Because I think it’s interesting to look at, and despite the fact that this was a soundtrack to a movie I wrote in high school, where my creative writing teacher said “write about superheroes in a week” and I… inadvertently wrote a movie that was basically about Sookie Stackhouse (no, seriously, she was a telepathic Southern waitress played by Anna Paquin in my head; I’d never heard of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and the series was two or three years away) it’s still, in my opinion, a pretty cool soundtrack, or at least one that made sense. Mixing soundtracks is fun. And songs should at least make sense in some way. You shouldn’t just throw them in ’cause they’re cool.
- Jackie Wilson Said (I’m In Heaven When You Smile) (Van Morrison). The movie began in 1981, so I needed an older rock song that sounded upbeat. And considering this song begins with whistling, I thought it would be a good beginning to the film. In this scene, one of the characters being introduced was being painted as somewhat of an innocent, so whistling suited.
- Susie-Q (Creedence Clearwater Revival). This song is also older, but it’s always sounded sort of gritty to me. Perfect for explaining the sort of bar that the scene was supposed to be set in.
- After Hours (The Velvet Underground). I’d loved this song since a friend put it on a mix I wound up in possession of; the exact pretentious phrase I used in the scene directions to describe its effect was “reverberating melancholy.”
- Gigantic (The Pixies). A lot of these songs were gifts from friends, a lot of them were from mixtapes, but I used this song because I liked that it was playful and a little naughty.
- Summertime (Me First and the Gimme Gimmes). Used in a dinerscene, even though I well knew that no real life diner would play that song. It’s a cover of the Gershwin tune, and it’s kind of cool, but I liked that it felt old/new at the same time. This was in a pre-transitional period in my protagonist’s story, so the dichotomy suited.
- Pretty Ballerina (Left Banke). La la, another mixtape gift, which the characters actually ended up discussing in the script; it’s another one of those melancholy ones that I just liked and wanted to use, basically.
- Not What You Want (Sleater-Kinney). My protagonist was angry. I liked to imagine that there was a radio station that might have actually played some riot grrl.
- Moonage Daydream (David Bowie). It had been present day in the story for a while now, but this was during a scene where the protagonist felt like she was sort of giving in and taking the easy way out, following a path laid out for her by her elders. So an old song needed to happen.
- One After 909 (The Beatles). The jukebox in the bar where the characters worked was being turned by a character who was a little bit of a hippie. And I couldn’t not use a Beatles song.
- Little Girls (Oingo Boingo). Least subtle ever, but the protagonist’s dad was creeping on some twentysomethings. It needed to happen.
- Jolene (The White Stripes). Wherein the protagonist was trying to put a new spin on her life, even if it was someone else’s path and she didn’t like it. Cover song. Also, this song is fantastic.
- My Slumbering Heart (Rilo Kiley). The protagonist had been working in this old bar for a while now, but this is the first song we get from her updated jukebox collection. Modern music with a lady singer. (Up to this point, all of the lady singers have been consciously chosen by the protagonist.)
- Four Wheeling (Elastica). One of two tracks I shamelessly stole from the Gilmore Girls soundtrack. What of it? I liked that this song was relatively upbeat, though not chipper.
- Strange Kind of Woman (Deep Purple). There are still some old tracks, classicism and whatnot, but this was chosen by the protagonist in the scene leading up to the revelation of her having superpowers. So.
- Special Death (Mirah). Literally I just needed a creepy song for a girl to play on her guitar during a blackout, and I’ve mentioned before that I love this damn song and will use it every way I can.
- Something Borrowed, Something Blue (Ben Lee). Relatively mellow, tame, but still interesting, bar music. Nothing to see here.
- It’s Alright Baby (Komeda). Gilmore Girls ripoff, part two. Again the protagonist’s choice, here a conscious effort on her part to be, well, alright.
- Love Affair (Regina Spektor). And again chosen by the protagonist, reflecting her relatively rocky reuniting with a former flame. And I love this damn song so much. I like the rhythm of it.
Hardly an experiment in subtlety, but hardly a disjointed mess either.
–your fangirl heroine.
partlydrawn 