by Social Distortion. He's flawed, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always himself.

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  17. I'm not far enough into my story to have a theme song...

    ...but my own experience in high school? I was an "On My Own" gal all the way. Then Joey Potter (aka Mrs. Cruise) butchered it on "Dawson's Creek" and I've never been the same again.

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