When I’m writing I usually end up collecting songs which connect to the book and A Darkness at the End is no different. Each song represents either a character, a place, an event or a general theme of the whole book. So here’s the playlist for it, and a link to the playlist on YouTube. Enjoy and let me know if there are any you think should be in there as well (and why).
Like everyone else I woke up this morning to the news that David Bowie passed away. The shock makes it feel not quite real. I was pretty certain that if anyone was immortal, or had some sort of extended fae life, it was him.
Everyone has their favourites, their face of David Bowie.
I grew up with Bowie as a soundtrack. With older sisters, his music was very much part of our household. Hunky Dory, still my favorite album, is the same age as me. Life on Mars resonates across years, more meaningful each time I listen.
Bowie made magical music, about life, death and everything in between. Love songs, and tragedies, comical, meaningful… words that make you think, that continue to inspire. The imagery he could create in just a few words, the emotions he could convey, the breadth of his work and the art he made in sound and vision… these are the things that continue. He showed us that the weird, the different, the magical is all part of life and that we can embrace it, within ourselves and without.
Somewhere still Major Tom, the Starman, Ziggy Stardust or the Goblin King is waiting.
In case anyone ever doubted it, the ball scene in The Treachery of Beautiful Things is based on this scene from the wonderful Labyrinth and the song As The World Falls Down.
Obviously music is important in A Crack in Everything so I thought I would share some of the songs that inspired various aspects of the story and the characters. There are actually a lot more than on this list (it changes as the mood takes me), and some versions I personally prefer to others. I tried to restrict this list to one song by an artist, but… yeah, I’m not very good at that in real life. There’s a lot of Florence + the Machine and Camille O’Sullivan going on at the best of times. And two Camille covers just had to be the ones.
I could go on for ages about the different songs and why I picked them. If you’ve any questions, just ask.
There’s also a YouTube playlist but not all of the versions I chose are up there, so we’ve Elkie Brook’s version of Lilac Wine instead of Camille O’Sullivan for example. Why not Jeff Buckley? Well… there’s a debate for another day. Why The Fratelli’s version of All Along the Watchtower?
I am a big fan of covers and reinterpretation, especially in music. I like new versions of old things. I like seeing things afresh. And sometimes they say something a little bit closer to what I was aiming for in the book.
Hope you enjoy.
One of the recurring themes in The Treachery of Beautiful Things is the traditional tune “Haste to the Wedding”. It is the tune with which Tom first wakes the trees, and the tune which lures Jenny into the Realm seven years later.
This is one of my favourite versions of it, as it captures all the different nuances in this piece of music. The introduction, played by Sharon Corr is simply beautiful, while the main tune, Part 2 (as used in the book), kicks off about the 3.33 minute mark and is builds in life an energy as the music turns from traditional to modern (and Mick Fleetwood joins in on drums). If you don’t want to listen to the whole thing, listen to that. But you’ll be missing out.
Enjoy!
I’m so glad Warner music has this on Youtube so I can share it with you.