I’m currently participating in the 2010 Script Frenzy competition this month, and below are ten of my favorite songs that help to set the mood for my writing.
Runner ups included We Will Become Silhouettes by the Postal Service, Let Me Know by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Better Son/Daughter by Rilo Kiley.
Paperback Writer, The Beatles – This song is so deliciously infectious it makes me smile every time I hear it. Yes, I DO want to be a paperback writer (paperback writer!).
It’s a thousand pages, give or take a few,
I’ll be writing more in a week or two.
I can make it longer if you like the style,
I can change it round and I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.
Spectacular Views, Rilo Kiley – Rilo Kiley is my favorite band and this song tops almost all my playlists. When Jenny Lewis exclaims that it’s so fucking beautiful, you believe the world really is.
We can see the stars
from where the birds make their homes
staring back at us.
Indifferent
but distanced perfectly
projected endlessly
it’s so fucking beautiful.
Lonely Ghosts, O+S – I first heard this song in the Dollhouse episode “Needs”. It was beautifully integrated into the episode’s finale as it successfully captured a mood of melancholy and unfulfilled endings.
Like lonely ghosts
at a roadside cross
we stay because
we don’t know where else
to go
Lucky, Bif Naked – My favorite love songs are almost exclusively ones about loss. The lyrics are uncomplicated, but that doesn’t take away from the power of the chorus and Bif’s emotive performance.
Remember the time we made love in the roses?
and you took my picture in all sorts of poses
how could I ever get over you
when I’d give my life for yours-
I know we are..we are the lucky ones
I Hate Everyone, Get Set Go – It’s the perfect song for a protagonist stuck in a dead-end job she hates… or as the anthem for an antagonist you just can’t help but love.
I bet you think I’m kidding
But I promise you it’s true
I hate most everybody
But most of all I hate
Oh, I hate you
Falling Slowly, Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – All of the songs on the Once soundtrack are beautiful, and this one in particular was well-deserving of the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Glen and Marketa sing as a Boy and a Girl who are falling in love despite their past broken hearts and the reality that real life love stories are never that simple.
take this sinking boat
and point it home
we’ve still got time
raise your hopeful voice
you had the choice
you’ve made it now
Still Life, Patty Medina – Another song about lost love and a standout on the Radio Sunnydale soundtrack. For me, the most profound lyric has always been I was so busy making plans, I felt I needed both my hands, and when I let go of yours you were gone.
But sometimes I see you,
a vision I can’t hold onto
So for today I’ll be still life
with window view
Plane Crash in C, Rilo Kiley – Two Rilo Kiley songs were always destined to make this list because I just can’t get enough of Jenny Lewis. This song speaks to everyone who has ever felt like they are floundering in the deep end of life.
and how do you do it?
you make it seem effortless
when it’s all the stupid things
that are so overwhelming to me
like paying my bills
or showing up for work early
or laughing at your jokes
Such Great Heights, Iron & Wine – Hey, a love song on the list that doesn’t end badly! I’ve heard several covers of this song, but Iron & Wine’s performance on The Garden State soundtrack is the most winning.
They will see us waving from such great
Heights, ‘come down now,’ they’ll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
‘come down now,’ but we’ll stay…
Transylvanian Concubine, Rasputina – Supernatural stories are hugely popular right now (ones about vampires in particular), and this dreamy, bohemian song is perfect for setting the mood to dark and sensual.
If you want to know how
To fly high, then go now
To the place where all the concubines…
Meet and converse with them
Marvel at their pale skin
Wonder how they chew on their pointy…
