Dear Jukebox Writer letter
Dear Jukebox Writer,
Thank you so much for volunteering to create a gift for a stranger with similar musical tastes. I'm delighted to see what you come up with, and am giving you some prompts to help out. If you already have an idea for the song that we matched on, please run with it!
Don't tell anyone, but the sad truth is that I am super-easy. :) Write a story that you enjoy writing and I'm sure I'll love it and enjoy reading it. In an effort to help, I'll tell you my general likes/dislikes and also give a few prompts for the requested songs.
But above all, have fun. If you find that the suggestions feel like a burden, then ignore them and write something that interests you. True passion shines through and makes a story special.
I like...
angst, UST, longing looks, long-repressed feelings that explode one day, kid fic, roads not taken in canon, zombies, wacky road trips, post-apocalyptic narratives, old friends, handsome strangers, ghost stories, crazy decisions that are right even though they seem so very wrong, 2nd person narratives, porn that reveals more than just naked bodies, unreliable narrators, opening your presents on Christmas Day rather than Christmas Eve, and long deep slow kisses that last three days.
I do not want..
passivity, first-person narration, incest, non-con, non-canon slash, porn without plot, child death or grevious injury, and misusing the words less and fewer.
I love...
The National. Seriously. I've seen them 6 times in 3 different countries including traveling to see them play a 30-minute set with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. (And I have tickets to see them again in July.) I love everything about The National, but especially the words. The words are able to create entire worlds of flawed and interesting people, and I cannot wait to read more.
See, I told you I was easy. Now, the prompts...
"Terrible Love" - The National (song) - Video * Lyrics
"And I can't fall asleep/without a little help/It takes awhile to settle down/My ship of hopes/until the past leaks out"
"It takes an ocean not to break"
"But I won't follow you/ into the rabbit hole/ I said I would/but then I saw/ the ship of woes/ they didn't want me to"
I love the wistfulness of this song, and the idea that even though love can excite you, it can also scare you. Does the narrator take the chance, or does he/she hold firm to the promise not to go into the rabbit hole?
"Slow Show" - The National (song) - Video * Lyrics
"You know I dreamed about you for 29 years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you, I missed you for...for 29 years"
I love all of this song, but that coda catches me in the chest every damn time. It was one of the first lullabies that I sang to my son. The rest of the song is a perfectly described party scene of a socially awkward guy just trying to make a good impression when the stakes, to him, are obviously so high. I'd love to read a love story of any kind - romantic love, platonic love, or even a parent's love for a child.
"Bloodbuzz Ohio" - The National (song) - Video * Lyrics
"I still owe money to the money to the money I owe
I never thought about love when I thought about home
The floors are falling out from everybody I know"
I don't know what a bloodbuzz is and I don't know if I'd want to be on one, but damn I get the idea of being drowning in debt. Tell me about this debt. Tell me about what the narrator is willing to do to get out from under it. And tell me why Ohio is so important to the narrator.
"Graceless" - The National (video) - Video * Song
I almost feel like the guys did the video just to counter the jibes that their music is depressing. Tell me anything about the video. The planning. The making. The choosing of the wardrobe. Tell me what Mrs. Berninger thought about the antics in her backyard.
"Just Another Lover" - Betty Soo (song) - Video * Lyrics
"Am I a dirt road you left behind?
Leading to a place you don't want to find
Not paved and pretty but I took you through
Why did you decide to pick up and move
Am I a dirt road you left behind?"Such raw heartbreak in this song - I'd love to know the backstory. And the answers to the questions it asks.
"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - Arcade Fire (song) - Video * Lyrics
"Then we tried to name our babies
But we forgot all the names that
The names we used to know"
This lyric has always haunted me. What the hell happened to these people? Why are they living in a frozen wasteland? Why can't they remember names? This song speaks to my deep love of all things post-apocalyptic.
"Shattered & Hollow"- First Aid Kit (song) - Video * Lyrics
"I am in love and I am lost
But I'd rather be
Broken than empty
Oh, I'd rather be
Shattered than hollow
Oh, I'd rather be
By your side"
There's such melancholy and displacement in this song. Again, I'm wondering about the backstory. What has happened here? What are they running from? And is it true - would she really rather be broken than empty? How does she know and what if she's wrong?
"Waitress Song" - First Aid Kit (song) - Video * LyricsI can't isolate a single particlar lyric in this song that speaks to me. I love all of it and would be happy to read any story based on it - whether the narrator is moving to a small town to be a waitress, joining the circus, or even just remembering Chicago.