A lot of authors, especially indie authors, post mood boards and/or soundtracks for each of the novels. I don’t. My brain doesn’t work that way for some reason. Usually, a singular image is all I have in mind when I start working, and I don’t have the patience with myself to go searching for images with similar mood. And as much as I love music, and as much as I use music for meaningful purposes in my works, I almost never put together a soundtrack until after I’ve drafted.
This time, for my current Louisiana Gothic WIP, I am working with a soundtrack as I write. And so, while what I present here is not the complete soundtrack, these are the songs that have come into my mind while I work. Now, I haven’t spoken much on the WIP, but I will give a few teasing bits of information: casquette girls, traditional gothic structure overlayed onto a contemporary romance structure for tension, a possible corruption arc, a moral dilemma that will result in significant changes, the horror of fated/doomed love, and timeless connections with contemporary struggles.
That said, I will now present the incomplete playlist and talk about a few of the songs on it.
Vive la Rose – Nana Mouskouri
Harvester of Eyes – Blue Oyster Cult
Doomsday Blue – Bambie Thug
Bloody Mary – Lady Gaga
Purge the Poison – Marina
Dead Men Don’t Rape – Delilah Bon
My Demon – Stitched Up Heart
The Hanging Tree – Rachel Zegler
Maleficent – Halocene
Time for Tea – Emile Autumn
Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
Tango Till They’re Sore – Tom Waits
Bad Romance – Halestorm
See You in Hell – Ad Infinitum
Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend – Infinite Age
Cry Little Sister – Lyric Noel
Bedroom Hymns – Justine’s Mic
Like a Prayer – Dogma
Canal Street Blues – Louis Armstrong and King Oliver
Mama Roux – Dr. John
Vive La Rose – This is a traditional French folk song about lost love. This song will be sung in its various versions throughout the story, often in an ironic or sarcastic manner. At times, its presence will be unironic, but there will be reasons for playing with the irony of a song about lost love.
Canal Street Blues – I usually set my books in fictional cities, but for this book, the only place it could realistically be set was in New Orleans. And that’s been an interesting challenge in terms of writing. That said, I could’ve picked anything by Louis Armstrong, but “Canal Street Blues” has always just felt like New Orleans to me.
See You In Hell – This symphonic metal song is one of the many songs about female rage on the playlist. It is literally about poisoning one’s lover, a “troubled man” who threw her love away. It’s a powerful and subtle anger that flows through the lyrics, but what strikes me is that there is no moralizing, no justification, it is a song at the point of complete acceptance of what must be done and what the price to be paid will ultimately be. And that is what strikes me.
Maleficent – Another song about a woman turning to “evil,” but this is one of a woman saying, “Yes, I am a monster, but I am a monster of your making. Now, you will pay for what you have done.” And like Maleficent, this book is about the choices women are forced to make to survive, to be safe, and to protect others in a patriarchy and how they are viewed as a result.
Dead Men Don’t Rape – Well, it’s true. That said, during my research, one common theme between our current society and that of the 18th century was how frequently wealthy men could rape, abuse, and molest women and children while facing virtually no (or minimal) consequences due to their power, their money, and their connections. Consider this in light of the previous two songs I’ve talked about.
Hallelujah – This classic song about a man’s struggles with his Jewish faith is one of my favorite songs to play when I’m deep in my feelings. And its tone and lyrics and struggles to reconcile lived experiences with ideology are a perfect fit for the novel’s tone. I won’t promise the protagonist will come to the same conclusion as Cohen did, but there will both holy and broken hallelujahs.
I think that’s enough for now. I will probably revisit this list as new songs emerge and as I feel like talking about others. But this work in progress has reached the 50K word mark, and I’ve got all of Act III and about 1/4 of Act II left to draft. More later.
-Robin
cursingravenbooks.com 