Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Setting Words to Music


Music and words have always played a big part in my life.  In some ways, music is woven even deeper into the fabric of my being.  There's not a major event in my life that I can think of without remembering what song was popular at that time or what song I was listening to as it happened.

It's been said that people should have a theme song.  Mine changes from day to day.  Some days it's "You Gotta Be" by Des'ree, other days it's "Easy" by the Commodores (which I learned to skate backwards to back in the day).  And still on other days, it "Murder Rap" by Above the Law (Don't judge me!)  Anyway, this got me to thinking.  TV shows have theme songs, people can have theme songs, why shouldn't books?

I've gone back through a few of the books that I've read over the last year and come up with songs that immediately came to mind as they relate to the story line.

The book: Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr.
The song: Sentimental by Alexander O'Neal



The book: I'm Down by Mishna Wolff
The song: Square Biz by Teena Marie




The book: That Takes Ovaries! bold females and their brazen acts - edited by Rivka Solomon
The song: A Deeper Love by Aretha Franklin




The book: Glorious by Bernice McFadden
The song: Testify by Dianne Reeves




The book: Heard It All Before by Michele Grant
The song: I Want to Thank You by Alicia Meyers



The book: Uptown by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant
The song: Native New Yorker by Odyssey


So what about you? Read any books that just screamed for their own theme song?

6 comments :

  1. I love it! Great selections...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like this post! Like you music & books are an integral part of my life as well. One song that immediately popped to mind for a book I read recently was "Petals" by Mariah Carey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opu40N7Q0gM). I'd pair it with Heidi Durrow's "The Girl Who Fell From the Sky".

    ReplyDelete
  3. I feel you 100% on this post, Reads4Pleasure! I love music, and I too have a song linked to every memory I have. Looks like from now on, you are going to have to link a song with the book you review :). I don't have any particular song and book pairings in mind, but I am interested to see what other have to say.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll have to take your word for it. I haven't read the book yet, though it's high on the list of my TBR books. And umm, Mariah, well er umm...yeah, lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a fabulous idea! I just did the post with no thought to assigning the books theme songs going forward. I'll have to remember to do that. By the way, Dianne Reeves ranks high on the list of my all time favorite singers. I love Better Days, but she's done so much more than that. Sixteen albums under her belt and she does justice to every song she sings.

    ReplyDelete
  6. So I am discovering :) I don't know much about her, but that Testify is AWESOME! It's a song that will instantly shift your mood. I was a child when Better Days was released, and I always thought I would be able to sing that song to my grandmother someday. Five stars for your post...thanks again!

    ReplyDelete