Are you ready to ROCK, Bookworms?
The thing about writing a book blog is that if you have a slow reading week, you start running out of material. When I was composing yesterday’s Eleanor & Park review, I spent a lot of time thinking about high school and the parts of it that didn’t suck. One of my FAVORITE high school pastimes was making mix tapes. I’d comb my CD collection and pick out the best tracks to put together. I liked to theme it up, you know? I’d try to impress my friends by putting “obscure” songs off of popular albums on there, so they didn’t think I only listened to the hits. I WAS DEEP, I TELL YOU! Then I’d make cover art and use crayons and stickers… Ahhh good times. So. Since I am out of books to review for the time being, I’m making y’all a little mix tape. In honor of the sweet boom box I used to make those mix tapes, I’ve created a thematic homage to books. I’m calling it “Bookish Boombox: A Mix Tape Masterpiece.” Forgive me for the lack of crayon artwork.
Track One: “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin. This song is based on The Lord of the Rings. Did you know that? I didn’t. (Thanks, Internet!) It’s one of those songs I mutter along with until the chorus. Anyway, I’m working on The Fellowship of the Ring right now, and, uh, “Ramble On?” Pretty darn appropriate, if you know what I’m saying….
Track Two: “Romeo & Juliet” by Dire Straits. Obviously, this song goes with Romeo & Juliet. I like to think of it as what would have become of Romeo and Juliet if they hadn’t been so impulsive and killed themselves. It’s a sad love song, and those are the best kind! This is one of my favorite, favorite songs EVER. Enjoy it!
Track Three: “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” by The Police. Every single time I hear this song I shout “just like the- old man in- that book by NABOKOV!” It’s about Lolita, obvi, and I feel that having read Lolita, it is my right to be very smug and sing that lyric at the top of my lungs.
Track Four: “Yankee Bayonet” by The Decemberists. Pretty much every song by The Decemberists is a story unto itself, because they’re completely amazing. Anyway, “Yankee Bayonet” is probably my favorite Decemberists track and it’s about the civil war- from a Southern perspective, no less. Therefore, I’ve decided it totally goes with Gone With The Wind. I suppose it would go better with GWTW if Scarlett had actually been in love with Charles Hamilton and he had been killed in battle rather than by disease, but whatever. It’s a good song and it’s MY MIX TAPE.
Track Five: “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” by Concrete Blonde. Funny story about this song. My very eccentric dance teacher choreographed a tap number to this song. We wore Raggedy Ann costumes complete with yarn wigs, then threw in some fangs and capes. It was seriously creepy watching a pack of 20 adolescent girls being all evil and stuff. As if it weren’t painfully obvious, this song is about vampires, so I associate it with the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. It works!
There you have it, my friends. A little literary mix tape from me to you. Are there any songs you associate with books?
themidnightmama
this is such a great list! i’m particularly fond of track three. can’t go wrong with sting! and i totally remember doing the same thing in high school – except mine were mixed CDs! I think we made a CD for every occasion and season. 🙂
Words for Worms
I didn’t have a CD burner till college, but I did make the switch eventually! 🙂
Megan M.
Love it! I got into making mixed CDs right after college when I finally got an iPod and got into iTunes. (I like to arrive at the party five minutes after it’s over.) I can’t think of a song in particular right now but I do enjoy the new trend of putting a “playlist” with books. I recently read “Every Day” by David Levithan and the main character quotes one line from Placebo’s “Running Up That Hill” without every saying that’s what it was, but I knew that’s what it was and I felt that made me SO COOL.
Words for Worms
I love when that happens! Awesome.
JoulesDellinger
So you know that annoying Alicia Keys song that is ALL OVER the radio, Girl on Fire. Okay, well I’m convinced it’s about the Hunger Games. I mean Katniss IS THE GIRL ON FIRE. So suck it Alicia!
Words for Worms
Hahahaha! Yes! Plus, Katniss would totes win in a brawl with Alicia. There’s seriously no contest there.
middleagebutch
That Dire Straits tune is one of my all-time favs. I never knew anyone else appreciated it to the same degree that I do. The Indigo Girls do a cover of it, which is pretty good, too. Thanks for making me smile this morning.
Words for Worms
I haven’t heard the Indigo Girls cover, but they do such pretty things with harmonies I’m sure it’s beautiful. Really though, that song is so awesome, the only way you could destroy it would be to take a synthesizer and autotune to it…
Rory
I love mix tapes, I love your first two choices!
lostinliterature108
Ok. I.Love.This.Post.
I know of a song that was inspired by the book This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. Recording artist Michael W. Smith wrote the instrumental song “Ashton”. Ashton is the name of the town the story takes place in. A town where Angels and demons battle. For real.
I found the music on youtube. Some college student choreographed a performance to it. So I’m posting it here… a literary reference, music and dance all in one spot. A cultural trifecta for you. This is your lucky day!:)
http://youtu.be/17ERBZbRSdQ
Words for Worms
Hahahhaa fabulous!
Leah
Great mix-tape! I’m kind of proud of myself for knowing all but one of these songs (the Concrete Blonde one). And I don’t really like The Police, but Led Zep, Dire Straights, and The Decemberists = love!
Words for Worms
The Police aren’t really my favorite either, but I love to SHOUT that line, so it had to be included!
Lauren@FilingJointly
Are you sure these mix tapes were only a high school past time? Because I seem to remember a certain mix CD I have in my collection. The cover art is fab. There are no stickers but glitter was employed if my recollections are correct.
Words for Worms
Yes. Mix TAPES were a high school thing. Mix CDs are different. No crayon, more glitter. I’ve evolved.
picturemereading
I LOVE the Police!
Laura Lynn
I love making cd’s and revel in the fact that I’m still a dork. Where’s the glitter glue?
Words for Worms
Heck yes!