Invocations to the Muse.
Aug. 19th, 2011 01:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_doyleSome days it takes longer to write than others. And on those days, I have two different tools I use to kick-start the creative process and inspire me. One is caffeine. The other is music.
There are songs that always seem to energize me, to get my brain moving, no matter what it is I am working on. Unlike my usual writing soundtracks, which remind me of some facet of my characters or plot; or convey the "feel" of what I'm working on, these have no specific connection to... anything, really, except the irrational portions of my brain which motivate me to tell people pretty lies about things (aka fiction).
I am, as always, interested to hear what you think (and what you listen to), but here's my inspirational playlist. It's not all inclusive and it's in no particular order, but it's still some of the most powerful weapons in my motivational arsenal.
1) Move Along by the All-American Rejects. This is the song that is, above all others, my classical, Homeric invocation. Speak to me! The chorus screams, and in my mind or out loud, I scream along. I write the words in notebook margins when I get blocked. I play it on YouTube when I've been staring at a blank page for too long. It's not the only thing I do: I also go and look at a poem I wrote, years ago, when I was first trying to describe this sort of invocation:
I must write before this passion from upon me fades;
I must keep this fire burning in my veins.
I must hear these winds singing in my mind;
I must transcribe the descant their voices climb.
I must feel this cool mantle once more descend;
I must do justice to the eloquence it lends.
That's what it's like.
2) The Mountain by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. I like the brief speech he gives at the beginning, explaining the creative process he went through to get to this song -- sort of the Michaelangeline shape trapped in the marble, that only a chisel can free. Sometimes that helps as much as the song itself. But the song itself is pretty spectacular itself. I love the mysticism of it. And the unwritten story is very much a mountain for me to climb, which is a metaphor I have used before... in a poem I wrote that is partly about the Muses, invoking them, and what results, and partly about some other things that my poetry class never really understood but other readers frequently catch.
3) I Gotta Feeling by the Black-Eyed Peas. This song is a promise I am making to myself when I sit down to write, especially if I do so late at night, after a long and frustrating day. Tonight's gonna be a good night, Tonight's gonna be a good good night. I am very good at psyching myself with a little musical accompaniment, and I have rarely had a bad evening after I listen to this song. The power of positive reinforcement, I guess.
4) Center of the Sun by Conjure One and Poe. Poe is an amazingly evocative singer, and minor-key ballads just tend to work for me. When I close my eyes, I am at the center of the sun. Which is, apparently, a place in my mind that I can easily work from. Yes, I close my eyes whenever she sings those words.
5) Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand. I'm not sure why this song works for me the way it does. I like the wordplay. I like the amicable hostility in the sound. I first heard it set to a Haruhi Suzumiya AMV, and anyone who knows anything about Suzumiya haruhi no Yuutsu knows why I might associate it with creativity and worldbuilding. But I'm not sure if that's what makes it work for me. Regardless, listening to this song is like flipping a switch. Before, I can't grasp even a single word. Afterward, I have them running hot and cold.
6) Heroes and Thieves by Vanessa Carlton. Romance and moral confusion? Yes please. It's a little embarrassing for me to admit that this song is meaningful to me not because I identify with it myself, but because a character I role-play on the Internets does. But then, that just helps with submerging myself in someone else's consciousness in order to write from their perspective, so maybe I shouldn't be embarrassed. When it comes to acting and roleplaying, I'm kind of Method about it. I don't but into otherkin and soulbonding and characters really existing on the astral plane... but I do sort of believe that I have partitioned my brain like a hard-drive to contain the imaginary people I write about, and whose brains I can run parallel to my own. I can visualize that piece of my headspace very clearly, and... man I am getting far afield from this soundtrack thing. I think that's a whole 'nother post, if anyone is interested.
7) Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. I sang this song in choir in the eighth grade. Afterward, I learned to play it on a synthesizer, seeking out the notes to play by ear (with the help of my sister). The next-most complicated melody I play on keyboard is "Hot Cross Buns." My very first bad songfic as a teenager was centered around this song. To me, it says that you're never alone, that you can fall and fail and someone will rescue you so you can get back up and try again. It's all the romance of teenaged angst, and reassurance besides.
8) Best of You by the Foo Fighters. Maybe it's just because the Foo Fighters are one of my favorite bands, and this is one of my favorite songs by them. Maybe it's because of the amazing music video(watch it, if you haven't seen it before). Maybe it's the fact that I feel like my storytelling really is the best of me.
9) Highwayman as sung by Johnny Cash, Willy Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. I often call this song my favorite science fiction short story. I'm not kidding when I do, either. The elegance, economy, and emotion in this number blow me away every time. I want to write as well as this.
10) Like A Prayer by Madonna. Like sex, writing is a transcendant, almost religious experience for me. When the muses call my name, it's like a prayer. And this song is one of the prayers I send back.
11) Seven by Prince. I love speculating what this song is about. It's a story, that's for certain, but the details are not revealed by the lyrics but shrouded in an enticing mystery. Wondering about story is one of the best ways to start working on story. I can tell myself that the Seven are obstacles to creativity, and that works, too. I will watch them fall.
12) King of Anything by Sara Bareilles. Attitude. I listen to this song and I can do anything, kick anyone's ass at any task, soar with perfect confidence. It shuts up my inner critic better than anything else.
13) Singing In My Sleep by Semisonic.
This is the whole reason for this post, really. This is what music is like for me. This is what it's about. This is what it does.
On a side note, I first heard this song on a mix tape sent to me by a friend. I always wondered if she secretly meant something by it. If so, she never gave any other sign I could see.
14) Key of the Twilight by Yuki Kaijura.
For me, this song is magic. It's sense of wonder made audible. Lush and sensual and heartbreakingly pretty.
15) Obsession (.hack//Sign Opening Theme). Besides the fact that I pretty much just find the entire .hack soundtrack captivating and gorgeous and compulsively listenable, writing is definitely an obsession. So I guess thinking about my obsession in an aesthetically pleasing way helps, somehow.
16) Pursuing My True Self (Persona 4 Opening Theme). My love for the Persona games is no secret, and I think, in this case, that it's just the fact that I get creative and excited any time I think about Persona that makes this song push all my creative buttons.
17) Were The World Mine from Were the World Mine. I love Shakespeare. I love musicals. I identify entirely too thoroughly with Puck. For years, my email sig was "I am that merry wanderer of the night, who jests to Oberon, and makes him laugh" and 'Jests To Oberon' is still my screen name in many different places. But for me, this song is... that denunciation of fear. I am regularly afraid that my writing will never amount to anything, that it isn't good enough, that I'm wasting my life, that nobody likes it anyway and they're just indulging me. I don't talk about this insecurity because I am always irrationally afraid someone will confirm it. So it helps me to deny that fear, invoke my love, summon my fairy helpers, and make a Heaven of Hell.
There are songs that always seem to energize me, to get my brain moving, no matter what it is I am working on. Unlike my usual writing soundtracks, which remind me of some facet of my characters or plot; or convey the "feel" of what I'm working on, these have no specific connection to... anything, really, except the irrational portions of my brain which motivate me to tell people pretty lies about things (aka fiction).
I am, as always, interested to hear what you think (and what you listen to), but here's my inspirational playlist. It's not all inclusive and it's in no particular order, but it's still some of the most powerful weapons in my motivational arsenal.
1) Move Along by the All-American Rejects. This is the song that is, above all others, my classical, Homeric invocation. Speak to me! The chorus screams, and in my mind or out loud, I scream along. I write the words in notebook margins when I get blocked. I play it on YouTube when I've been staring at a blank page for too long. It's not the only thing I do: I also go and look at a poem I wrote, years ago, when I was first trying to describe this sort of invocation:
I must write before this passion from upon me fades;
I must keep this fire burning in my veins.
I must hear these winds singing in my mind;
I must transcribe the descant their voices climb.
I must feel this cool mantle once more descend;
I must do justice to the eloquence it lends.
That's what it's like.
2) The Mountain by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer. I like the brief speech he gives at the beginning, explaining the creative process he went through to get to this song -- sort of the Michaelangeline shape trapped in the marble, that only a chisel can free. Sometimes that helps as much as the song itself. But the song itself is pretty spectacular itself. I love the mysticism of it. And the unwritten story is very much a mountain for me to climb, which is a metaphor I have used before... in a poem I wrote that is partly about the Muses, invoking them, and what results, and partly about some other things that my poetry class never really understood but other readers frequently catch.
3) I Gotta Feeling by the Black-Eyed Peas. This song is a promise I am making to myself when I sit down to write, especially if I do so late at night, after a long and frustrating day. Tonight's gonna be a good night, Tonight's gonna be a good good night. I am very good at psyching myself with a little musical accompaniment, and I have rarely had a bad evening after I listen to this song. The power of positive reinforcement, I guess.
4) Center of the Sun by Conjure One and Poe. Poe is an amazingly evocative singer, and minor-key ballads just tend to work for me. When I close my eyes, I am at the center of the sun. Which is, apparently, a place in my mind that I can easily work from. Yes, I close my eyes whenever she sings those words.
5) Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand. I'm not sure why this song works for me the way it does. I like the wordplay. I like the amicable hostility in the sound. I first heard it set to a Haruhi Suzumiya AMV, and anyone who knows anything about Suzumiya haruhi no Yuutsu knows why I might associate it with creativity and worldbuilding. But I'm not sure if that's what makes it work for me. Regardless, listening to this song is like flipping a switch. Before, I can't grasp even a single word. Afterward, I have them running hot and cold.
6) Heroes and Thieves by Vanessa Carlton. Romance and moral confusion? Yes please. It's a little embarrassing for me to admit that this song is meaningful to me not because I identify with it myself, but because a character I role-play on the Internets does. But then, that just helps with submerging myself in someone else's consciousness in order to write from their perspective, so maybe I shouldn't be embarrassed. When it comes to acting and roleplaying, I'm kind of Method about it. I don't but into otherkin and soulbonding and characters really existing on the astral plane... but I do sort of believe that I have partitioned my brain like a hard-drive to contain the imaginary people I write about, and whose brains I can run parallel to my own. I can visualize that piece of my headspace very clearly, and... man I am getting far afield from this soundtrack thing. I think that's a whole 'nother post, if anyone is interested.
7) Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. I sang this song in choir in the eighth grade. Afterward, I learned to play it on a synthesizer, seeking out the notes to play by ear (with the help of my sister). The next-most complicated melody I play on keyboard is "Hot Cross Buns." My very first bad songfic as a teenager was centered around this song. To me, it says that you're never alone, that you can fall and fail and someone will rescue you so you can get back up and try again. It's all the romance of teenaged angst, and reassurance besides.
8) Best of You by the Foo Fighters. Maybe it's just because the Foo Fighters are one of my favorite bands, and this is one of my favorite songs by them. Maybe it's because of the amazing music video(watch it, if you haven't seen it before). Maybe it's the fact that I feel like my storytelling really is the best of me.
9) Highwayman as sung by Johnny Cash, Willy Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. I often call this song my favorite science fiction short story. I'm not kidding when I do, either. The elegance, economy, and emotion in this number blow me away every time. I want to write as well as this.
10) Like A Prayer by Madonna. Like sex, writing is a transcendant, almost religious experience for me. When the muses call my name, it's like a prayer. And this song is one of the prayers I send back.
11) Seven by Prince. I love speculating what this song is about. It's a story, that's for certain, but the details are not revealed by the lyrics but shrouded in an enticing mystery. Wondering about story is one of the best ways to start working on story. I can tell myself that the Seven are obstacles to creativity, and that works, too. I will watch them fall.
12) King of Anything by Sara Bareilles. Attitude. I listen to this song and I can do anything, kick anyone's ass at any task, soar with perfect confidence. It shuts up my inner critic better than anything else.
13) Singing In My Sleep by Semisonic.
This is the whole reason for this post, really. This is what music is like for me. This is what it's about. This is what it does.
On a side note, I first heard this song on a mix tape sent to me by a friend. I always wondered if she secretly meant something by it. If so, she never gave any other sign I could see.
14) Key of the Twilight by Yuki Kaijura.
For me, this song is magic. It's sense of wonder made audible. Lush and sensual and heartbreakingly pretty.
15) Obsession (.hack//Sign Opening Theme). Besides the fact that I pretty much just find the entire .hack soundtrack captivating and gorgeous and compulsively listenable, writing is definitely an obsession. So I guess thinking about my obsession in an aesthetically pleasing way helps, somehow.
16) Pursuing My True Self (Persona 4 Opening Theme). My love for the Persona games is no secret, and I think, in this case, that it's just the fact that I get creative and excited any time I think about Persona that makes this song push all my creative buttons.
17) Were The World Mine from Were the World Mine. I love Shakespeare. I love musicals. I identify entirely too thoroughly with Puck. For years, my email sig was "I am that merry wanderer of the night, who jests to Oberon, and makes him laugh" and 'Jests To Oberon' is still my screen name in many different places. But for me, this song is... that denunciation of fear. I am regularly afraid that my writing will never amount to anything, that it isn't good enough, that I'm wasting my life, that nobody likes it anyway and they're just indulging me. I don't talk about this insecurity because I am always irrationally afraid someone will confirm it. So it helps me to deny that fear, invoke my love, summon my fairy helpers, and make a Heaven of Hell.
