Modeling Plotlines After Songs

Many authors have done it. Stephenie Meyer credited bands Muse, My Chemical Romance, and Linkin Park for certain song lyrics that contributed to plotlines in her books Twilight and New Moon.

So how, exactly, do you do it?

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to use lyrics in your plot structure. You do, however, need a pen, a CD that you like, and some paper.

For some authors, they're the perspective ones that want to dig deep and discover a hidden meaning to even lyrics like I cried/I died/Goodbye. For them, the tears may have been not saline, but maybe blood...? Maybe when they hear "I died", they must've thought that the character died socially, or felt like they couldn't live life anymore with all their heart and concentration on it. And some authors try to think, "Well, who are they saying Goodbye to? Why are they saying goodbye? Where are they going? When is this going to happen in the story/plot?"

Ya' see? And you thought that the character just cried, died, and said goodbye in some random letter.

[NOTE: I made up those three lines myself. I didn't take them out of any song. If I had, then I would've told ya'll.]

Or take, for instance, this Muse song:

I think im drowning
Asphyxiating
I wanna break the spell
That you've created

You're something beautiful
A contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction

You will be
The death of me
Yeah, you will be
The death of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it


What do you think when you look at the lyrics? Do you think of a character that's suffering? Are they going through heartbreak? Maybe they think of that contradicting character as a challenge, as a "game they wanna play".

Stephenie Meyer uses these few phrases as one of the main characters has an inner conflict. A typical paranormal romance/vampire-loves-human type of plotline. Maybe you can go deeper.

There's tons of different plotlines that just jump out of song lyrics. Again, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to derive multiple meanings out of song lyrics, nor do you HAVE to be simple and surface-seeing. If you ever see lyrics that look like they can contribute to your story or a possible story, then go for it.

--Serena.

Eh. Well, I guess not a lot of ya'll like to use song lines as plotlines.

Heya! Soz, I only just saw this post.

I generally don't use the actual lyrics, per se, but I think you can tell whole stories from song titles. I've used the title of one of the songs from MCR's The Black Parade for one of my novels "under development" (aka. Waiting for me to be motivated to write it!). I did try to use the lyrics to some extent, but I just found that they weren't suited to the sort of novel I wanted to write so I used the title instead. I think if you can use the lyrics to suit the sort of plot you want to write, then it can make for some very interesting writing.

But, yeah, I love using titles.

-Kaz

The lyrics in songs really help with mood, too- a lot of really good bands are also very good writers, too.

"Casimir Pulaski Day" by Sufjan Stevens comes to me for some reaon- it's both very personal and very in-depth, making it a great example for all the emotional fun that comes with the death of someone you love- without being overly soppy.

And speaking of Muse..."Knights of Cydonia" is grand for the cheesy rebellion-style scenes. I especially enjoy the line "How can we win, when fools can be kings?" *rambles on about Muse and their greatness*

So....yeah. I've got to admit, even though I don't particularly like Fall Out Boy, their lyrics have some really strong emotions and characters to them, if and when they are coherent.

Yeeaah...I think I need to listen to that song. I like the "Time Is Running Out", "Sing for Absolution", that type of stuff.

Fall Out Boy doesn't make sense. Usually. But in Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, they have some pretty nice lyrics with that. Pretty poetry, is what I like to call it.

The lyrics of songs usually remind me of the actual person who's singing them and what is happening to them

I love eminem, and i think his lyrics are some of the most powerfull i've ever heard and read.

Ooh.

Linkin Park and Jay-Z combo is lethal. I love the beat, though i haven't really examined the lyrics so closely.

Funny, this is actually a tpoic I'm quite fond of discussing. I once wrote a short story (Which I lost...damn computer virus!) that was inspired by these lyrics.


Ooh, what a good boy you are
Out of the way and you're kept to yourself
Ooh, Can't you see that he's not here
He doesn't want the attention you give
Ooh, unplugging from it all
Invisible Kid floats alone in his room
Ooh what a quiet boy you are
He looks so calm floating 'round and around in himself...


For those who are curious, this was from Metallica's Invisible Kid song. If you read these lyrics, most people I asked instantly thought of a very sad boy, who didn't seem to have any self confidence. But listen to the song and I got a different impression. It reminded of someone who had done something, something bad, and was so ashamed of themselves they seemed to fade away in their own self-pity. The song is much more sinister than the lyrics.

I think that, although the lyrics can really hint at a good character, the music itself can do exactly the same thing for me. Anybody else get that?

Ooohhh. I get it.

See? Two sides to a song.

I get it. I like it.

I’ve mentioned it somewhere else too. I love Infinity on High and From Under the Corkscrew, both are Fall Out Boy’s cd’s. Every song has a really hidden message if you listen. In truth, track 8 on From Under the Corkscrew reminds me of the book A Great and Terrible Beauty. I love all of the odd numbed tracks from the newer of the two and want to maybe write some stuff from them.

Hmm...I have to listen to track 8, then. Curious.

I love using a few songs in my stories. Liz Phair's song, the one that starts with "get a load of me, get a load of you.." is a good one. I forgot what it was called. And...grr. I just forgot the songs.

Oh, yeah! "Iris" by the GooGoo Dolls and "Vindicated" by the Dashboard Confessionals are pretty good "TellTale Songs". By that, I mean they tell a clear story, even if it does have two meanings.