How Music Shaped My Debut Novel
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My debut novel LOVE’S A DISASTER is out NOW and I have created a playlist of songs to accompany the book!
Why is this a thing authors do now? I don’t know! But I’m honestly very happy about it.
Music plays a HUGE role in LOVE’S A DISASTER so a playlist or soundtrack kind of does make sense in this case. First, the book begins with a marriage proposal by Caleb to Sadie at a punk rock concert in Florida. This is no secret; it’s in the summary text found on the book cover so I’m not giving anything away here. Second, Sadie is a musician. She plays guitar, sings, writes songs, and teaches music. She also worked as a professional in the music industry. I don’t get into this much because jobs in books tend to bore me, but the job does play a small but important role in the book’s ending.
So, the book is pretty saturated with music. Why? Because I like music. Big fan. Hope I’m not offending any music haters in the audience by admitting this but sometimes you have to take risks. If Caleb can put it all on the line by proposing in the muddy mosh pit, the least I can do is own up to enjoying music.
To be clear, I’m not particularly musical (though I can play a singular song on the ukelele… is it “Basket Case”? Yes, it is “Basket Case”), I just like listening to songs sometimes.
I’m not going to talk about every song on the playlist because some are just songs I like that fit the overall vibe of the book. But I am going to highlight some of them and explain my choices.
You can listen to the LOVE’S A DISASTER playlist on Apple Music and Spotify.
“Waiting” by Green Day — Love this song and it was always going to be first on the playlist for a very specific reason. I’ve mentioned this before but I know most of you don’t follow me as closely as I follow myself so it bears repeating. The idea for the initial premise of this book (what would happen if a guy proposed to his girlfriend at a punk rock concert?) came from a Green Day message board. A decade or two ago I was perusing the message board and found a thread in which a guy said he proposed at a Green Day concert during a specific song.
“Waiting” was the song.
This simple post stuck with me for a long time, and in particular, the possibility of disaster associated with proposing in such an odd and public place. There is another layer to the comedy involving the song Caleb chose to propose during that isn’t revealed until later in the book, but I did base some aspects of that song, which is by the fictional punk rock band The Pigeontoes, on “Waiting.” You’ll have to read carefully (or skim through until you find it) to learn more about that.
Favorite lyric: “Well, I’m so much closer than / I have ever known / Wake up!”
“Gone Away” by The Marked Men
So, this one is mostly about the title (Sadie has gone away after the proposal… and other important people in the book have also gone away), but I also wanted a song from The Marked Men on here because I love this band. Additionally, their punk rock aesthetic fits the overall vibe of the book.
Favorite lyric (I think… it’s tough to find lyrics for this one or make them out fully in the song): “Just when I thought it’s safe to turn around / I realized my life turned upside down”
“Florida!!!” by Taylor Swift (feat. Florence + The Machine)
Again, obvious. Florida is a BIG part of this book. Also, my daughter would be mad if I didn’t have a Taylor song on here. And I love Florence’s voice.
You might be asking yourself, is there a joke about a dead body in a lake/swamp in the book? You better believe there is.
Favorite lyric (naturally): “So I did my best to lay to rest / All of the bodies that have ever been on my body / And in my mind, they sink into the swamp / Is that a bad thing to say in a song?”
“Carmina Burana: O Fortuna” by Carl Orff and the London Philharmonic
Did I mention Caleb’s primary hobby is sword fighting? You know, the kind where you dress up in medieval regalia and go to town on each other?
Why did I choose this hobby? Well, I think I was taking that writing advice you see everywhere to be unique and create memorable characters. Of course, everyone is probably shouting, “No, not like that,” but live and learn, I guess. Next time I’ll just make everyone writers. But this time, the world gets HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts)!
I’ve seen a troupe at my local park several times over the past few years and my friend in high school used to go sit on the monkey bars and watch sword fighters do their thing way back in the late twentieth century (I never joined him because I didn’t do things with friends and it seemed way too awkward).
Any way you slice it, sword fighting truly is a timeless pastime.
Favorite lyric (obviously): “O Fortuna / velut luna”
“Give Me Novacaine / She’s a Rebel” by Green Day
I always forget these songs are paired together on the original album but that works perfectly for me here. LOVE’S A DISASTER is a funny book, yes, but there is also a lot of emotion, personal loss, and sadness. To me, “Give Me Novacaine” is a song about this need humans have to escape and feel dead to the world when it all gets to be too much. Every character in the book (and probably every person on the planet) understands this need.
On the flip side, “She’s a Rebel” is vibrant and delves into what it means to live dangerously. This is a song for Sadie. It exemplifies who she is… or more accurately, who she’s always wanted to be.
Favorite lyric: “Give me a long kiss goodnight / And everything’ll be alright / Tell me that I won’t feel a thing”
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day
Simply one of my favorite songs and one that features heavily in the book. I’m not going to get into it here because it would give away too much, but it’s very important to the story.
Favorite lyric: “My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me / My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating”
“The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World
Another banger that is super important to Sadie’s character arc.
Favorite lyric: “You know you’re doing better on your own / So don’t buy in”
“Voyager” by boygenius
This one’s a bit out of left field but it is a haunting little song and it has one key lyric, which I’m marking as my favorite, that ties into a side story in the book. It’s not a perfect match but it’s a bit eerie having discovered this song after the book was complete.
Favorite lyric: “Then there are nights you say you don’t remember / When you stepped on the gas and you asked if I’m ready to die”
“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day
Another key one in the book for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s a classic breakup song. In Billie Joe Armstrong’s words, “It’s about trying to be cool, accepting that, in life, people go in different directions. People come into your life, and it’s wonderful, but they seem to go out of your life as quickly as they came in.”
This is a central theme of LOVE’S A DISASTER. The transitory nature of relationships, love, and life itself.
Second, this song features directly in one of my favorite scenes in the book when Sadie plays music in a park. It’s a very pivotal scene in Sadie’s storyline.
Favorite lyric: “Tattoos of memories, and dead skin on trial / For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while”
“Church on Sunday” by Green Day
I’ve always loved the visual of the phrase “mascara tears” that I first heard in this song. I flipped this idea around and gave the mascara tears to Caleb in the first chapter of LOVE’S A DISASTER, which you can read right now!
Favorite lyric: “Making your mascara bleed / Tears down your face / Leaving traces of my mistakes”
“Here to Forever” by Death Cab for Cutie
I happened to hear this song on the radio late one night when I was driving. I was drafting the final portion of the book at the time and I knew I needed to reference one particular lyric.
Favorite lyric: “In every movie I watch from the ’50s / There’s only one thought that swirls / Around my head now / And that’s that everyone there on the screen / Yeah, everyone there on the screen / Well, they’re all dead now”
“Call Your Mom” by Noah Kahan
I discovered this song well after I finished writing the book and it kind of blew me away. There is an important sequence involving Caleb’s sister, Lauren, that occurs late in the book. When I picture that scene as a movie, this song is playing in the background.
Looking at the bigger picture, this song captures the dynamic of Caleb’s entire family. How hard it can be to keep moving forward when things get dark. How it sometimes feels impossible to keep living. How important it is to have someone in your corner who will make that call when you need it most.
Favorite lyric: “Don’t let this darkness fool you / All lights turned off can be turned on/ I’ll drive, I’ll drive all night / I’ll call your mom”
“Tear in My Heart” by Twenty One Pilots
This song starts with the lyric “Sometimes you gotta bleed to know / That you’re alive and have a soul” which is an objectively amazing opening line for a song and one that encapsulates Caleb and Sadie’s relationship. And then later there is this gem: “My heart is my armor / She’s the tear in my heart / She’s a carver / She’s a butcher with a smile / Cut me farther / Than I’ve ever been.”
I mean, the armor reference is too good to pass up.
Favorite lyric: I’ve already given you two so let’s move along.
“The Only Exception” by Paramore
The take-home message for this song is that, basically, love is a complete disaster but it’s worth it anyway. That’s pretty much also the life lesson that LOVE’S A DISASTER tries to deliver. I feel like every single character would relate to this song, particularly the favorite lyric listed below. I picture this song playing during the penultimate scenes of the book leading into this last song…
Favorite lyric: “And up until now I had sworn to myself / That I’m content with loneliness / Because none of it was ever worth the risk”
“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
Schmaltzy? Yes. A good pairing for the book? Also, yes!
Maybe instead of looking for love in unexpected places, it’s better to find it right where we are.
Favorite lyric: “Take me into your loving arms / Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars / Place your head on my beating heart / I’m thinking out loud / Maybe we found love right where we are”
Whew, this feels long! But we made it. Or at least I did. If anyone is still reading (congrats on your perseverance), I would love for you to read LOVE’S A DISASTER. And if you do, stop back by and tell me which songs I should add to the playlist!
Andrew Knott is a writer of essays, humor, and now, a novel. You can subscribe to his newsletter for updates. His debut novel is Love’s a Disaster (Bayou Rose Press).