Songs for Certain Settings

This was similarly covered in another thread. Personally, I'd just skip them. It won't mean a thing to your readers if they don't know or don't like the song, and for those who do know the music, it won't mean the same thing as it does for you.

If you have to "set the mood" with songs, then something in your writing isn't working.

I have to agree with katiemac here. If I don't know the song, I won't know what mood you're trying to set. If I do know the song, it might mean something different to me that'll trump whatever you're trying to get across.

One way you might make it work is to clue in the reader about what the song means to the character, but I think it'll grow old quickly if you do it for a whole bunch of songs.

Register another vote here for skipping them. They don't mean to the reader what they mean to you. If the thing you were trying to get across needs to be in that scene, you'll have to find another way to convey it.

I don’t think there would be anything wrong in referring to a song maybe once or twice in your story but I wouldn’t overdo it. And when you do, imply what mood the song brings to mind for the character for any reader who doesn’t know the song. For example:

Jack sat alone in his apartment listening to the radio. They were playing the old Beatles song Yesterday. That wistful song about long-ago youth and longing for a simplier existence always brought back tender memories for Jack.


Just a suggestion.

ac

Using song to set the mood is usually an author thing. I use songs to set moods all the time (in my mind). My advice? Skip them or at least, don't expect the readers get it. Like KatieMac said, if the readers don't know the songs, they mean nothing to them. And even if they do, the songs probably mean different things to them. Books are strange that way, unlike movies or TV where an appropriate song can definitely set the mood.

When I include a song title (only occasionally), I try to give a flavor of what it is about and why it's relevant:

My preference: Mention that there's music playing. Don't mention the specific work. Mention the artist only your audience is almost sure to know them, and only if what's conveyed by mentioning them is already conveyed by other cues. The important thing to do is to describe the music itself, and how it functions:Here's the test: what are the specific pieces of music you imagined were being played in my examples?

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In my heart of hearts, I know that the rock and roll being played is "Heard it Through the Grapevine," "Mony Mony," and assorted Elton John, Rolling Stones, and Grateful Dead standarads. The guy on the piano in Eddie's casino is playing Duke Ellington. And the C&W vocalist Bob's listening to is Patsy Cline singing "I Fall to Pieces."

Maybe that's what you heard too. Or maybe not. Your rock playlist might have been twenty years younger than mine. Your jazz pianist could have been noodling around on something by Dave Brubeck or Thelonious Monk or Earl Hines. And if you didn't know who Patsy was, you could still tell it was a lachrymose C&W lament. Thing was, you all heard the music.

The point of mentioning music in fiction isn't what a specific piece of music means to you. The point is what the music does for your story. If you describe what kind of music it is and how it functions in that scene, your readers will fill in with appropriate artists and recordings that they're familiar with. That way you'll get the effect you want, and nobody will be left staring at a reference to a song or artist they've never heard of.

I've written a novel in which one of the main characters is a fan of a pretty obscure musical genre and the title of the novel's a reference to the genre. What I've tried to make sure is that references to bands, individuals, songs, (I don't quote lyrics) are written within the context of developing that character, so even if 95% of readers haven't a clue who they are it doesn't matter.

One added bonus is that fans of the genre are a ready made (if probably critical) audience/marketing channel and I'm already tapping into this to help get published.


The Novel that Celebrates Itself

slowjames makes a good point. You know, maybe reading a book or two like his would be a good place for ideas. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby is centered around a record store. For extra credit watch the movie and see how they changed the music refs to fit a different city.

On the other hand, George Pelecanos fills his novels with a large number of songs of a certain era depending on when the stories take place.

Click to expand...

Which is all well and good if you're working on a historical piece. Then, it's more like a fun edition for those who either lived the time or are hoping to learn about it. But, if your story's set in the present and isn't supposed to capture the period, most likely all you're going to do is date your book.

Almost everyone I know has made multiple itunes playlists to correspond to their mood.

Songs for a club? Hm... last club I was at played The Strokes and Louis XIV and the like. It would really depend on the type of club though. This one had a younger target audience.

Any kind of pop culture: music, movies, books, songs, video games, etc.... you risk losing the readers because they don't know the reference. It doesn't mean you shouldn't mention it (quoting lyrics, etc. is different -- you need permission). Stephen King does it all the time. I simply skip the reference if I don't know the stuff he mentions.

If you take care of putting your pop culture references in context, it enhances that "dream state" you're building for your readers, even if they don't know the song, movie, etc. But if you just throw the title out, expecting it to "say it all," then you're making a mistake:

"I stepped on the gas, feeling like the ending of Thelma and Louise." -- Huh?

"I felt a sense of resignation, and peace in knowing that I'd be alright, like in the ending of Thelma and Louise, when the two women held hands and smiled at each other..." -- even if the readers have never seen the movie, hopefully they understand what you're talking about


Remember, like soundtracks in a movie, these references are there to help the mood, but the main focus is still the story. Get your story right. Take out the references and see if your story still holds. If so, then add the references like extra flavors, if you want.

There's no right or wrong answer, but I would advise (like most) skipping, or being sparing.

BUT the thing with pop culture is that it is popular. Most references if chosen well will work.

One of my stories appeared in 'Bullet' magazine a couple of issues ago; they specialise in sub 1,500 word stories, and their tag line is 'Rock and Roll Noir'.

Pop culture is what they're about.

Setting the scene in as few words as possible (the whole story weighed in at 530 words), i started the story:

Dancer is strutting down Main Street, he’s thinking Ramones but his body language is shouting Tony Manero, Bee-Gees, Staying Alive, the mirrored aviators and wavy shoulder length black hair making him look like a ‘70’s throwback.
It helped that I knew their editor is a major Ramones fan.