Ever try this?

[PPaul]

I've been looking for song ideas which are "literature related". I'm thinking about putting together a few musical sketches about topics, characters, or experiences from authors whose books have become iconic benchmarks because lots of people have read them(or maybe seen the movie?). The characters from "Hitchikers Guide" seem to have lots of potential. Also Ignatius J. Reilly and the narrator of Poe's "Nevermore". There ae lots & lots of examples. I'd like to use some 'inside' jokes that people who have read the work will get.

 

Anybody ever consider this kind of thing? Lots of popular published authors are very good with creating images with words, and maybe I can steal -errrr-learn to emulate thier methods or styles.

 

PPPPPPPPaul

[I I mjrn]

Mmmmm....

Not sure exactly what you have in mind.

 

There have been various songs that mention fictional characters, books, etc.

One thing you'd have to avoid is quoting much directly from sources.

[Archer]

I myself, like to put in jokes/references that mean a lot to me regardless if anyone else understands. I don't worry about being overtly obvious that way and those who "get it" have a more meaningful connection with the song. Sometimes the joke is watching everyone scratch their head when their is true meaning. Also, I don't always feel I have to explain myself to everyone. YMMV

[shniggens]

"Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear.

How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.

T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.

But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah."

[Blue Strat]

...And against my better judgement I went walking out that door,

I smiled at one person then nodded to two or three more,

One man asked me for a dollar, I asked him what it's for,

He said, "I have seen them!" I said, "Ok, it's yours."

 

And as featured on the MTV,

the local high-school lets out and the town becomes anarchy.

Parties are crashed, skid marks are measured,

the story's in the paper; you may read it at your leasure.

 

Get up! Eject! Escape from the Prison Planet!

 

- Clutch Escape From The Prison Planet

[Dr Nursers]

I've always wondered why there hasn't been a symphonic work of Lord of the Rings done.

 

Or even a musical

[Flemtone]

Well you should see my story reading baby, you should hear the things that she says,

She says "Hon, drop dead, I'd rather go to bed with Gabriel Garcia Marquez."

 

Cuddle up with William S. Burroughs, leave on the light for Bell Hooks,

I've been flirtin' with Pierre Burton 'cause he's so smart in his books

 

I like to go out dancing,

My baby loves a bunch of authors

My heart's so broke and bleedin'

Baby's just sitting there

doing some reading

 

So I started watching some TV, played my new cd player too,

She said: "Turn it off or I'll call the cops and I'll throw the book at you."

All this arguing made me get dizzy, called my doctor to come have a look

I said: "Doctor hurry!" He said:

"Don't worry, I'll be over when I finish my book"

 

I like to go out dancing,

My baby loves a bunch of authors

We've been livin in hovels

Spendin' all our money on

brand new novels

 

So I got myself on a streetcar and it drove right into someone,

You know the driver said:

"I was lookin' straight ahead!"

But he was reading the Toronto Sun.

So my honey and me go to a counsellor to help figure out what we need

She said: "We'll get your love growing,

but before we get going, here's some books I'd like you to read."

 

I like to go out dancing,

My baby loves a bunch of authors

Lately we've had some fricton

'Cause my baby's hooked on

short works of fiction

 

So we split and went to a party, some friends my girl said she knew

But what a sight 'cause it's authors night and the place looks like a who's who

Now I'm pounding the ouzo

with Mario Puzo

Who's a funny fella?

W.P. Kinsella

Who brought the cat?

Would Margeret Atwood?

Who needs a shave?

He's Robertson Davies!

 

Ondaatje started a food fight, salmon mousse all over the scene

Spilled some dressing on Doris Lessing, these writer types are a scream!

 

I like to go out dancing,

My baby loves a bunch of authors

We'll be together for ages

Eatin' and Sleepin' and

Eatin' and Sleepin' and

Eating und Sleeping und

Turnin' pages.

 

-Moxy Fruvous,

"My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors"

 

peace,

Tim from Jersey

[cherri]

I pull from literature, poetry, & non-fiction, all the time. One of the tunes on Empty Pockets, Mirror Mirror, has Grimm's fairy tale princesses in images - the gals are in parentheses beside their lyrics:

 

Bleeding fingers, spinning wheel (sleeping beauty)

Shards of glass in my heels (cinderella)

Mirror, Mirror in the dark

Take this crystal ball apart

 

Braided hair makes flimsy rope (rapunzel)

Poison apple in my throat (snow white)

raven hair has gone to grey

ruby lips fade away

 

and so on through the end of the song.

 

Surprisingly, one of our reviewers completely re-interpreted "Fretting For Nothing". I wrote it as a lighthearted joke because my husband and I call each other throughout the day n our cell phones. The reviewer interpreted it to be about jealousy. Sinister fella.

[PPaul]

Thanks all - some great help here!

 

I considered LOTR but it would be too huge a project . Love the Moxy song, and Cherri's summary of the Princesses. Maybe a 'what happened next/where are they now?' tune about the princesses would be fun.

 

Anyway I'm narrowing my focus down - to one widely read, easily recognized story or character. If you got any suggestions.....?

 

PPaul

[cherri]

Maybe a 'what happened next/where are they now?' tune about the princesses would be fun.

The upshot of that whole song is that even princesses age. Like the stepmother in Snow White - she was once a beatiful princess, too. Because she was so focused on the surface appearances she developed a rotten core. It's a long song.

 

A widely read, recognized story or character - there are so many! Try to choose one that represents a character type, rather than trendy. A trendy character will be quickly forgotten, but an archetypal character will enable the song to resonate with a wider audience.

[Fulc]

Originally posted by PPaul:

Maybe a 'what happened next/where are they now?' tune about the princesses would be fun.

A lovestruck Romeo sings a street suss serenade...

[I I mjrn]

Originally posted by PPaul:

... narrowing my focus down - to one widely read, easily recognized story or character. If you got any suggestions.....?

 

PPaul

It would probably be better if the subject was one in which you had an strong interest; that adds to your verve in development...not only working faster but your imagery would be more developed & therefore of more interest.

 

Personally I find Lewis Carroll an interesting figure who's semi-well known & has a connection to fictional characters who're very well known, but not so much that you couldn't do some creative development on them. There's been that Grace Slick song ("What Rabbit?" ) & a couple tunes refering to but not about the Walrus & Carpenter but there's a wealth of other possibilities & you could explore the connection of fictional characters with their real-life inspirations or the qualities of Carroll's nature that led him to develop not only these creation but an alter ego for himself.

 

Others off the top o my head:

Michael Smith, character in bigtime 1960s sci-fi novel Stranger in a Strange Land;

Harry Potter, very populer ncurrently, you'd just have to be a bit coy to avoid legal wrangle;

Jes Grew, character in Ishmael Reed's Mumbo Jumbo, which is positively crying out for a musical setting. The books about how blues inlfected (or infected ) music spread like a disease though American pop culture.

[ibescotty]

Hey Paul,

 

I have been trying to add vocal content to a Prog rock act lately and In doing so I've decided to try and write a song around the some D-Day experiances. Granted that's not fictional but there are lots of books on the topic and I think it will be perfect in covering a range of emotions that I'll need to hit on. In my case the music is already written and it has lots of changes in texture. If your writing the song from scratch with no music in mind then the flexibility is there to wrap the music around any story you want.

 

Of course as you know I'm still somewhat new at adding lyrics and vocal to a song, but I'm getting much better as compared to the digital divide days

[whitefang]

Back in the '60's, a member of the folk group The Dillards, I think it was, put various classic poetry to music. The only one I heard was Joan Baez's version of Poe's "Annabelle Lee".

 

It was pretty damned good!

 

Whitefang