In my last post I talked about songs that inspired characters or story ideas. So I thought it would be cool for Friday Five to give five examples. It's not as easy as I thought it would be. I'm even having such a hard time remembering these things that I've busted out the idea cards. My giant stack of index cards that each list a story idea that I've had.
Hotel California by the Eagles- I know this is really a story itself but there are so many unanswered questions. Like why this guy is out wondering around? Who are the people in the hotel and why are they there? So my story came to me when I started imagining the answers. It didn't really turn out all that similar except for the crazy hotel part.
Wicked Game by Chris Isaak- To be honest I wasn't really familiar with this song until Jenni and another co-worker were talking about it. And if you would have heard what the co-worker said about it you would have wanted to know exactly what was so "great" about it.
It didn't inspire a new story but it inspired parts for a story I was already working on. Why would someone not want to fall in love? Why would making someone fall in love with you be a wicked game? More questions that needed answers.
Deny by Default-Most people probably have no idea what this song is. It was a hit the year after I graduated and they played it like every hour on the hour so it really got drilled into my head. It's really only the first lines that inspired me. "Today I woke up and you were gone.The whole day wondering what I did wrong." For some reason that made my mind drift to what would happen if that someone had been so devastated that the person was gone in the morning that they committed suicide. Then later you find out the person had only went to get breakfast. Kind of like a Romeo & Juliet of one night stands.
Dragula by Rob Zombie- Really it's just about any Rob Zombie song that gave me this idea. They remind me of people that I knew in high school that thought it would be cool to be zombies, vampires, witches or undead and evil in anyway. The song(s) made me start to wonder what those people would have done if they were faced with real vampires and witches and what the undead would think of people pretending to be them.
Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper- When I was about 4 I was obsessed with Cyndi Lauper. And I remember her saying in this song "If you're lost, you can look and you will find me..." During this phase of my life I was with my parents at Sears and I got lost in the clothes racks. When I found my way out my parents were no where around. I didn't know what to do but all I could remember was what Cyndi Lauper had said in her song. So I ran through the store in extreme excitement realizing that I was lost and if I looked I would find Cyndi Lauper and I could go home with her. I was so mad when my parents found me I thought they had totally ruined my chances to meet Cyndi Lauper. I thought it would be interesting and kind of experimental to write it from the little kids point of view, how they don't realize that songs and movies aren't real.
Or it could make a children's story. Like the Wizard of Oz where you go off looking for something better but find out what you wanted all along was in your own back yard. Of course, mine would have a different kind of ending because I have no idea why Dorothy ever wanted to leave Oz.
There are five examples of how I come up with my story ideas. I haven't actually made a complete story out of any of these. They're just ideas in different stages.
I would have went and found the links to all these songs but my computer keeps randomly shutting stuff down. I think it needs a break. Plus, I'm a slacker.
Besides I started Friday Five as an easy, effortless way to update my blog more often. How simple? A quick list and I'm done. Yet, this post has taken me over a half an hour to write. No wonder I never get anything done.
Just watched: The Virgin Suicides
Currently reading: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2 comments:
I love the Cyndi Lauper story! That's hysterical!
Back in 1990 a friend of mine was visiting me in Maryland. We went out to see Terminator 2. While we were waiting in line oiuside of the theater, there was a young couple with a six-year-old-or-so son. He started to climb the brick wall, carefully finding finger and toeholds. (I think the wall was made in a style where every third brick stuck halfway out of the wall, so this wasn't that hard for a six-year-old.) When his parents told him to stop it, he told them he wanted to see if Billy Idol was on top of the wall. I wonder if they were as familiar with the "Dancing With Myself" video as he was?
Did you know that Dragula was the name of Grampa Munster's dragster? Allegedly the song is about it, though I've never been able to hear the lyrics to be sure. "More Human Than Human" is an homage to Blade Runner - not only is the title from there, but so is the last line ("I want more life...").
Maryland? I meant Delaware. Why the heck did I say Maryland?
I remembered another kids-and-music story: about 15 years ago I had a friend whose son was about six. I was over their house at Christmastime, and he had some of his toys on the kitchen table: a good-looking poseable Tyrannosaurus Rex, about a foot tall, a four-inch Michaelangelo figure from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a few other things. Without warning, the six-year-old grabbed the Michaelangelo figure and mounted him on the T. Rex's neck, and began to sing "Michael rode the dinosaur", to the tune of the Gospel song "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore". I was blown away by the pun, the perfect matching of the meter, everything. Kids are pretty amazing with music.
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