“Music is the literature of the heart, it commences where speech ends.”– Alphonse de Lamartine

I am a fairly musical person, growing up singing in several choirs, playing the violin and the viola and listening to music on repeat. Back then, literature was not really on my list of favourites. However, looking back now, I realise that I lived in a world full of music connected to literature. Whenever I played the viola or sang a new song I looked at the story the piece wanted to tell, at what message it wanted to convey and what emotions were needed to do so. I now see that I was close-reading those pieces of music to emerge into its world, something I now do while reading books. The connection between literature and music can be found in many different forms, and today I would like to introduce some of them.

Music for literature

Music has become an influential tool for literature, especially with the popularity of social media communities such as BookTok and Bookstagram. Both apps allow users to share their reading experiences, their theories, fanart or other thoughts about books. But one trend that showed an immense increase over the last couple of years is the use and association with music which can be seen on TikTok. The app’s main purpose is to create short edits accompanied by music snippets, which can be quotes, whole paragraphs from books, specific fanart or more. Using special sounds to underline this content can quickly lead to song associations. BookTok spreads trends in this manner and eventually some sounds are bound to certain topics as it is the first thing users associate with it. This can be seen in BookTok hits such as the ACOTAR and Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. The provided links are exemplary TikToks that will give you a broad idea of this phenomenon. The songs used are Bow by Reyn Hartley for A Court of Mist and Fury, Luminary by Joel Sunny for the ACOTAR series, Gesaffelstein by Aleph for Fourth Wing and a viral TikTok sound called “Just a girl harmonising with her ceiling fan” (The videos do contain spoilers!)

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeV6yofv

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeVjohSb

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeV6Jvep

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeV6jqBw/ 

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeV68yqc

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeV6M8EY/

Music in literature

The second form I chose to look at is music in literature, as I’ve read several books naming real songs or even just using music as a major theme. In this category songs can simply be mentioned in books or the literary world can include whole lists of songs. This makes it easy to look up songs used and listen to them while or before reading without having to interrupt the reading flow by having to guess the song’s melody or rhythm. Another rather popular use of music in literature is as a main plot. Here books about musical storylines are rather popular. Many young adult novels and romances revolve around the main character’s musical development or fulfilling their dreams of becoming musicians or the main love interest is heavily involved in the musical world.

Recommendations from my personal experience are: 

• Songs About A Girl by Chris Russel
• The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
• Whatever Happens (Julie and the Phantoms) by Candace Buford

Literature in music

Have you ever listened to a song and noticed that it was telling a story through the lyrics? Music does not equal noise music or melodies with nice texts but sometimes a single song can feel like reading a whole book. This is done through world and story-building in the form of music, just like authors do for their novels or poems. An interesting example where such storytelling can be seen is Taylor Swift. Generally, the American singer writes about her personal life and feelings which is reflected in the way the songs write emotional stories. Every song tells a story on its own, drawing the listener in, and inviting them to experience the story through her eyes. Here, her song The Great War from her 2022 album Midnights can be seen as a great example, also in connection to Rebecca Ross’ Divine Rivals. In the song, Swift tells the story of an internal conflict, a relationship at stake where the lovers have to fight “the great war” for their eventual happy ending. Through her lyrics, she paints a picture of a whole story. Similar to this is the storyline of Divine Rivals where the protagonists are actually present in a war where they have to overcome obstacles and protect their love. On TikTok, the song and the novel are brought up together quite often as their storylines show similarities. This highlights how closely related literature and music can be. While still seeing a song as music, its lyrics can express the same sentiments and the same depth a written page of a novel could. 

Some song recommendations I circle back to when I want to see this phenomenon are:

• Can’t Catch Me Now by Olivia Rodrigo
• The Prophecy by Taylor Swift
• The Manuscript by Taylor Swift
• Don’t Call Me by Maryjo
• The View Between Villages by Noah Kahan
• Coraline by Måneskin

Literature for music

This form might not be as well spread as the previous three but it is still an important phenomenon I would like to address. When creating a list of things I wanted to talk about I remembered a YouTube channel I watched when I was about 15 years old and discovered Nightcore songs. It belongs to Beth Crowley, an American singer and songwriter who used to upload songs inspired by books she read. Just like fanfiction or TikTok, it was a form of fan participation where she wrote music about the book, inspired by it, or from certain characters’ perspectives to show deeper emotions from the literary pages that might not have come across as well without music. One of her most popular songs was “Warrior”, released in 2013, which is based on Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments Series.

Furthermore, she covers many popular books and series such as To All the Boys I Loved Before (Classic, 2019), ACOTAR (Please Take Me, 2018), Shatter Me (I Scare Myself, 2018) or The Midnight Guardian (The Dark, 2016). Hearing those songs after reading the books is a unique experience as I always catch myself picturing scenes with this music playing in the background or recognising specific references that might not be as obvious to others. Unfortunately, this is a rather niche form of genre so Crowley’s songs cannot be considered to be mainstream. However, Warrior, with the help of the books and her fans has become a kind of unofficial anthem for Cassandra Clare’s book series. I would not say it is music to add to your daily playlists but it is worth looking at her channel and giving songs about books one has read a try. 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA6JBtsrOFRzJ-Bu_GUEp5ll4qrRNfCuM&si=Pzy6pson-vCoIcIw

What are your experiences with music and literature? Do you have any songs you listen to because you feel like they tell a story?

Lisa A.

Christmas is right around the corner and to get into the right spirit I annually circle back to many Christmas-themed books, poems, movies/ series and songs before the holidays. Today, I would like to share my personal favourites with you. 

Music:

Many Christmas songs are played throughout December, among them radio classics such as Merry Christmas Everyone by Shakin’ Stevens (1984), All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey (1994), and Last Christmas by WHAM! (1984). 

While I do enjoy these songs a lot, I tend to go back to more classical songs from my childhood in a choir with songs such as the German classics Maria Durch Ein Dornwald Ging or O Tannenbaum, du trägst ein grünes Kleid or the song O Holy Night which was based on a French poem. Two songs I always listen to on repeat are Eta Notsch Swjataja (arr. Füting, 2015) and Shchedryk.

Shchedryk might sound unfamiliar, but I am sure that everyone has at least heard of it once. The Ukrainian New Year’s song arranged by Mykola Leontovych in 1916 was originally used in a pre-Christmas spring in Ukraine when the swallows returned after the long winter. By singing these songs, people blessed each other with a good year of harvest. So why do I label it as a Christmas song? In 1922, the Ukrainian song was altered. Peter J. Wilhousky arranged a new English version that is well-known as Carol of the Bells, a popular Christmas song that attracted even more attention with its use in the movie Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 1991). Many people do not know or question the origin of the famous English version, which I believe to be a shame as the story behind the original ritual song and its lyrics are rather interesting. 

Books, Short Stories and Poems:

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss
• “The Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Andersen
• “A Christmas Memory“ by Truman Capote

My last recommendation is not considered one of the classics for Christmas. However, I thought it to be rather interesting. “Journey of the Magi “ is a poem by the modernist writer T.S. Eliot. It retells the story of the birth of Christ by focusing on one of the magi’s perspectives. As I just mentioned, it is important to note that its author was an influential writer of modernist literature, so typical themes such as alienation and anxiety in an ever-changing world can be found. I think this poem shows another side of Christmas stories that might not be as popular as it can sometimes be hard to understand the meaning behind the words and verses, however, I still think it would be interesting to approach this poem as a literary challenge. 

Movies/ Series:

• The Family Stone (dir. Thomas Bezucha, 2005)
• Love Actually (dir. Richard Curtis, 2003)
• The Grinch (dir. Ron Howard, 2000)
• Santa Clause (dir. John Pasquin, 1995)
• Dash & Lily (Joe Tracz, 2020)
• Three Wishes for Cinderella (dir. Václav Vorlíček, 1973)

Here are some Christmas traditions and activities that I have enjoyed over the years.

• Feuerzangenbowle (dir. Helmut Weiss, 1944): Every year, a couple of days before Christmas, my whole family gets together to watch the German movie while having the actual drink. While this is an activity catering to the family’s adults, the children can enjoy their hot apple juice from authentic cups as well. Even though their drinks cannot be prepared the same way, they are always fascinated by the Feuerzangenbowle, prepared with a sugar cone on fire on top of the mug. This became a rather important tradition in my hometown as many families, neighbourhood clubs and even our university started to organize Feuerzangenbowle nights in the days before Christmas.
• Silly Christmas Pictures: Ugly Christmas Sweaters, DIY Christmas-themed headbands, recreating Christmas movie scenes as pictures
• Mince Pie Movie Marathons: During my time in England, I was introduced to many traditions from the UK. One that stuck with me was our Mince Pie Fridays. It is not an official tradition but a thing my family enjoyed a lot, it was a great way to introduce Christmas into a stressful week. Every Friday, after work and school, we would meet at home, prepare British Mince Pies and watch Christmas movies together. It was a great way to combine bonding time, relaxation and Christmas. 
• Christmas Crackers: They are an English must-have for Christmas, children can enjoy the little gifts inside.

Merry Christmas!

Lisa A.

Whenever I need to escape reality for a bit, my go-tos are music and books. Unfortunately, it can be hard to make time for reading sometimes, whereas music always seems to be readily available. Did you know that teenagers listen to an average of around 2,5 hours of music per day? Music hugely impacts everyday life and shouldn’t be ignored in the classroom!

Just like poetry, songs offer a multitude of themes to discuss with students. They can be introduced with or without the lyrics or music video as an extra layer of difficulty. Songs can help view historical events and society in a critical light, but also help reflect on the future. John Lennon’s song “Imagine” encourages listeners to envision a world at peace. He describes how without the barriers of religion, nationality or material possessions, humans could finally live together harmoniously. Songs that are more closely related to students’ lives can also be wonderful discussion starters. The song “Hunger” by the English indie rock band Florence + the Machine contemplates a relation between eating disorders and youthful loneliness. “Zombie” by The Cranberries problematises the violent troubles in Northern Ireland and offers a critical perspective on the conflict between the loyalists and the republicans.

Visuals can be a helpful addition to listening to music, as can be found in films or musicals. Here, the songs can either be put into context by watching the whole film or analyzed separately. An example for this can be found in the film Annie. Based on the musical of the same name, this film is set in 1933 New York City, in the midst of the Great Depression. A song like It’s a Hard Knock Life could be analyzed by students in regards to its view of poverty in the US.

In honor of Music Day, take some time to explore some new artists… and of course we’d love for you to share your discoveries with us!

Sarah