The Importance of Your Life's Soundtrack
What to do if you feel down in the dumps and uninspired
The white spears emerged from the dark castle in the sky, followed by a deafening cavalry of sound.
Lightning. Thunder. Some road in the French countryside.
I must have been 8 years old when I witnessed this showstopper of seasonal power. We’d set off from Manchester, driven down to the docks in Dover then caught the tunnel to cross the English Channel into France. My father was always a roadrunner. To this day, he loves little more than 4 wheels propelling him forward.
To ensure maximum time spent at our house in the middle of nowhere, he’d power through the middle of the night and get us there by early morning. My mother and brother would take up residence on the back seats, but I wasn’t so inclined… I had this insatiable gusto about me.
Had to be up.
Had to be on lookout.
Had to know what was going on.
One night, as we rolled down the road accompanied by the endless fields of grain, the weather took a turn. Lightning rode across the sky.
I stared out the window in awe. My Dad proceeded to turn to me —
“You know, Will, I’ve got a perfect soundtrack for this.”
In goes the CD (for you Gen Z folk, that's an ancient form of storage device from thousands of years ago.)
The Doors. Riders On The Storm.
The sound of thunder roared through the speakers, as well as all around us.
In comes a propelling bass line. Then, the ice-chilled Rhodes electric piano.
Ray Manzarek, one of my all-time favourite musicians, proceeds to play one of the most hauntingly beautiful riffs I will ever hear — a descending piano line emulating the sound of rainfall.
In comes Jim Morrison with the ever-famous opening line…
That song became married to that moment of my life in such a way that I will never forget it.
But, more importantly, it’s my first memory of something I consider essential in life.
Something that comforts us, guides us and teaches us…
Our individual soundtracks.
I want you to do a little experiment for me…
Think of your favourite film.
Could be a comedy, an action film, a Japanese adaptation of ‘Gone In The Wind’, whatever floats your boat…
Picture the characters. The setting. The plot. The tension rising and falling.
All of these are crucial elements of a film. But there’s one thing that glues it all together — the soundtrack.
Now, can you imagine that favourite film of yours without the soundtrack?
In 99% of cases, it wouldn’t have a tenth of the impact.
Think of Lord of the Rings without that incredible Peter Jackson soundscape, or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly without the devilishly beautiful tones from Ennio Morricone.
Music is the sonic gel that holds a scene together on the screen.
It binds, encapsulates, even advances the emotional intensity of the moment.
And it funnily enough leads to a rather fascinating observation about the writing world…
Every great writer has a love of music.
You could start at the base and argue about the greatest lyricists we’ve ever seen.
Bob Dylan, John Lennon, James Taylor — just to name a few.
You could extrapolate further and point out musicians who also have a literary career…
Patti Smith or Leonard Cohen, for example.
But even the greatest writers all surround themselves around music. It may be during the writing process, it may not be. But it always appears as a constant companion to the wordsmiths.
Toni Morrison has talked frequently about how music and singing were commonplace in her household when she was growing up.
Stephen King is a music fanatacist. Among his musical highlights are having the Ramones write a song for him, writing his own musical, and owning a local radio station.
Haruki Murukami makes a habit of listening to music every day to find inspiration.
And I don’t think this is just coincidence.
While they are their own individual entities, there are countless parallels between writing and music.
Infectious rhythm is a given when writing a great song, but it’s also prevalent in all great writing. Finding the balance between short and long sentences, as well as soft and strong adjectives, verbs and nouns, is key in making your reader float down the page.
Much like how you can write a song with 3 chords, you can write an article with the most basic words possible. But it’s when a great song introduces a chord outside of a key that our ears prick up. It’s the same thing when we introduce an element of unfamiliarity in our writing.
In the same way that a certain sequence of notes can make you want to burst into tears; so can a sequence of perfectly crafted words.
When you notice these overlaps, it makes perfect sense why music cascades throughout the lives of the world’s greatest writers. Perhaps it is the case that your next great piece lies in the middle of a song rather than a moment.
If you’re struggling to see beauty in the world, or you feel down in the dumps and uninspired — put the pen down and press play.
After all, it’s like Friedrich Nietzsche wrote:
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
Thanks for reading, gang.
If you enjoyed this one, you might enjoy this article below I wrote, about how you can improve your writing immediately by studying country music.
That’s all for today.
Until we ride again.
WM
"If you’re struggling to see beauty in the world, or you feel down in the dumps and uninspired — put the pen down and press play." My go-to trick as well. Great writing and points as always.
It doesn’t surprise me you mentioned Haruki Murukami. I’ve been getting into him lately, and I usually don’t read fiction. I started with Kafka on the Shore.