Songs For Stories: Music That Matches with the Stories That Resonate

Has a song, a film or a story within a book evoked such strong emotions from you? I know I have felt joy, happiness, sorrow, anger, nostalgia, and everything in between. There is nothing wrong with feeling things so deeply, & we shouldn’t let anyone make us feel ashamed for feeling those things. In this list, I’m going to list songs and the books that match with them and explain why I feel they are the perfect fit. I will also talk about how I heard the song and the memories of them.

Today’s The Day by Aimee Mann would be perfect for the movie adaptation of It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover & if there ever is a remake of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Why the song matches with It Ends With Us is its about Lily Bloom’s strength & determination. Lily realizes that if she doesn’t want her daughter suffering abuse the same way she and her mother did, that she must break the cycle, hence the title of the book. Today’s The Day by Aimee Mann talks about breaking cycles too and taking a chance if we want our lives to change. The first time I heard the song was in the movie Enough starring Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer Lopez plays Slim, a woman whose cheating husband turns into an abuser, and she must flee with her daughter to get away from him. For the longest time when I heard that song, I thought Sheryl Crow was singing the song, luckily my Shazam App told me it was a woman named Aimee Man.

Today’s The Day by Aimee Mann I felt missed an opportunity to play this song in the adaptation of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I read, watched the movie, and read the book back in high school. The song would match the book because at the end Amir goes from being a timid, quiet, scared man into a man who stands up for what is right and for himself. If there is a remake of The Kite Runner, they need to play Todays The Day during the scene where Amir tells his father in law General Taheri, You will never refer to my nephew as a Hazara in my presence ever again. He has a name, & it’s Sohrab. For those of you who are trying to find your voice, today is the day. Do not let yourself be walked on. I started standing up for myself and finding my voice at 24 and I liked who I became, and I love who I keep becoming. I can also relate to Amir as we had goals and not everyone supported us. We ignore the negative voices.

Time by Hootie & The Blowfish would be perfect for the movie adaptations of This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub & In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. Time by Hootie & The Blowfish I feel would convey that we have time, but it doesn’t last forever & has an expiration date, which is both a blessing & a curse. A lyric in the song literally says Time, why you punish me? I’ve heard it through various times in my life, whether its on road trips to Jersey or running errands with my grandfather. Both This Time Tomorrow & In Five Years are time travel books that convey that while we have time, it will be here & gone.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub is about a woman named Alice Stern. Alice has a great job, a great boyfriend, and a best friend. Alice feels as though something is missing in her life though. Alice’s father is sick, and she knows he doesn’t have long to live. On the eve of Alice’s 40^th birthday she gets drunk and falls asleep in the guardhouse and the next morning she wakes up in the year 1996 and its her 16^th birthday and her father is handsome and healthy again. Alice takes this time traveling as an opportunity to try to change her fate and possibly her father’s fate too. My favorite line in the book is from Alice’s guidance counselor Our choices in life matter but most are not permanent face tattoos. This line is powerful because we all have dreams and plans and sometimes, we don’t know what we want to do & it is okay if things change and there’s often a reason why they do. It’s also a reminder to spend time with those you love because the harsh reality is we don’t know how long we have them. This book is especially perfect for fathers and daughters or the father figures in a woman’s life.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle is about Dannie Kohan, a lawyer who has everything mapped out for her life, especially when asked what her five-year plan is. Dannie gets the career she’s always wanted, and she accepts her fiancée’s marriage proposal. One night she goes to sleep, and she wakes up 5 years into the future. Wait, the twist gets even bigger than that. Dannie wakes up in a different bed next to a very different man. If this book has taught me anything, and I’m sure it’ll teach you too, is once again that it’s good to have a plan, sometimes plans change and that’s okay. It’s also wonderful and magical enjoying spontaneous moments. I’m like Dannie in a sense that I like to have a plan, but I’ve come to appreciate the spontaneous moments. I of course had different plans, I thought I would get an English degree instead of just the general studies, possibly be a writer (of books), have a Catholic wedding and be a wife and mother before or by the time I’m 30 years old. Well, here I am at 32 and I am a writer by default because I’m a blogger. I am making cash one way and there will be other ways I do make cash. I did have a boyfriend which thankfully didn’t progress further and I’m waiting patiently for whoever my future husband is meant to be. This book is also a reminder we only have limited time on this earth, so let’s live a good life and make life for those around us wonderful too!

What was I Made For by Billie Eilish was played in the Barbie movie twice. It’s a beautiful song that brings tears to the eyes. Toward the end I failed to keep the tears in with that scene with Barbie & Ruth Handler. For those who’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about. This song I think would be perfect for both In Five Years & This Time Tomorrow for the fact that we all wonder what our purpose in life is. We can have more than one purpose or role in life. Sometimes we don’t realize this till much later in life which is okay too.

All To Myself by Kathy Fisher was played in a few shows or movies in the 90s.  The first time I heard the song was in Casper Meets Wendy in 1998. The song is played during a scene where Casper & Wendy (played by Hilary Duff before her Lizzie McGuire days on Disney Channel) dance. The scene looking back on it as an adult years later, is rather sad because you know Casper has a crush on Wendy but there’s no real way for them to be together since he’s a ghost who will never age and Wendy will grow up. There are too many books to name that this song would make a great fit for, but I will set the stage.

Imagine if you will, the main leads are alone, maybe a few words are exchanged or no words are spoken at all. The woman & the man think they’re alone or they notice they are the only ones there. Maybe they dance, maybe their fingers lightly touch. Maybe they stare into each other’s eyes & just lean into each other. Their lips almost touch, their lips do touch. They stop abruptly but what do they do next? They keep kissing and maybe something else almost happens or almost happens. But there is either one obstacle or several obstacles in their way. Eventually a happy ending comes or perhaps it does not. If the happy ending comes, this song is played at the end where they slow dance at the wedding reception & while there’s many people there, for the two of them they feel as though they are the only two people in the room and perhaps the whole world. All To Myself brings all the emotions. For the longest time I thought this song was sung by Sarah McLaughlin, though through all the youtube searches I found out it was by Kathy Fisher. It’s such a shame she’s not more mainstream. Maybe this blog post will help with that.