Playlists

I use music as a shortcut to get me into a character’s headspace when I’m writing their point of view.  I’ll use different songs to relate to different aspects of their personality and history.  Here are some of the songs which resonated with Revelations.


Michael:

Michael’s generous and idealistic personality lent itself to softer songs with easy melodies.  He struck me as a fellow more comfortable with the romantic ballad than a techno trance mix.

No Son of Mine by Genesis captured his relationship with his family.  His mother insisted he hide his powers while his father saw them as attention-seeking lies at best and demon-wrought at worst.  Their rejection twisted him up inside, driving him to retreat into a protective shell.  It left him feeling isolated and alone.  The lyrics “The question was how I could keep sane, trying to find a way out” captured that perfectly for me.  I could imagine his father staring down at him in disgust and announcing “You’re no son, you’re no son of mine” over and over again, destroying Michael’s peace.

I’m Alive by Celine Dion worked to express Michael’s awakening when he met Dani and discovered the lalassu.  It’s upbeat and expresses a sense of wonder and vitality.  After years of being suppressed, Michael finally woke up.  When he’s with Dani, he feels as if he’s finally living instead of merely existing.

Michael struck me as a country kind of guy at heart.  So I used Lonestar’s Amazed to express his love for Dani.  She is everything he wanted but never knew could really exist.  She challenges him and his worldview and he cannot imagine life without her.  And the lyric “Baby, when you touch me, I can feel how much you love me and it just blows me away” could have been custom made for him.

Don’t Walk Away by Electric Light Orchestra echoed the anguish Michael felt at the idea of losing Dani, either to her fears or to the Huntress ritual.  The idea of being left behind without her rocked him to his core and yet he never lost his compassion or conscience.  Although the melody is pleasant to listen to, the lyrics speak of a terrible pain and loneliness, an abandonment of all that made life worth living.  The duality kept me from tipping too far to either side.

Michael ended up with two theme songs which I used over and over for his character.  True Colors by Phil Collins expressed the acceptance Michael feels for the children he works with and with Dani.  He sees all the darkness, all their secrets and it doesn’t change the way he cares about them.  He loves them for who they are, not for who he wishes they would be. 

His second theme was Go The Distance from Disney’s Hercules.  It captured his wish to be a hero, to be accepted for who he is and since it was Disney, it captured his childlike enthusiasm as well.  I think he found the home he was looking for.

 

Dani:

Dani’s soundtrack was much more aggressive than Michael’s, full of harsh guitars and heavy drums.  But at the same time, there were also a few wistful and soulful melodies to lend depth to the flash-bang protective layers.

Her main theme was Show Me How You Burlesque by Christina Aguilera from the movie Burlesque.  The combination of sexy and playful captured the distinction between Dani and Onyx.  Onyx is a powerful presence on the stage, commanding attention but keeping control.  She is Dani’s preferred alter-ego and mask.

Dani ended up with pairs of songs expressing the dueling sides of her personality.  One pair which worked surprisingly well to capture her was Burn It To The Ground by Nickelback and Maybe This Time from the musical Cabaret.  On the one hand, Nickelback’s call to self-indulgent anarchy expressed her desire to run away from her responsibilities and problems and just have a good time watching the world burn down around her.  But on the other, Maybe This Time’s poignant wistfulness captured her wish to have a meaningful connection with Michael, to believe that maybe she could be more than a destructive monster.

Another pair was Rescue Me by Madonna and Bound To You by Christina Aguilera (also from Burlesque).  This pairing captured the push and pull in Dani’s heart as she wants to be with Michael but also is afraid of opening her heart.  In Rescue Me, the lyrics talk about how her lover sees everything she is, everything she tries to keep hidden (“You see that I’m ferocious, you see that I am weak, you see that I am silly and pretentious and a freak”).  The lyrics “You bring me to my knees, while I’m scratching at the eyes of a world I want to conquer and deliver and despise.  And right while I am kneeling there, I suddenly begin to care and understand that there could be a person that loves me” were a direct inspiration for her trials with the Huntress and the importance of compassion. 

Bound To You is soulful and eloquent about the fear that comes with opening one’s heart.  The lyric “I am terrified to love for the first time” worked on two levels for Dani.  This is the first time she’s ever been in love and it’s also the first time she’s been afraid to engage in the act of physical love.  But despite her attempts to push Michael away, she is bound to him and knows she needs him.

 
Gwen:

With Gwen, I didn’t use music.  Instead I used Alice Through the Looking Glass and the character of River from Firefly.  Everything in her world is slightly surreal and off-kilter, which mean Alice’s adventures put me into that headspace perfectly.  And no one does crazy dialogue which still has meaning better than Joss Whedon and the writers from Firefly.  I can only aspire to their achievements.


André:

For André, I went with an orchestral movie theme, Speak Softly Love, the theme from The Godfather.  The slow and dignified march worked for his powerful presence.  It was reserved but with a hint of a steely threat.  And yet the music also evokes isolation.  André may be powerful, but the power means he must be alone.  He has to remain under guard.  And of course, I enjoyed my own interpretation of “making an offer they can’t refuse” for him.  With his persuasive powers, it doesn’t matter what the offer is, his victims have little to no chance of refusing.

 
Karan:

Karan had no soundtrack.  I never found a song or piece which evoked his dry, factual and amoral worldview.  Instead I found it easier to write his point of view without music, since it pulled me away from the emotional and into the intellectual where he is most comfortable.

 

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