I was chatting with Janna the other day about our favorite song, Hallelujah. It’s by Leonard Cohen, but it’s been covered by everyone under the sun including Bono and KD Lang, but my favorites are the Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, Damien Rice and Lisa covers – Lisa is a lovely Dutch girl with a fantastic voice. Thank you Janna for introducing me to her version!
Talking about this song made me think of the my go-to songs for writing. While each book’s soundtrack changes, there are some songs that are constants. Here’s my top five writing songs. None of them are particularly happy. Mostly they’re about struggling relationships or dysfunctional relationships and for some reason, that makes good writing music – for me, anyway. Not sure what that says about me as a person other than I love me some wangsty music.
I have tons of other favorite songs ’cause I’m a music girl, but these always do it for me. Well, these and pretty much every song on Counting Crows August and Everything After.
Damien Rice – Rootless Tree
In the Sun – Joseph Arthur
Wonderwall – Ryan Adams (Oasis Cover)
Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan -Volcano
Hallelujah – Rufus Wainwright (Leonard Cohen cover)
You already knew I'm a fan of Damien Rice, so I'm thrilled to know that you write to these songs of him 🙂
And yes, Hallelujah is a good one to write to as well! I'm glad you like the Lisa version that much 😉
Great topic for a blogpost!
Hey Girl
I only wish I could write to music… heck, I can rarely run to it… need to be inside my own head too much..
As for Hallelujah… I love the version from Shrek the best… not sure who sang that one… yeah, it all comes back to kid movies… the story of my life.
Right now, I'm stuck on Daughtry's new album… that and Nickleback (good 'ole Canadian band, lol).
hugs,
me
I have Hallelujah covered by 16 different artists… and not Lisa! *gasp*
I'll have to make you a mix sometime. I'm not strong on happy mixes, but oh yeah, you want misery? I gotcher misery right her!
@ Janna – Love, love, love me some Damien Rice. LOVE HIM! 😀 Have you heard Peter Bradley Adams? You might like him, too.
@ Kris – It was Rufus Wainwright, baby! 😀
@ Chris – You slacker, you. You must get Lisa's! You're a woman after my own heart – give me a sad song over a happy one any day. I'd love a mix from you!
I made one for my my friend Jen called, “I'll Give You Something to Cry About.” In response, she made one for me called, “No, I'll Give You Something to Cry About, Bitch.”
I made a sad Celtic mix for my sister Cait called, “It's Not a Celtic Love Song Unless Somebody Dies.”
Hmm. I think you need some Flash Girls on your mix. Maybe “Tea & Corpses” or “Autopsy of Our Love”… (Neil Gaiman wrote some of their lyrics. Emma Bull & Neil's assistant Lorraine sing.)
You must, must, must listen to The Tea Party if you want sad songs. They invented them. Want to hear the sad song perfected? Go with Bright Eyes. OMG that man's voice, even when singing what should be an upbeat lyric, brings me to tears every time.
XoXoXo
Dakota Rebel
I'm with Kris. I LOVE Daughtry and Nickelback! Also, I've created some of my best scenes to Prince, Bon Jovi, and Aqua.
Oh yes, I like his music and voice too. Very much! I'm listening to The longer I Run right now 🙂
(LOL re the mix titles)