[originally published here]
Part of my educational/professional philosophy dictates that I should not assign students to do any work I wouldn't be willing to do myself. My students are working on a Literature Circle project in which they read novels in small groups and discuss them, but one of their individual tasks while reading is to think about the songs they would choose if they were creating a soundtrack for the novel. This is a good reading exercise since it forces students to think about both the content and the tone of the passages they are reading. I think it would also be useful for writers, though I didn't try it when I wrote The Sum of Our Gods. I did frequently listen to music as a wrote, but I find I choose songs that easily fade into the background, songs I've listened to for longer than my students have been alive and which no longer require my conscious attention. Now that the novel is completed and about to be available for sale, I thought it might be fun for some readers to hear what I would have liked to attach to each chapter of the novel. I'd also be interested to hear what readers think of these, and what songs they would prefer to connect to their experience of the story. I can't write my full explanations for each choice, as I've assigned my students to, because that might produce some spoilers for the novel, so interested readers will just have to check back here after each chapter and see if these selections make sense to them. If that sounds like homework to you, you are excused from the assignment, but if you enjoy music and literature, I thought this might be a fun way to join these together. Enjoy!
Chapter 1 (Joe and Yahweh)
"Call and Answer" by Barenaked Ladies
Chapter 2 (Meme)
"Imagine" by John Lennon
Chapter 3 (Yahweh in Asgard)
"Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
Chapter 4 (Christy, Joe, and Dawkins)
"Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead
Chapter 5 (Ghair Aadi)
"Pompeii" by Bastille
Chapter 6 (Yahweh and Innana)
"Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage the Elephant
Chapter 7 (Christy and Luke)
"As Lovers Go" by Dashboard Confessional
Chapter 8 (Jesus and Muhammad)
"Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows
Chapter 9 (Thor, Dawkins, and Frigga)
"It's Thunder and It's Lightning" by We Were Promised Jetpacks
Chapter 10 (Innana and Toliq) "Ave Maria" by Pink
Chapter 11 (Joe and Christy) "Chapel Doors" by Endor
Chapter 12 (Yahweh and Frigga)
"When I'm 64" by The Beatles
Chapter 13 (Jesus, Thor, Baldur, Sobek, Khepri, Hephaestus, Artemis, and Apollo)
"We Are Young" by Fun.
Chapter 14 (Luke and Ixtab)
"Anyone Can Play Guitar" by Radiohead
Chapter 15 (Ekkeko, Enlil, Horus, Jesus) "Think Twice" by Eve 6
Chapter 16 (Fork) "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise"
by The Avett Brothers
Chapter 17 (Ghair Aadi, Apollo, Baldur, and Meme)
"Now we Can See" by The Thermals
Chapter 18 (Christy and Luke)
"Poison and Wine" by The Civil Wars
Chapter 19 (Apollo, Baldur, Innana, Toliq, Ekkeko, Enlil, Horus)
"Forces" by The Boxer Rebellion
Chapter 20 (Joe and the buffalo)
Noah by Amber
Chapter 21 (Ghair Aadi and the cab driver)
"Red House" by Jimi Hendrix
Chapter 22 (Christy, Joe, and Frigga) "Halo" by Depeche Mode
Chapter 23 (Apollo and Baldur)
"Down Together" by The Refreshments
Chapter 24 (Jesus, Toliq, and Innana)
"Take Cover" by State Radio
Chapter 25 (Ghair Aadi and Luke)
"Meant to Live" by Switchfoot
Chapter 26 (Jesus and Yahweh)
"Roll away Your Stone" by Mumford and Sons
Chapter 27 (Joe and Yahweh)
"Head Rolls Off" by Frightened Rabbit
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