Bradley Sides’s collection Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood is filled with otherworldly creatures and the marvelously complex world os being human.
While locked away during COVID, music was always there. As these stories were finding their way, music was always there. As I was editing for hours upon hours, music was always there. Without music, Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood wouldn’t exist. I’m sure of it. I’ve always believed in the power of what music can do, but it felt bigger for me personally as this new project was coming together. What follows is the playlist that helped give my new book life:
“Once Upon a Poolside” by The National (Feat. Sufjan Stevens)
Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood opens with “Raising Again.” In it, we see a flood. Dying stars. Bleakness. In short, we see a possibility that the end is approaching. My favorite band, The National, open First Two Pages of Frankenstein, with a similar notion in “Once Upon a Poolside.” The song closes with, “I thought we could make it through anything,” and it struck me. Maybe. Maybe not. That’s the thing about possible endings…
“Last of My Kind” by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
“The Guide to King George” is about a young guy named Ritchie leaving behind a work manual so whoever finds it can take care of Ritchie’s best pal, a pond monster. Ritchie doesn’t really belong in the world that surrounds him. He just doesn’t really fit in. I imagine “Last of My Kind” is on constant rotation for him.
“I Walked With You A Ways” by Plains
The apocalypse is going pretty heavy in “Our Patches.” Everyone left is gathered underground, working on a quilt. It’s a story about legacy—about memories. “I Walked With You A Ways” is one of my favorites about thinking about the good old days and all the goodness they contained.
“Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)” by Sturgill Simpson
“Hello, my son / Welcome to earth,” sings Sturgill at the opening of one of his best songs. It’s a phrase that wouldn’t be out of place in “To Take, To Leave.” In my story, a parent finds a fallen kid, and that parent has to decide between saving the world or saving the previously mentioned kid. It’s also a gameplay story, so readers get to help make the choice in who/what gets saved.
“It’s So Hard to Hold On” by Trampled by Turtles
There’s no stopping time. Often, I think, we wish we could, but, yeah, it’s not happening. “Festival of Kites” takes a look at how much time means to us. I like to imagine this song from Trampled by Turtles playing quietly in the background.
“You Are Not Alone” by Mavis Staples
The protagonist in “The Browne Transcript” is having a hard time. His family has possibly transformed into fluttering creatures. The end is possibly approaching. He is possibly going to jail. Like I said, times are tough. As he’s facing questions from the police, he keeps his faith that things are going to be okay. Mavis Staples’ “You Are Not Alone” is the right song for him.
“Greatest Story Ever Told” by Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros (Feat. Tyler Childers)
I like a big story. Something full of myth, wonder, and magic. “Greatest Story Ever Told” delivers on this front. I think the characters in “2 Truths & A Lie About the Monsters Atop Our Hill” consider their own story to be pretty grand—even if they are 100% wrong. The people in my story are awful. Truly awful. Team monsters all the way!
“Montezuma” by Fleet Foxes
“Montezuma” is one of my favorite songs ever. It’s about a lot of things, but resilience and introspection are the two things at the top of the list, if I had to say. “Claire & Hank” presents a man trying to make sense of his life—one in which he’s been left behind for his dinosaur sister. “Oh man, oh my, oh me” indeed.
“The Eye” by Brandi Carlile
“Do You Remember?” is about finding love in the storm of life, and so is “The Eye.” I should’ve added a hurricane, I guess, to my beach-set story about a sharkboy and his mother.
“Vampire Empire” by Big Thief
Shout out to Big Thief for finally releasing “Vampire Empire” in 2023. “Dying at Allium Farm” is about a vampire empire. Well, sort of. A vampire family runs an organic garlic farm, and there are A LOT of problems in deciding if it’ll stay open.
“Paradise” by Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill covered John Prine’s “Paradise” so beautifully. We all have a different vision of what paradise looks like. The protagonist in “Remembrance Day” is at his own version heartbreaking version of paradise. Temporarily, it’s beautiful.
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere” by Ashley McBryde
Ashley McBryde’s “Girl Goin’ Nowhere” is about dreams coming true. It’s about believing. It’s about perseverance. I imagine Peaches (of “Peaches’ Menagerie”) would find the message quite powerful as she’s dreaming her own dreams—and making plans for what’s to come.
“Emmylou” by First Aid Kit
I don’t write a lot of love stories. In fact, I think “From 1973” might be my first one. I mean, there’s still murder and sickness in it, so I’m not going too wild, but still, it’s a love story. “Emmylou” is among the best love songs ever written.
“Astral Plane” By Valerie June
Valerie June’s wonderfully transportive song opens with this question: “Is there a light you have inside you?” Nancy R. Melson, I believe, is looking for this same good light as she battles something truly evil while taking her state ELA exam.
“Way of the Triune God” by Tyler Childers
Faith is something I explore regularly in my stories. It’s also something I think about often. “That Winter Ago” looks at belief and disbelief and how our stance changes how we see the events of our lives. Tyler Childers seems to also be pondering faith, especially in his latest couple of albums. “Way of the Triune God” is one of his many masterpieces.
“Old Ties and Companions” by Watchhouse
Moments don’t last—and, sadly, neither do people. “There Goes Them Ghost Children” explores these two things, as a man reflects on his daughter he believes was taken by ghosts. “Old Ties and Companions” is the song he listens to as he tries to fade off to sleep each guilty night.
“The Geese of Beverly Road” by The National
“The Geese of Beverly Road” is about being high on love. In my collection’s titular story, the couple here is experiencing this brand of bliss. All their dreams are coming true. The world is beautiful. Magic awaits.
Bradley Sides is the author of two short story collections, Those Fantastic Lives and Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood. His writing appears in Chicago Review of Books, Electric Literature, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. His fiction has been featured on LeVar Burton Reads. He holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, where he served as Fiction Editor of Qu. Currently, he lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with his wife. On most days, he can be found teaching writing at Calhoun Community College. For more, visit bradley-sides.com.