Random Fridays: Songs That Inspire Me

http://bookworm716.blogspot.com/

Hullo, everyone! This week's Random Friday is a freebie; I pick the topic. As you can see, I chose songs that inspire me. But when I say inspiring, I don't mean the encouraging-make-a-bad-day-good kind of songs (though some of these are that kind of songs, at least for me). I mean the kind of songs that give me an idea for a story, a character, or a scene . . . and believe me, there are a lot of those. (As in, if I had a dime for every time a song affected a character or story, I'd probably have a few thousand dollars.) These are a few of my favorites.

1. "The Invitation" and "Welcome to the Masquerade" by Thousand Foot Krutch

Ok, I've already written a short story based on this. If you're on the Underground, you may have read it. If you haven't, know it involves a mysterious masked bardess (female bard; a position I made up for my novels), a plot to kill a king, creepy so-called Seers, and- of course- a masked ball. I had a lot of fun writing it and hope to write a sequel sometime, maybe this summer.

2.  "Sing Me a Love Song"- BarlowGirl

I'm not sure if this would be original fiction or a Goldstone Wood fanfic. The idea plays a large part in one of my favorite daydreams, but those are half fanfic anyway. I do know the basic premise of the idea, though: She's lost; broken; an outcast. She's given away so much of herself that she can't remember who she is. But one thing reminds her. And no matter how hard she tries, no matter how much she sometimes wants to forget, she always comes back. Always returns to the song.    

3. "Dementia"- Owl City

You'll never guess what this one gives me an idea for: the scene in a Cinderella remake I'm hoping to write when the prince sees Cinderella at the ball. I can't give away too much, but I can say this isn't the first time he's met her . . . he just doesn't remember the others. And once she shows up, strange things start happening . . . but none as strange as her mysterious warning for him. 

4. "Hero"- Skillet

I tried to write a novel based on this song. It was supposed to be a dystopian-superhero story: my main character, Anya, was the youngest child in a family of very rich, influential supers, and she was the only one without powers. That, however, played into the story very little; the main plot was how the government was outlawing Christianity and Anya had to find the courage to speak against the change. Looking back, I wish I'd waited on it, but oh well. Maybe I'll try it again someday.

5. "No Plan B"- Manafest

Does anyone remember the Silver Bullets from my short story, "The First Mission"? Well, that story wasn't the first I'd written about the Silver Bullet group, or about Mikayla and her father. "No Plan B" was a spur-of-the-moment story written after listening to this song a few too many times. It was a fairly simple plot: a team of Silver Bullet agents was sent into a Brotherhood compound to rescue several people. But these people weren't ordinary prisoners . . . and not everyone in the group had the same agenda. Interestingly, were I to write enough Silver Bullet stories to put them all in a book, "No Plan B" would be the final story. If you've read my Underground writing thread, you know why. If you haven't . . . Well, you'll just have to wonder for now.


6. "Not Gonna Die"- Skillet

Would you believe that I haven't even finished book four of the Berstru Tales series and I'm already getting ideas for book five or six? Whether or not I actually use those ideas depends on a lot of things, but this song is pretty much the theme song for two of the major subplots (or possibly main plots) of whichever book it ends up being. Each subplot- one of which is Emma's, the other of which is Jared's- is mainly inspired by one of the first two verses.

7. "Stronger Than You Think"- Fireflight

"I know your intentions. I've seen the way you work. . . . I used to chase you. But now I hate you. I'm safe inside the light, so go on, do your worst." That sounds like the challenge of a hero to me- a hero who's been down a dark path, perhaps even served the villain at one point, but has since been lifted out of that darkness and found the villain for an epic showdown- inspired, of course, by this song.

8. "Shivna"- Riverdance

While the other songs in this post inspire primarily through lyrics, this song inspires more through the rhythm and the feeling it gives me. There are at least two scenes in Danger in the Tower (my Rapunzel/12 Dancing Princesses) remake inspired by this song. It's also my idea of what the music of the Feyling, particularly the dark Feyling, would sound like . . . and a very potent song indeed is that played by the Feyling.

 Do you find inspiration in songs? If so, what are some songs that have inspired you? Please tell me in the comments! Thanks for reading!
 Calo anor na ven!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Want to join in the Random Fridays fun? Feel free to make a post of your own on the week's topic! Please just be sure to use the Random Fridays banner, link back to Awkwordly Emma, and post the link to your post on the Awkwordly Emma blog so other participants can check out your post. For a list of future Random Friday topics, click here.