Songs I associate with different books

by abookormore

Songs you find yourself associating with different books (whether that be because of lyrics, tone or whatever reason), is this week’s topic for Top 5 Wednesday. Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly book challenge that’s been going strong in the book blogging community for quite some time, and if you want to get involved, you can find the information needed for this month on this goodreads page. I’m obviously a bit late as it’s now Friday, but I hope you realize that I’m practically on my knees begging for your forgiveness.

…Onto my choices!

Laughter Lines by Bastille + We are all Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

LYRICS: “I’ll see you in the future when we’re older
And we are full of stories to be told
Cross my heart and hope to die
I’ll see you with your laughter lines”

We are all Completely Beside Ourselves is a highly praised novel that delves into the gritty, emotional life of a girl named Rosemary whose father used her childhood as an experiment. The novel begins in the middle of Rosemary’s life with her at college, but goes on to explore her undigested past, and then later, her future. I chose the song because Rosemary spends a lot of her time longing to see her siblings again to help her put the past behind her. To me, this drew parallels with the voice in Laughter Lines who desires also to see their loved ones again, and hopefully in a happier situation where they can reminisce instead of despair.

My Blood by Ellie Goulding + Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

LYRICS: “And God knows I’m not dying but I bleed now
And God knows it’s the only way to heal now
With all the blood I lost with you
It drowns the love I thought I knew”

Red Queen is the first book in Aveyard’s best-selling YA debut series. First of all, Red Queen is not particularly original; It has many of the girls vs society tropes that YA fantasy is drowning in. However, people still find excitement and enjoyment in it, despite the lack of ground breaking material. Much like pop music. Do we still read/listen to it? Yes. Did I rate the book 5 stars on goodreads? You bet.

Secondly, blood is a major theme in both of my choices. In Red Queen, those with silver blood have incredible, varied talents and are the elite in society because of it. The red bloods are inferior, common and all lack skill… that is of course until we discover that our protagonist Mare has both red blood and a special ability. Who could’ve seen THAT one coming?! Not only this, but Mare falls in love with a silver, and well, it doesn’t quite work out for her.

Looks like Ellie relates.

What Went Down by Foals + Lord of the Flies by William Golding

LYRICS: “Give up my money, give up my name, take it away
I’ll give it away, I’ll give it away, I’ll give it
When I see a man, I see a lion
When I see a man, I see a liar”

If you’ve heard this song, then chances are you’re confused. What Went Down is an alternative rock track whilst Lord of the Flies is a classic in which upper class British boys are stranded on an island. However, there’s a particular line in the book that explains my choice:

“However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human at once heroic and sick.”

Both of these very different examples agree that humanity has the potential to be like a courageous ‘lion,’ and be ‘heroic.’ They also draw attention to the innate darkness in us that makes us ‘sick’ and ‘liar[s]’. Cheery stuff.

I Miss the Old Kanye by Kanye West + The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

LYRICS: “I used to love Kanye, I used to love Kanye
I even had the pink Polo, I thought I was Kanye
What if Kanye made a song, about Kanye?
Called “I Miss The Old Kanye,” man that would be so Kanye
That’s all it was Kanye, we still love Kanye
And I love you like Kanye loves Kanye”

In this first installment of Rick Riordan’s new series, you have Apollo (it’s a close call, but he’s probably the most self absorbed of the Greek gods) and he has angered Zeus- big time. As punishment, Apollo is thrown off Mount Olympus into the mortal world as a painfully average 16 year old, and lacking any of the godly abilities he possessed. To earn back Zeus’ favour, Apollo must complete a number of incredibly difficult trials. If you’ve read ANY of the Percy Jackson books and seen Apollo in action, then I’m pretty sure you know why I have made this choice. If not, I shall explain for you.

Apollo is the Greek god of music and poetry. This means that he can frequently be found projecting his own crafted works to whatever crowd he can get. Spoiler alert, they’re hilariously awful. I’ll let you figure out why I’ve paired him with this particular rap.
Like I have mentioned, he loves himself. If you swapped the names in the song, you’ve managed to make yourself a ridiculously accurate portrayal of his character. Man, that would be so Apollo.

Runnin’ by Naught Boy + Allegiant by Veronica Roth

LYRICS: “I ain’t runnin’, runnin’, runnin’, runnin’
Runnin’, runnin’, runnin’
Ain’t runnin’ from myself no more
I’m ready to face it all
If I lose myself, I lose it all”

I realize that this post is already too long (sorry) so i’ll try and make this brief.

Allegiant is the third and final book in the Divergent series. What makes it stand out from the others (apart from the shock ending, but that’s another matter entirely) is it’s multiple POVs; the events of the book unfold through both Tris’ and Tobias’ narration. This is a contributing factor to why I’ve linked my choices, because Runnin’ is sung by Beyoncé as well as Arrow Benjamin: it’s enjoyable to get both a male and female voice. Additionally, the song is about outrunning personal fears and being stronger, which has always been a goal of the main characters mentioned.

So that’s it! If you actually got this far and are reading this, then I am delighted! Truthfully, I’m also quite shocked because this is over 1000 words…

You’re a dedicated soul I’ll give you that.

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