Greetings from me at 4:30 in the morning after waking up at
2:30 feeling the need to watch old music videos of songs I
loved in the 90s and 00s.
So it's been a tumultuous couple of weeks around my
place. (I won't even get into the wider political
issues...) Firstly, the week before last, during a
period of 24 hours, we went from a near-record high
temperature to a blizzard that knocked out loads of people's
power. I was lucky in that I only experienced
flickering and some mild internet issues but my parents lost
their power for three days so I scrambled to prep for
company in case that became necessary. Then the
weekend rolled around and I planned to relax and write...
only to have a bunch of random keys on the keyboard of my
two-month-old laptop cease functioning. Thankfully, it
was under warranty and I now have a new one with functioning
A, M, space bar, etc. keys. But I spent a bit of time
on Friday and most of yesterday getting that setup.
So... no writing. Thus, I wanted to try and get this
done early so I can, hopefully, write later. The lack
of sleep may pose an issue but we'll see! (ETA: It
did... Never did get a nap in so apologies for any
typos.)
Anyway, I hope you're all doing well!
God bless,
Jenni
Favorite Musical Moments
aka JABB's Playlist #2
So I really thought I'd done this before but the closest I
could find is JABB
623 which isn't entirely based on songs that got
directly incorporated into the Dyeland/Asteriana
stories. But a lot of them were so this is kind of a
part two. Anyway, given what got me up so early this
morning, I wanted to revisit some of my favorite moments from
the stories that, I feel, were made better by the songs
featured in them... even if they were only in my head.
You can find the accompanying playlist
here (tracks 13-24). (ETA: I noticed that "Dark
Waltz" from the first list is unavailable but it's on YouTube
if you're so inclined.) Stories are here.
So here goes!
13. "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush- Anachronism aside, if
the story "Origins" was filmed, this would play over the
scenes of Cora giving birth to Vincent. I've loved this
song ever since whenever they started playing She's Having
a Baby on cable. I think I particularly liked the
way it kind of sounds like Lor could be singing it to Cora
from Heaven. It's such a lovely song but also
bittersweet in that it's encouraging ("I know you have a
little life in ya yet... I know you have a lot of
strength left.") but also mourning a life that wasn't.
14. "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush- It's a Kate Bush
twofer! And, yes, I will refrain from putting "Running
Up That Hill" on here as tempting as it is. Maybe next
time! Anyway, this shows up in "When
You are Real" after JenniAnn reacts badly to learning
Andrew intends to start aging along with his human
friends. Andrew badly sings it to JenniAnn through a
door to try to reach her after she runs off when Mick
drunkenly tells her about Andrew's plan. While they're
no Cathy and Heathcliff, I think the song plays to their utter
lack of clear thinking at the time. Just as Cathy was
deep in denial and came to regret it, those two were already
basically functioning as a couple while insisting they were
not. I mean in this story Andrew even equates himself
with JenniAnn's cousins' spouses and significant others and
yet... Anyway, I think it's cute that Andrew uses this
song to break through to JenniAnn because, firstly, he
probably did sound quite bad given I'm confident he can't
reach Ms. Bush's high notes. But, secondly, he does seem
at least somewhat less in denial than JenniAnn here so I could
see him using this song to be like "Sure, we could go our
separate ways but look how that turned out for Cathy and
Heathcliff. Dead Cathy! Insane Heathcliff!"
And, genetics aside, JenniAnn is very much the child of
Vincent so Andrew was very smart to riff on a Romantic
masterpiece to get her to see sense. I also love that
entire series of scenes because, though the word isn't yet
used, JenniAnn comes out to Andrew as asexual and that was a
big moment for her but also me.
15. "Times" by Tenth Avenue North- Joshua and Zeke sing this
together in "The King" during Zeke's birthday party. I
love that they finally got to sing a touching song together
since their JCS songs are all pretty antagonistic. Plus,
I love the original recording of the song but always thought
it would sound really cool as a duet so at least I got to
pretend that existed. Later on in "Believe," Joshua
reprises the song with Zeke's and Diana's daughters, Kendra
and Hailey. And in what is probably my favorite
appearance of this song, in "The Messiah," Mick and Peter take
over Joshua's part with the former on guitar and the latter
doing vocals while Zeke keeps his part... all while Joshua,
singing along, watches the video of their concert from his
hospital bed after being shot by Cameron. Finally, in
"The Shepherd," the Friends sing it together with Zeke, Peter,
and Joshua leading them after they learn that Russia attacked
Ukraine. "I'm there through your heartache. I'm
there in the storm. My love, I will keep you by my power
alone. I don't care where you've fallen, where you have
been. I'll never forsake you. My love never ends,
it never ends..." Amen.
16. "Lavender's Blue"- Traditional- So I think at some
point I wanted every character to have a signature song.
This was Father's aka the elder Jacob Wells'. In "The
Messiah," Vincent is touched to realize that Father used to
sing it to Belle and, at her request, he sings it to her and
Aurora and recalls Father singing it to him as a little
boy. It comes back around in "The Lady and the Serpent"
and what I liked about that is Maryam starts singing it and is
tied to Father who, in my stories, was a lapsed Anglican who
had issues with male authority figures and, thus, while he
believed Joshua to be God, he found it easier to bond with
Maryam who he referred to as "Lady." The bond was so
strong that God sent Maryam to bring Father Home and I like to
think she sang this to him. As a Catholic who grew up in
a half-Protestant family, I was always very strict about "We
do NOT worship Mary!" Which is absolutely correct.
But I think sometimes in my zeal to express that, I've
overlooked how some people do find it easier to speak to
Mary/Maryam because of their experiences with difficult to
abusive father figures and probably some grace and
understanding is due there. 
17. "If We Were Vampires" by Jason Isbell and the 400
Unit- I think I first heard this song in This Is Us
and loved it instantly. I do not have fond memories of
the story "Immortality." My memories are fading but I
think it was a case of me being really excited to write it but
then being sick for most of it and getting really muddled to
the point that I had to rewrite chunks due to continuity
issues. Nonetheless, I really loved this scene where
Amber-Marie, fifty years after their wedding, grapples with
Josef's impending death after he decides not to pursue
treatment for what seems to be cancer. The couple sings
this to each other as Josef comforts his wife. I
especially liked this because Josef was a vampire but chose
not to be in part for the reasons given in this song.
Death isn't a joke. So Josef makes the most of the time
he's given and holds his wife close.
18. "Winter Light" by Tim Finn- I believe I first heard
this song on an "inspired by" album that was released when the
Narnia movies first started coming out. I think
it was meant to reference Jadis but, I'm sorry, this song is
too pretty for that! So it becomes that song that Omar
performs for Avi and Evie as the latter walks down the aisle
during their winter wedding. But it did strike me that
the song was a little obscure for a couple of Gen Alphas to
come up with as their wedding song in the year of our Lord
2038. So... along came "In the Winter Light" in which we
learn Andrew first heard the song in 2002 in a bar after
spending his last Christmas with Monica, Tess, and
Gloria. And he found himself feeling wistful and longing
for something... As he tells JenniAnn this, he sings the
song and dances with her, not realizing it's Joshua who is
strumming along. Anyway, I like to think that, because
of that, Andrew and JenniAnn probably played this song with
some frequency and Avi and Evie heard it growing up and so
when they picked a winter date for their wedding, the choice
was obvious. It is really gorgeous to think of a winter
bride walking down the aisle to this.
19. "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall" by Simon and
Garfunkel- I love this song. And I thought there was a
real beauty to the image of an angel of death playing this
song as Andrew does in the story by the same name. The
setting of the story is shortly after the January 6th
attempted coup. I think one of the ironies of the
stories is that Andrew is definitely not an American and yet,
in some ways, he's more attached than someone like JenniAnn
who is an American but has spent chunks of her life either in
the Tunnels which, while technically in American soil is
independent in a manner, and Asteriana which isn't even in
this world. Andrew was there to watch America's history
unfold. So, obviously, he was pretty upset by the events
of that day and JenniAnn comforts him after he plays this
song. She reminds him that "Flowers do bend in the
rainfall. But... lots of times, they bounce back."
Writing the story just kind of helped me process that
day. But it actually wasn't the first time that song
appeared. Takoda quotes a line in "You'll Never Walk
Alone" after telling Joccy that Andrew and JenniAnn had been
listening to it. Heartbreakingly, JenniAnn is singing
this to Andrew when he has a grand mal seizure in "A Thousand
Years." So I do wonder if they've taken a hiatus from
it.
20. "Soldier, Poet, King" by the Oh Hellos- So I was a
few years into writing Joshua when I started to feel a little
uncomfortable with how he was very seldom anything other than
pleasant and mild-mannered. I love that Joshua.
But I also love the Yeshua who overturned tables and shouted
about white-washed tombs. So I've made a conscious
effort to give Joshua a little more of an edge of late.
And so I really loved the scene in "The Shepherd" when Emma,
Peter, JenniAnn, and Andrew sing this to Joshua after he
lashes out at a hatemonger who comes to St. G's. To love
the humble carpenter also means loving the soldier, the poet,
and the king. And I think even God can use the reminder
every so often. I also liked figuring out who would sing
which verse and it seemed appropriate that Peter, who
sometimes plays Jesus, would get the crown of thorns verse
while JenniAnn, maintainer of Joshua's stage make-up and skin
care routine, got the lines about being anointed with
oil. Oh lei, oh lai!
21. "Fields of Gold" by Sting- I'm actually kind of
shocked I didn't put this on the first edition. Anyway,
beyond being the inspiration for an important
Dyeland/Asteriana location, this song appears in numerous
stories. In "Chrysalis," we learn that Andrew and
JenniAnn were using it as their wake-up song on their clock
radio. Andrew references several dances to it even while
JenniAnn said it was a little inappropriate for them.
Yay for more denial! Anyway, Andrew and JenniAnn walk
down the aisle to it during their blessing ceremony in "A
Thousand Years" so I think it's pretty safe to say this is
their song. They met in fields of gold, they parted in
them when Andrew went off to face the demons in "Shadowlands,"
and I foresee some major future life events happening in the
Fields of Gold... probably accompanied by this song.
22. "Devil's Backbone" by The Civil Wars- This isn't
quoted or referenced but it was very much in my head when I
was writing and if this was filmed I would include it.
At the very end of "The Shepherd," Joshua looks up at the moon
and thinks of Edgar, willing him to come back to him. In
my head, the "camera" then pans down from the moon to Steve,
also staring up at the moon and thinking of Aslan. I
love that despite his religious trauma, it's as if he has so
deep of a sense of Joshua that he knows what he's doing in
that moment. But then Steve's thoughts turn to Ed who he
comforts after a nightmare and I'd have this song start then
as the episode fades to black.
23. "Aurora" by Lapush- And this was one of the songs I
listened to upon walking up way too early. I first heard
it in Moonlight's Josef-centric episode so it just
makes me really nostalgic because I listened to that show's
soundtrack repeatedly during its run and for a good while
after it. Anyway, in the story "Make This Go On
Forever," Josef at one point cluelessly tries to save JenniAnn
from Andrew who he fears because he saw Andrew following the
failed vampire-turning of his girlfriend, Sarah.
Eventually, everything is straightened out. Andrew and
Josef spend a few quiet moments with a comatose Sarah as
Andrew assures the vampire that she's been cognizant of every
loving gesture. And this song would play very quietly in
the background as Josef's heart begins to heal.
24. "By the Rivers Dark" by Leonard Cohen- As I
mentioned when I was writing the notes for "The Advocate," I
felt bad mentioning this great song in the same breath as
Malachi who is awful. Nonetheless, it really set the
vibe for the sequence of the apostles spooking Malachi in an
attempt to get him to see the light... by a dark river.
And in keeping with last time, a couple of bonus songs that I
hope to have featured in eventual stories.
"Seabird" by Alessi Brothers- So I actually don't have the
death scenes for many characters planned out. But
there's one very minor character who eventually has a bigger
arc and I have stuff clear through to his death planned
out. And this is the song that plays as he goes
Home. It's a really lovely scene despite the sadness of
it.
"King" by Florence + The Machine- Despite the lyrics, this is
actually going to be sung by a mother who was once a bride...
but who once very much struggled with what was expected of her
as first a girl and then a woman. And it will parallel a
prior appearance of a Florence + The Machine song.
This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye for inspiring some
really sappy playlists over the years.
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Touched by an Angel and owned by CBS Productions,
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It is not being used to seek profit.)