Malinda Lo
Blog
Aug 11, 2009
ASH Playlist
Some writers listen to music when they write. Some don’t. On the scale of listens-to-music-while-writing, I fall sort of in the middle. At the beginning of a project (or when I’m trying to flesh out an idea for an essay or even a blog post), I usually need silence. I find that music drowns out my thoughts.
But when my thoughts are more concrete and when I know more or less where I’m going, I start to look for music that will match the writing that I’m doing. I look for mood in music, not lyrics. This means I usually start off listening to wordless music — a lot of electronica, actually. Massive Attack and the like.
When I first started writing Ash I listened to a lot of Celtic music. Not necessarily New Age, but sort of old sounding, if you know what I mean. Then, as the book went on, I began to look for mood in songs with words. I didn’t actually listen to the lyrics of these songs, so I was kind of surprised when I recently listened to these songs again and discovered that some of the lyrics did seem appropriate. During later drafts, I can listen to one playlist repeatedly without ever really hearing any of it; it just puts me in that writing space.
So, here’s a playlist of some of the songs I listened to during the writing of Ash. The only song that is clearly linked with a particular scene is the last one, KT Tunstall’s “Universe & U.” I’ll just say that if and when you have a copy of Ash, you could listen to that song when reading the scene that begins with the last paragraph on page 212. I actually did listen to “Universe & U” repeatedly when writing that scene.
Enjoy!
- “She Moved Through the Fair” by Loreena McKennitt
- “Night Ride Across the Caucasus” by Loreena McKennitt
- “Gold Dust” by Tori Amos
- “Far Away” by Martha Wainwright
- “Silent Sea” by KT Tunstall
- “Let Down” by Radiohead
- “Factory” by Martha Wainwright
- “Lust” by Tori Amos
- “Bonfire” by Lamb
- “Sleep to Dream” by Fiona Apple
- “The Unforgettable Fire” by U2
- “Lay Me Down” by Supreme Beings of Leisure
- “Teardrop” by Massive Attack
- “Universe & U” by KT Tunstall
P.S. Today is my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!
Out of all those I only know “Universe & U.” I think perhaps it’s time to reread that page in the ARC copy while listening to that song…?
I agree with you about wordless music, though. Celtic! Awesome. Do you listen to the Riverdance soundtrack?
I have not listened to Riverdance. I think it might be a bit too peppy for ASH! I came across a lot of very peppy Celtic music, but I had to have slower, usually more depressing music to write to. Not sure what that means.
aww, no enya? i guess she does have words,
but i love her albums! happy bday to momma lo! =D
Happy birthday to your Mom. Cherish every moment you have with her. I lost my Mom last year. So give youe Mom a hug for me.
Sue
happy birthday to your mom and to you, belatedly! my mum and i are also close in birthdays. enjoy all your time with her.
love the playlist. have you listened to kt’s acoustic extravaganza album? the first track is titled ‘ashes’
)
capercaillie are pretty good in the not too pold celtic dept too.
Ah, ‘Teardrop’ is such a good song! I have it on my playlist right now. I’m working on my own novel/novella.
Hm… Now I feel the need to make a new playlist…
I’m planning on going out to buy Ash tomorrow! So excited! I have a long weekend, so I’m planning on devouring a few good books. And Ash will definitely be one of them. :]