Death Watch Playlist

I don’t know about you, but as I write a book, I generally build a playlist for it on Youtube.

1) Youtube is free (I’ll go back and buy copies when I can, but a lot of these are ???)
2) Youtube has some weird shit that I have trouble finding elsewhere.
3) Youtube is excellent for discovering one song from another that’s connected somewhat illogically.
4) I love people’s homemade videos. I just do.

I don’t build the playlist before I start writing; how am I supposed to know what sounds just like the story until I have a better feel for the story? No, my goal is to get the playlist done before I start editing, because when you’re editing, it’s hard to remember what you felt when you were writing the story, because you’re using a different part of your brain than you are to write.

Music is a good reminder.

At any rate, I finished the playlist tonight, finally, at about 70K of 80K words.  The choices are totally wrong as far as accuracy goes–Suki would listen to mostly Japanese music–but they call up the right emotions in me, so there you go.

Here ’tis:

Flobots – Handlebars.  Suki’s dad is a terrorist.  This is probably the most logical choice, but it also matches the feel pretty well, too.

The Dreamers (a.k.a. Concrete Blonde) – Heart Attack.  Love and pain, baby.

The Von Bondies – C’mon C’mon.  “Things were good when we were young.”

Emilie Simon – Opium.  I think this one is for Suki’s mother.

Beastie Boys – No Sleep Til Brooklyn.  Road trip to Izunami’s cave.

The Pillows – Ride on Shooting Star.  The closing song from FLCL.  Haruko is Suki’s hero, I think.

Switchfoot – Meant to Live.  Suki finds out that her father wasn’t planning for many people to survive.

Depeche Mode – Nothing.  Knowing what she knows, what should Suki believe?

House Production & Casting – Now I Wanna Be Your Dog.  A cover of the Iggy Pop song.  If this doesn’t put your hair on end, I don’t know what will.  How Suki (doesn’t) feel about a deal from the goddess.

Bjork – Innocence.  Suki is a punk.  She says exactly what she thinks most of the time.

Peaches – Lovertits.  Mairyi’s inner song.  She never was as innocent as she looks, or she always was.

Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts – Knock a Little Harder.  From the Cowboy Bebop movie.  Suki’s perseverance.

Youmi Kimura – Itsumo Nando demo (Always with Me).  The end song from Spirited Away.  Last goodbyes.

Anybody else make playlists like this?  I think I just miss making mix tapes.  God, I loved mix tapes.  I loved other people’s mix tapes…