Soundtrack to SWOON

In a previous incarnation, it was my job to follow musicians around and listen to the records they made and opine about that in print. It was fun, a huge record collection ensued, and the swag was interesting (ask me sometime about the chastity belt I received via UPS). The experience also informed the novels 6X: The Uncensored Confessions and 6X: Loud, Fast, and Out of Control (see OTHER WRITING).

Music remains central to the quality of my life, but when I’m writing it’s anathema, a distraction. I write in a refrigerator box, where it’s quiet and smells like paper. Still, music intrudes, as scenes or characters strongly suggest or connect to certain songs. Hence the following Soundtrack to SWOON. Have a look. Have a listen. Create your own Sonic SWOON. Share your playlist with other SWOONIES. And share it with me—maybe you'll turn me on to something new (I haven’t discovered any new bands in a long time, unless I happen to know them personally). Share, also, because it’s a contest! Mm-hmm, comment back with your personal “SOUNDTRACK TO SWOON” by 15 August 2009 and you’re entered to win a signed eight-CD edition of SWOON, the audiobook (fun on interminably long road trips and/or to torture loved ones instead of the musical selections you otherwise use to torture them).

If you’d like to hear a five-minute sample of SWOON, read by the lovely and talented Caitlin Greer, go to http://books.simonandschuster.com/Swoon/Nina-Malkin/9780743582001. You can also hear a smaller snippet and download the SWOON CDs directly to your iPod at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=315002321&s=143441

Enter with your SWOON playlist, and if you do, please remember to email it to me at nina@ninamalkin.com so I’ll be able to contact you if you win. (I’m still trying to find the elusive Kailtyn, winner of the “My First SWOON” contest…Kailtyn, if you’re out there, be in touch, okay?)

But enough of my yakkin'—let's boogie (bonus points to anyone who correctly identifies the preceding reference).

“Summertime Blues” — Who
The Eddie Cochran/Jerry Capehart classic. I’m partial to the Who’s version off Live at Leeds for the opening scene of SWOON.

“Goin’ Nowhere” — Chris Isaak
This is Pen’s theme, once Sin’s influence starts to take hold. She is the kind of a girl who looks better naked…

“Baby Love” — Joan Osborne
Put aside the cougar/cub thing and you’ll see how well it sums up Dice’s feelings for her boy. And on a very, very good day, Dice’s voice is kinda Joan Osborne-y.

“My Ritual” — Folk Implosion
What a groove. So seductive. And the lyrics spell out Sin’s own ritual essence.

“Mannish Boy” — Muddy Waters
Sin’s song. Clearly.

“Glad Girls” — Guided By Voices
When Sin first hits the Swonowa quad, this track fills the air. Really, he only wants to get you high…

“Peacock Suit” — Paul Weller
Such a strut! See our antihero, dressed to kill, leading his ladies into the Cutlass for the homecoming bacchanal.

“Chain of Fools” — Aretha Franklin
This is all Dice can hear when she finally comprehends the depth and depravity of Sin’s mission.

“N.W.O.” — Ministry
Kurt Libo’s song. He’s a mechanic, so maybe you think “Jesus Built My Hotrod” more apropos. But this reflects Kurt’s dream of Sin’s “new world order.” That sample from George Bush (the father) says it all.

“Red Right Hand” — Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
My flat-out favorite desperation/surrender/exhilaration song. “Microscopic cog…catastrophic plan…” gives me the shivers!!! If ever I wrote something nearly as good, I’d have to retire—my work would be done.

“We’ll Burn Together” — Robbie Fulks
It doesn’t suffice to say, “I love country music,” since what I mean by country may not be what you mean. But this adulterous little ditty seems appropriate for the Wolverine Tavern crowd.

“Storms” — Fleetwood Mac
Dice’s song, just before she gets up and pokes the fire. Hokey as hell, but so be it.

“On a Rope” — Rocket From The Crypt
Perfect for the closing credits...