I have been meaning to do this song for a while. It is the perfect song for Garan, even if he’s not exactly a soldier.
Reading over the lyrics, it’s hard to find ones that don’t fit him. He’s a mess of guilt and pain, and he continues to work through that as the stories progress.
You didn’t ask for this… And you’re nobody’s hero.
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
So lately, I’ve been working on a lot of historical fiction.
It has been a process that is teaching me better ways of researching and put me in contact with my local museum and got me volunteering, all of that fun. It has also forced me to look at traditional roles.
People who listen to this song are going to laugh, as it is a spoof, and it’s a good one. The thing is, though, that this type of attitude was common, expected, and encouraged back in the times that I’ve been dealing with. To go against it would have invited considerable censure and ostracism. Today if the woman was to think this way, we’d mock her just like the song does.
Yet, this is the role that women like Tillie, Mena, and to a degree even Lady Nichols would have been expected to fill and enjoy. It’s hard to find that balance between what was and what we would like to see today.
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
Since I decided to focus on getting Nickel and Dime prepped to publish and did a lot of singing the baby to sleep lately with the extra babysitting I’ve been doing, this song kept coming up again. When I heard it, it joined the many songs that made me think of Effie and Garan, specifically for their first adventure together.
We were strangers, starting out on a journey, never dreaming what we’d have to go through.
This part is very Garan: No one told me I was going to find you. Unexpected, what you did to my heart When I lost hope, you were there to remind me
And even though they’re not standing, this does kind of remind me of them at the end of the book.
Now here we stand, unafraid of the future At the beginning with you
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
It was kind of interesting today, having a favorite song pop up on Pandora and then realizing that wow, that is so Randolph and Persephone.
I’m not sure if I was thinking back on the lyrics or not, but there’s a part where she flat out asks him, “How fragile do you think I am?”
And the opening verse of the song has this lyric:
You’re saying I’m fragile I try not to be
But Persephone is also this:
I have my own life And I am stronger Than you know
Randolph has a moment when he first sees the Reynolds home, and it’s very much like the verse sung by Don Henley.
You were right When I walked into your house I knew I’d never want to leave
Since Randolph comes to the case with lots of baggage from his past, this part fits him very well:
Sometimes I’m a strong man Sometimes cold and scared And sometimes I cry
And since it’s a story about them investigating a series of crimes, of course this fits them both:
I search only For something I can’t see
Of course, one of my favorite parts of the song is this bit:
Is love so fragile and the heart so hollow, shatter with words impossible to follow?
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
I could blame this on Pandora again. I just might.
At any rate, I recently went through and editted Matched Set, and between that and hearing this song again, I was reminded of the way Reece and Wichita’s friendship fell apart.
I thought of using one of the other versions of this song, but I went with the original because it fit more with what happened in the story.
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
I recently finished a story where one of the main characters traveled the world, refusing to settle down, and it ended up being a source of conflict between him and his family, an obstacle for them to overcome, and then thanks to Pandora, I found this song again.
It’s very much Cameron before the book starts.
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
So I could start in on a bit of a diatribe about how Pandora comes up with the weirdest things sometimes, though I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me too much that this song keeps popping up on my Melanie (Safka) station because they classify both artists as folk.
Listening to it again, it reinforced just how much it was Reece and Wichita in Matched Set. The old friendship. Torn apart.
This first verse seemed very them, mostly her but a bit him, too:
I watch you grow away from me in photographs And memories like spies And salt betrays my eyes again I started losing sleep and gaining weight And wishing I was was ten again So I could be your friend again
There’s a particular flashback that makes this section of the lyrics stand out:
Then just when we believe we could be great Reality it permeates And conquers from within again
Then I went looking for a video and found the official one strangely close to the ideas I’d had, lost friendship and all.
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
The end of Charlotte’s Web (the 1973 version, I have no clue about the other one and frankly, no real inclination to find out since I’ve always been so attached to the one I grew up with), sticks with me each time.
It’s not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.
I’d like to think of myself as a true friend and a good writer.
I’m still working on that, though.
Favorite song from Charlotte’s Web:
One nitpick, though. If Charlotte was such a great writer, why was Templeton always finding words for her?
Then again, I suppose that’s not too different from me looking things up in a thesaurus or dictionary…
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
I was writing on The Not-So-Super Superherotoday when I made a connection to Alice in Wonderland. Every time I think of Alice in Wonderland, I think not of the book, but of the video game made by American McGee.
I love that game.
I love the music from that game. I have the soundtrack on my computer and in my stereo, and my computer has a particular fondness for pulling it up when it’s playing random music.
Today wouldn’t be the first time the soundtrack inspired fic, either. It has before, and probably will again. Chris Vrenna did an amazing job with the music, I think, and the added soundbites from the game are haunting in just the right way.
The hardest part about talking about this soundtrack is picking a song, lol. They’re all good. Still, for the soundbite and the picture from the exit screen, I’ll do this one:
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
Today was Beatles day. That made today’s sing along choice easy.
People who know my family’s obsession–mine, too–with the Beatles would have a question now: Why haven’t I posted this song sooner?
Well, here’s the thing… I actually don’t like this song that much.
Last time I told anyone that, they stared at me like I was crazy. Huge Beatles fan, writer, and I don’t like Paperback Writer?
Am I insane?
Well, yes, admittedly, but that’s not really why I have issues with the song.
It’s based on a novel by a man named Lear. This bothers me because you have write your own stuff. Not catering to the masses, no knockoffs of what’s already been done. Yes, it’s all been done before, but make sure that you have a unique twist, a different take on your idea. And it had better not be plagiarized in any way.
I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer. It’s not like being a writer is something you can do without skill or that everyone should be a writer. Some people have no talent for it, and it’s not something that everyone gets. Writing takes more than putting words on a paper, and if it was all that easy, we’d all do it, right?
I can make it longer if you like the style, I can change it round. This sounds to me like this person is willing to do anything to sell their story. I’m not saying that the stories don’t need edits. What makes sense to a writer doesn’t always make sense to the reader, and I’ve learned that the hard way. Still, one of my biggest pet peeves is when the integrity of the characters is compromised for the sake of some plot point or to “keep the series going” and there are some things that should not be changed no matter what. It needs to be as it was written for the sake of the characters and the story, and there is something to be said for integrity.
If you really like it you can have the rights. Personally, I’ve seen some terrible adaptations of books when they take them to movies, and I’ve also read about some things that should never have happened to books or authors or even characters because some publishing house has the rights. I made a vow years ago not to give up any of the important rights to my story no matter how good the deal was. I want the characters and story to maintain its integrity.
Still…
I want to be a paperback writer.
Kabobbles Sing Along is just what I think when I hear songs. I sometimes see images when I hear lyrics, pictures or movies in my head. Sometimes I relate it to stories. My interpretation of the songs and lyrics are probably nothing like their original intent.
