Thursday, January 21: Femme Fatale
MUSICALLY SPEAKING
by Deborah Elliott-Upton
Sometimes I forget how important music has been in my life, especially since I am not a musician. When I hear a certain song, there’s usually an emotion tied to it. Many times it’s a gentle tug; others it’s a gut-wrenching reaction catching me by surprise. Stories do that to me, too.
I can’t imagine—and don’t want to—what life would be without emotions. What a world of drones we would be. Either that or purely logical Mr. Spocks. Although I adore Spock’s character, I didn’t enjoy the television episodes (or movies) where more Vulcans with the same non-emotional temperaments were shown. For me, Spock was a perfect opposite to the often emotional Earthlings. I liked one Vulcan, but not an entire planet of them. That may be boring. I wouldn’t enjoy Spock as the norm. Still, when I picture Leonard Nimoy as Spock, I smile. But the memory never comes without an accompanying soundtrack of the Star Trek theme song.
Images of Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor induce hearing the whistling rendition of “The Fishing Hole.” I always feel calmer when I hear that song. It says life is easy if you let it be.
“The Mentalist” doesn’t really have a theme song as much as a few bars played at the opening of each episode. The music is upbeat, like its title character, Patrick Jane, portrayed by the dashing Simon Baker who flashes his trademark cockeyed grin and melts women’s hearts. If I’m ever a suspect of murder, I’d want this guy investigating my case. Of course, I would never be the actual culprit, but Simon Baker could question me any time.
What about music that isn’t happy? I get a much different sensation when I hear themes from “The Twilight Zone”, “Law and Order” or “24.” These aren’t carefree and aren’t meant to be taken lightly.
Washington, June 14 (ANI): A new study has revealed that listening to “chilling” music can lead to the activation of the same reward centres in the brain as drugs such as cocaine.During the study, Canadian researchers used two separate brain imaging tests to examined subjects as they listened alternately to music that gave them chills and music that did not. While using a PET scan they found that emotionally powerful music that gives us “chills” or “shivers-down-the-spine” leads to a release of dopamine in the reward centres of the brain (mesolimbic striatum). And fMRI scans showed that activation in these regions happens both during the experience of chills and while subjects are anticipating them. They concluded that music, a mere sequence of notes arranged in time, could activate the same reward centres in the brain as drugs such as cocaine. (ANI)—Thaindian News
If music is intertwined so closely with the visual images on screen, why not use music to induce our characters when we write? Well, a lot of us do. I’ve heard some writers say they must have absolute peace and quiet to write. Good for them, but peace and quiet have rarely been a part of my household whether it’s full of I’m home alone.
During almost every writer’s conference or workshop I’ve attended, someone—usually new to writing—will ask, “What’s your writing routine?” The speaker will reply with their regimen amid many in the audience nodding their heads. Just as writers many won’t. Not all of us are ready to write the moment of awakening and just as many never write late into the night. (That would be when my house is more quiet and I reserve that writing time for when I am either rewriting or in the middle of research, but my creative juices are enticed by noises and music during the first draft of a story. Maybe that’s why coffee houses are so popular with writers.)
When I was in school, I always played the radio while I did my homework. It drove my mom nuts because she that wasn’t the way she’d learned to study. Humans aren’t a one-size-fits all society.
During a heatwave last summer, I was writing a Christmas story and desperately needed inspiration. I planned my character would be caught in a blizzard during his escape from prison. I needed to feel the chill in order to write about it. Regular Christmas songs weren’t cutting it. “Let it Snow” and “Winter Wonderland” were too cheery for my killer. I needed something heavy and dark. I found what I needed in a Jim Morrison CD. Dark, somber, moody? Oh yeah. In spades.
This made me start thinking about stories I’d written in the past. Each one has its own soundtrack playing in my mind as I remember when the first idea for the plot or the character exploded into creation.
- in church listening to a soloist sing “Amazing Grace” acappella gave me a serial killer wanting redemption but not enough to confess to his priest or the police
- whirling on a dance floor to “Fever” offered up a victim and her killer, a spurned lover
- driving down a highway listening to “Mack the Knife” provided a wannabe gangster
Right now I’m listening to Mystic Moods orchestra’s “One Stormy Night.” I’m so sorry, but I must end this column so I can write about the girl caught in the rainstorm that just danced through my mind. I know you’ll understand. She’s quite insistent and is holding a gun to my head.
Deborah, hip hop must turn you into a writing firestorm!
Come to think of it, rap can give me homicidal thoughts.
I’m writing a book set in 1968 so I put together a CD of songs that my characters would be listening to. Someo f them will get metnioned in the book, some not. Thank heavens I am not writing about, say 1973…
Music is the universal language. There is always a song – be it the melody or lyric – that can bring us together and make us empathetic of others!! Great article!!
Loved the article. I agree with Lissa’s assessment too.
I needed to write a climatic scene once
for a class I was taking and listened to Bolero while creating.
I’m not saying everyone had to have a cigarette or anything, but it was inspiring.
You have a gift for including so many different aspects of what goes into writing. Thank you for making us aware of the things we take for granted!
Most of the writers I know play background music of some stripe when they’re working. I’m one of those who wants it quiet. I think it’s because I’m a former musician, and when music is playing I tend to stop and give it my full attention.
But not all music. Oh, no.
There’s a guy in an apartment across the alley from our condo unit who plays Bollywood pop tunes incredibly loudly into the late hours. The universal language notwithstanding, I have to say that I am not a big fan of the Indian popular music. In fact, it drives me absolutely I’m-calling-the-cops crazy.
The flip side of the coin with regard to the ubiquitous availability of music is that now everybody has a soundtrack to the “Me” movie. It used to be that musical events were something special, and they were communal, to be shared. They brought people together. Now it’s folks boxing their eyes to avoid all human contact when walking down the street while their brains are being vibrated by ear buds.
I love to listen to music while writing. It is almost a necessity as I block everything else out. At first, it took me a bit to figure out how much the lyrics would change my own thoughts, let alone the writing style. I wont listen to certain things, so it is doubtful that you will ever see anything bubbly or gushy come from me. I tend to prefer more grit.
As far as your too many Spocks scenario, if you added a short fierce woman into the mix, it would turn into a rather amusing comedy.
Great post as always. I wish there was a facebook app that would tell me it is Thursday.
I do a lot of my writing after work in the evening and we have a local show on the radio that plays jazz…
Note: Sci-Fi writer Mike Resnick writes listening to Big Band and jazz. That’s why he titled one of his stories The Chinese Sandman…
I wear earplugs when I write. I want no sound. However, when I plot I often listen to music — to get me in the mood of the setting. I often play the piano, as well.
I once, as a writing exercise, made a “mix tape” for my main character — he was making it for his girlfriend (what songs would he want on it and why?). A reasonably revealing exercise.
I have to listen to music while writing. The only computer my family owned was positioned in the den, which opens up directly onto the living room, for years. And we had two of my sisters and their families living on either side of our house. Can you imagine the noise when all their kids came over to play? Now it’s a habit and I can’t think when it’s too quiet in my room. I even find it unnatural when neither the heater nor the air conditioner isn’t humming in the background.
It doesn’t really matter what music I listen to, though. It depends on the tempo. If it’s a fast song, with disregard to dark or upbeat, I’m typing like crazy. If it’s slow, same disregard, I’m thinking about where I want to take it next.
Anyway, very good article. I just wish I’d come to read it sooner. =) *thumbs up*