“Official Sountrack” Playlists

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One thing I love doing is making music playlists for my books. These are distinct from the music I listen to while writing, which is usually wordless lo-fi or video game music. These playlists are made to be around 90 minutes long (a little more than you could fit on a burned CD in the past) and contain songs that have vibes or lyrics that suit the characters, plot, setting, etc. They are built largely from my personal listening taste (which tends toward folk, indie bluegrass, mainstream and indie pop, 90s country, alt rock) but sometimes I go out of my way to search and listen to new stuff that I think might be a good fit.

If you scroll past the playlists themselves, you can read my “commentaries” on each one to learn why I chose the songs I did :).

Spoiler warning: Personally, I don’t think there is anything inherently spoilery about a book playlist, but if you prefer not to get even a hint of what might be to come in the narrative, then I recommend saving these for later.

Enjoy!

The Thread That Binds (Book One) Official Playlist

I’ve had this one made for YEARS now, but never got to widely share it! This playlist is a combination of songs that fit the characters and plot and songs that I was listening to a lot during the writing process.

Spotify Version:

YouTube Version:

The Tale That Twines (Book 2) Official Playlist

This one is more geared towards plot than the previous playlist, but also focuses on character and includes some stuff for general vibes, including some era-appropriate tunes.

Spotify Version:

YouTube Version:

Playlist Commentaries

These following “commentaries” are a song-by-song explanation of the playlists—what each song means to me/the story, what characters I connect them to, etc. Spoiler warning: definitely going to talk about major plot points and character arcs here. Better to enjoy after reading both books!

The Thread That Binds

  • “Dreamer” by Ana Egge

    • This is, if it wasn’t obvious, a Tabby song. Dreamer come alive/come alive in my body, pretty simple!

  • “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac

    • I just picked this song because it’s called Rhiannon and is probably where I first heard the name, lol. I grew up listening to Fleetwood Mac because my mother loved them, the actual song doesn’t really have much to do with the story or Rhiannon the character.

  • “Hear the Bells” by Naomi Scott

    • This one is Amane’s introduction song. Initiation day, packed up and on my way/Can you hear the bells?/There’s a lot at stake/And I’m not feeling brave/Because I can hear the bells. Sort of her feelings toward getting the apprenticeship and all that!

  • “Passenger” by Imad Royal

    • Just a song I listened to a lot while writing this book. I like the message. My body is the ship/Your soul is the passenger/So let me take a trip down/Let me take a trip down to you/They say it’s such a small world/But often i feel lost and empty/They say it’s such a cruel world/But one good heart is plenty. Goes with the themes of the book.

  • “Trustful Hands” by The Do

    • This whole album was something I listened to on repeat while first developing the ideas that eventually turned into this book. Rhiannon was the main character back then and I still associate the vibes of this song with em.

  • “Candle” by Lydia Ainsworth

    • For the vibes!

  • “With the Ink of a Ghost” by Jose Gonzalez

    • More vibes, big dreamwalking/astral journey energy. Also it has the word ink in it.

  • “Sweet Hibiscus Tea” by Penelope Scott

    • Just imagine Rhiannon is singing this song haha. Here’s the thing I can’t do anything right/Try as I absolutely totally might… And I’m not your protagonist/I’m not even my own/I don’t know anything/I don’t even know what I don’t know.

  • “Opposite Ways” by The Do

    • Another song that was big inspiration for the original ideas/characters for this book way back in like 2015-16. Again I associate it with Rhiannon, especially after stealing The Founding from the Bindery and cooperating with Mairead:

      I have second thoughts I just cannot explain
      Intermissions that keep stepping in the rain
      What if I was wrong when I abused vulnerable hearts
      What if I’m wrong to act like little lies don’t hurt?
      Second thoughts I just cannot repress
      Intuitions that keep keeping me awake
      What if I was wrong to take for granted what comes free?
      What if I’m wrong to think there’s nothing wrong with me?

  • “Take Your Face Off” by Lydia Ainsworth

    • More astral journey/scrying magic vibes

  • “Favorite Color” by Carly Rae Jespen

    • Amane/Tabby song :3

  • “Into the Well” by Mree

    • If I had to pick one single song to represent this book, it would be this one. This is 1000% a Tabby song. And I think I was inspired by it at least partially to include the astral well that Aeronwy and June come through in the later chapters when Tabby is in the coma/dreaming.

      I know that I’ve been sleeping
      And I know that I’ve been dreaming
      But now the sun is streaming
      And I swear that I’ve been here before
      Not just the act of being
      Caught somewhere in between
      I just can’t fight this feeling
      I swear that I’ve been here before

  • “Green Lights” by Sarah Jarosz

    • Tabby/Rhiannon song :3 Green lights and open roads and skies of endless blue/That’s the feeling I get when I’m with you

  • “Elastic Heart” by Gracie and Rachel

    • Another Tabby song, feelings you get as a survivor of emotional abuse.

      You did not break me
      I’m still fighting for peace
      Cuz I’ve got thick skin and an elastic heart
      But your blade it might be too sharp
      I’m like a rubber band until you pull too hard
      But I may snap when I move close
      But you won’t see me fall apart
      Cuz I’ve got an elastic heart

  • “Mine” by Phoebe Ryan

    • More Tabby dealing with emotional abuse lyrics:

      I'm holding on to all the pieces of my heart's debris
      'Til it's time
      I'll, I'll pull it together and fix myself eventually
      I know it's mine

  • “Loudspeaker” by MUNA

    • This one could be any one of the main characters standing up for themselves against various people (Mairead, Tabby’s parents, Amane’s family)

      I don’t know where the blame lies
      But you better believe I’m not gonna carry it all
      I don’t know where the shame dies
      But it’s helping me to scream this is not my fault

  • “Storm” by Paperwhite

    • Found family vibes, apply to basically any of the main characters with each other, platonic or otherwise:

      When the rain starts to drag us under
      Promise me that we’ll fight on together
      …
      Come back and wonder why we believed
      we could be stopped?
      Cause we have each other, it’s never easy
      But it’s right for us
      Cause when the light falls upon the water
      Showing me that we have this love to fight for

  • “Face My Fears” (cover) by Mree

    • I know!!!! I know this is!!! From Kingdom Hearts III!!!! IT’S A GOOD SONG. Apply to any of the three narrators. Also I love the original version but this cover is also very sweet.

  • “Love Is More Thicker Than Forget” by The Story

    • I’ve listened to this album pretty much my entire life. This song is made from an e. e. cummings poem and as a teenager in particular I ADORED the seemingly contradictory language of it. It was the main theme song for my very first novel I wrote when I was 13-15….So I guess I put it here, with my first actually published novel, for nostalgia. Also it’s a dope song.

  • “Finding You” by Kesha

    • Amane/Tabby/Rhiannon trio relationship vibes <3. Also Aeronwy/June, of course.

      I know forever don’t exist
      But after this life I’ll find you in the next
      So when I say forever it’s the goddamn truth
      I’ll keep finding, finding you

  • “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright

    • The title kind of says it all. I figure this would be the song that plays over the end credits of the movie version, haha. Also since it’s from the 70s, it kind of transitions us into book 2!

The Tale That Twines

  • “The Song Remembers When” by Trisha Yearwood

    • This song is about how music can bring back memories you thought you’d forgotten, which makes it thematically on point for this book. I’ve been listening to this album since I was a little kid and it was one of the first songs I thought of for this playlist!

  • “Wildflowers” by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris

    • Young June vibes, especially right at the beginning of the book.

      I grew up fast and wild and I never felt right
      In a garden so different from me
      I just never belonged, I just longed to be gone
      So the garden one day set me free

  • “Main Title and Closing Theme” from Star Trek by Fred Steiner, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

    • This is here of course to acknowledge the inspiration I took from the original series Star Trek for the Planet of Honey show and its history.

  • “Cloudy” by Simon and Garfunkel

    • Pacific northwest and ADHD June vibes.

      My thoughts are scattered and they’re cloudy
      They have no borders, no boundaries
      They echo and they swell
      From Tolstoy to Tinkerbell
      Down from Berkley to Carmel
      Got some pictures in my pocket
      And a lot of time to kill

  • “Down by the Water” by Abigail Lapell

    • For June’s love of the water. Ignore that it says “daughter” in it and imagine Hazel and June are singing this back and forth to each other.

      Sing a little song darling
      Sing it like a little blue starling
      In the country or the town and for miles all around
      Sing a little song darling

  • “The Music is You” by John Denver

    • Self explanatory???

      Music makes pictures and often tells stories
      All of it magic, and all of it true
      And all of the pictures and all of the stories
      All of the magic, the music is you

  • “Stay on My Shore” by Joan Shelley

    • I imagine June and Aery are dueting this one. It’s just got good vibes.

  • “The Planets, Op. 32: 3. Mercury, the Winged Messenger” by Gustav Holtz, Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra

    • This quite famous orchestral suite written by Gustav Holtz in the 30s inspired the music that Opal puts on for June when they start doing the sensory deprivation-induced astral deep diving. Imagine this is the one playing for their first attempt, mood-wise.

  • “Bookends” by Simon and Garfunkel

    • Another one with lyrics that say it all. June grieving Hazel vibes.

      Time it was
      And what a time it was
      It was a time of innocence
      A time of confidences
      Long ago, it must be
      I have a photograph
      Preserve your memories
      They’re all that’s left you.

  • “Small Blue Thing” by Suzanne Vega

    • Suzanne Vega overall is big June vibes, June would absolutely listen to Suzanne Vega all the time. This one is, idk, auDHD weirdo imagination astral vibes. Also kind of somber, in a way.

  • “Out Alee” by Hundred Waters

    • Vibes for June’s re-traumatizing astral journey to recover the earthquake memory.

  • “Song for a Winter’s Night” by Gordon Lightfoot

    • For Chapter 16, after the disastrous Winter Solstice party has died down.

  • “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” by Fairport Convention

    • Time skip time haha

  • “The Planets, Op. 32: 7. Neptune, the Mystic” by Gustav Holtz, Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra

    • For June’s first failed attempt after the time skip to astral journey, this one is darker than the last track from this album.

  • “The Push and Pull” by Joan Shelley

    • June/Aery vibes for when they first start noticing maybe there’s a romantic connection, but wondering how it might affect their relationship. I always imagine them dancing during this song. Don’t make me make up a story/Don’t make me say what this is/Where’ve we to go once we’ve described it?

  • “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King

    • I FEEL A LITTLE BAD FOR INCLUDING THIS SONG, BUT HOW COULD I NOT? It’s a love song…….with…..an earthquake metaphor…..from the 70s…..

      I feel the earth move under my feet
      I feel the sky tumbling down
      I feel my heart start to trembling
      Whenever you’re around

  • “Seasons Bloom” by Kacy Hill

    • This one goes with the second main lake camping trip, the one in Chapter 25 when June is really REALLY realizing how strong eir feelings for Aeronwy are and they have their moment sleeping together after June’s nightmare.

      But then I’m seeing your face in the moonlight
      It’s like I’ve known you so long
      Oh, when you’re making me cry because it’s all right
      Oh yeah, just seeing your face in the moonlight
      And now I’m seeing your face in the moonlight
      I swear I couldn’t love you more if I tried

  • “The Lost Words Blessing” by Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwart, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter, Jim Molyneux, Kerry Andrew

    • June diving into the cold creek pond below the waterfall and feeling spiritually refreshed by nature vibes

  • “The Planets, Op. 32: 4. Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity” by Gustav Holtz, Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra

    • Successful Thread twining!!!!

  • “Lopin’ Along Through the Cosmos” by Judee Sill

    • Big Theme of the Book lyrics, also once again music from the 70s and of the genre June would listen to the most back then.

      I’ll tell you a secret
      I’ve never revealed
      However we are is ok

  • “You Were Meant For Me” from Singin’ In the Rain by Gene Kelley

    • Aeronwy singing to June moment, since Gene Kelley is my singing voice cast for Aery

  • “Swan Lake, Op. 20, Act II: No 13, Dances of the Swans, III. Tempo de valse” from Swan Lake by Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, John Lanchberry, Philharmonia Orchestra

    • I realized after I finished the book that I’d never actually picked a real life waltz to stand in for the one they dance to at the gala, and after going through several playlists of romantic waltzes, I chose this one from Swan Lake because it seemed to fit the vibe and description June gives for the piece in the book. Also, I like Swan Lake!

  • “Dark Road” by Sarah Jarosz

    • Trauma healing vibes

      And the darkness covers you sometimes
      And the road is long, but it always unwinds
      And I find if you take your time
      You will make it fine

  • “Love is Alive” by Gary Wright

    • More period appropriate music. This is once again the “end credits” song… that once again sort of points us on to the next book by mentioning FIRE, haha.

      My heart is on fire
      My soul’s like a wheel that’s turnin’
      My love is alive