In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Sam Wachman’s novel The Sunflower Boys is a poignant queer coming-of-age story powerfully set in the the Ukraine as war breaks out.
Debutiful wrote of the book:
“A tender and moving story about love and belonging, as a young boy comes to terms with his sexuality, set against war breaking out in Ukraine. This book could not come at a more poignant time as the world watches Ukrainian lives continue to be destroyed. Wachman immerses readers in the visceral realities of trauma and hope with profound insight.”
In his own words, here is Sam Wachman’s Book Notes music playlist for his debut novel The Sunflower Boys:
I write best after midnight, alone, and in complete darkness. Unfortunately, I don’t own a sensory deprivation tank, and if I held out for ideal conditions, I would hardly write anything at all.
I wrote the first chapter of The Sunflower Boys at a camp in the Eastern Carpathians, surrounded by garrulous, shrieking children. Waiting for a delayed flight, I wrote another scene in Terminal 3 of Copenhagen Airport. All of this is thanks to music, which allowed me to drown out reality and immerse myself fully in my work.
Likewise, when I’m feeling unmotivated, losing a staring contest with a blank document, it’s music that jumpstarts the necessary parts of my mind and heart.
The playlist I used to write The Sunflower Boys contains over fifty songs. I’ve chosen the ten most important. If you haven’t read the book yet, I encourage you to skip my annotations to avoid spoilers.
- “Summer Skeletons” by Radical Face
The Sunflower Boys follows twelve-year-old Artem, who lives in Chernihiv, Ukraine with his mother and his little brother, Yuri. Artem spends his days daydreaming through class, watching horror movies with his best friend, Viktor, and drawing in the sketchbook his father sent from the United States.
“Summer Skeletons” captures the atmosphere of the first few chapters. Ben Cooper (aka Radical Face) sings “When all we knew wasn’t stolen, there was nothing real to lose… You were something that would always be around.” In the final days of Artem’s childhood, he takes his world for granted; the concept of war has barely crossed his mind.
I owe Ben Cooper (aka Radical Face) a great debt. I listened to many of his songs throughout the writing process, and I hope that some of his talent leached into my prose.
- “Transatlanticism” by Death Cab for Cutie
Sometime in my early childhood, my then-babysitter and now-friend introduced me to Death Cab for Cutie. I have been casually in love with Ben Gibbard ever since.
Gibbard wrote Transatlanticism after watching people say goodbye to their loved ones at London Heathrow. In the song’s refrain, he repeats: “I need you so much closer”.
I listened to Transatlanticism while writing Artem’s conversations with his father. Artem’s father works in the United States and sends home remittances. He can’t come home to visit until he receives his green card; as a result, he and Artem haven’t seen each other in person in years.
- “In a River” by Rostam
One night, Artem and his best friend, Viktor, break into a pilfered bottle of liquor and go for a midnight swim in the River Desna. Afterward, as they sit together on the shore, Artem realizes that he has developed feelings for Viktor. In a culture where homosexuality is still largely taboo and masculinity has rigid boundaries, Artem is wracked with panic and shame.
While writing this scene, I listened to “In a River” by Rostam (the solo project of Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend fame.) Batmanglij sings: “We are swimming with no clothes on in a river in the dark. And I am holding on to you, boy, in the faint light of the stars.”
- Моя Весна (“My Spring”) by renie cares
In February, russia invades. After a day spent sheltering in the basement of their apartment building, Artem, Yuri and their mother escape Chernihiv and seek refuge at Artem’s grandfather’s farm.
Their days at the farm are long and sluggish. There is nothing to do but sleep and watch footage of their burning city on television. As Artem and Yuri wander around the fallow fields, Yuri asks Artem when they can go home.
renie cares is a duo from Kyiv, consisting of vocalist Iryna Panchuk and producer Oleksandr Musevych. In Моя Весна (“My Spring”), which Panchuk wrote about the first weeks of the war, she sings: “This damn February lasts forever. It steals spring and devours youth.”
- “Real Death” by Mount Eerie
In the dead of night, russian forces reach Artem’s grandfather’s farm and murder Artem’s mother and grandfather. Artem and Yuri survive by hiding in a large toy chest; eventually, they escape to the woods.
I can listen to “Real Death” by Mount Eerie (aka Phil Elverum) once a year at most. Elverum composed “Real Death” after his wife died of pancreatic cancer. He recorded it in the room where she died, using her musical instruments.
“Real Death” begins: “Death is real. Someone’s there and then they’re not. And it’s not for singing about; it’s not for making into art. When real death enters the house, all poetry is dumb.”
Although the village where Artem’s grandfather lives is fictional, the war crimes committed there are real. This scene was informed by the testimonies of residents of Novyi Bilous and Yahidne, villages on the outskirts of Chernihiv that suffered the worst of the russian invasion. I also personally conducted interviews with acquaintances who experienced war crimes in a different region.
When I first heard “Real Death”, it felt as if Elverum was addressing me personally, speaking to the foundational hubris of my book. “Real Death” also reminded me of German philosopher Theodor Adorno, who said: “To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.”
It prompted me to ask myself: what relationship should The Sunflower Boys have to the events that inspired it? How should a writer or a musician render such profound cruelty and tragedy? When real death enters the house, is all poetry dumb? Maybe, but I wrote my book anyway, just as Elverum wrote his song.
- “Natalie” by Milk & Bone
Artem and Yuri traverse Ukraine, making their way west in hopes of reaching their father. Artem is monomaniacally focused on protecting Yuri. Meanwhile, Yuri will barely speak to Artem, as he blames Artem for their mother and grandfather’s death.
I listened to “Natalie” by Milk & Bone while writing these scenes. The song captures the push and pull inherent to Artem and Yuri’s dynamic – especially the refrain: “I did it all for you, don’t say I never tried; I want to protect you, so that you never die.”
In fiction, sibling relationships are so often fraught with acrimony. Relationships between brothers, in particular, tend toward rivalry and violence. In writing Artem and Yuri, I wanted to portray a relationship that was complicated (like all family relationships) but ultimately defined by tenderness and fierce love.
- “Друже Мій” (“My Friend”) by Vivienne Mort
In the city of Lviv in the west of Ukraine, after reuniting with his father, Artem encounters Viktor. They have precious few days together. Artem and his brother and father will soon attempt to escape through the mountains. Viktor, whose mother is unwell, has to stay in Ukraine.
I listened to Vivienne Mort’s “Друже Мій” over and over while writing these scenes. Dear God, I love this song. Vivienne Mort is a band from Kyiv led by Daniela Zayushkina, whose voice never fails to give me goosebumps. In “Друже Мій”, which means “my friend”, Zayushkina sings: “My friend, how good it is that there are two of us. I won’t see you for a long time. I’m sorry for crying.” About two thirds of the way into “Друже Мій”, Zayushkina’s vocals give way to a mournful piano outro.
(Although I imagined “Друже Мій” in the context of Artem and Viktor’s farewell, I later found out that Zayushkina wrote the song as an ode to pets. Oh, well. I still think it works.)
- “Brother” by Annuals
Early in the book, Artem has a seizure and is diagnosed with epilepsy. The sight of his brother seizing frightens Yuri, and Artem promises him that the two of them will live forever.
During their escape through the mountains, Artem – whose medication hasn’t been available in Ukraine since the invasion – has his first seizure in years. Yuri helps carry him to safety, and – in a reversal of their previous roles – looks after him until he has recuperated enough to continue the journey.
The lush quality of Annuals’ oeuvre – a kind of indie rock magical realism – fits well with the Carpathian fairy tales that Artem and Yuri’s father tells. The lyrics of “Brother” also fit the specifics of this scene with eerie accuracy: “I fell down in a creek bed. Brother wept. In his face, I met fear that I could die right there – but I climbed right out.”
- “Sumarið sem aldrei kom” (“The summer that never came”) by Jónsi
I played this song on repeat while writing the scene in which Artem crosses the river Tisza with Yuri and their father, finally escaping Ukraine.
Jónsi’s falsetto has an otherworldly, angelic quality, which lends itself to Artem’s weakness and disorientation, and the sense of unreality permeating his world.
Around two and a half minutes into the song, Jónsi’s voice fades away and there is a pressured quiet – as if the listener is underwater – punctuated by a distant, off-key melody. To me, this represents the moment when Artem is swept away in the current. The barrier between life and death is thin; his body is ready to surrender.
Yuri grabs Artem and pulls him the rest of the way across, defiant, refusing the river his brother. Jónsi’s voice breaks through, twice as forceful as before.
The song finally settles on a simple, heavy piano chord progression. Artem is on the other side now, first in Romania and then in the United States, safe but hollow, living in the ruins of his own life.
Although I don’t speak Icelandic, I do speak Norwegian (Icelandic’s distant cousin) and can deduce that the title of this song, Sumarið sem aldrei kom, means The summer that never came. I think that’s a fitting title for this song in the context of my book. Until russia invaded, Artem was promised another summer to swim in the river, to help his grandfather at the farm, to set things right with Viktor – to grow and ache and stumble like any other boy his age in the summer.
- “Їду Додому” (“I’m Coming Home”) by Pur:Pur
This song was released just over a year after the beginning of the full-scale invasion. To me, it represents that moment in Artem’s life. Artem is living in the United States, attending school and visiting a therapist who he doesn’t particularly like. He has not healed – Ukraine is still under siege, and it’s impossible to heal from a wound that is still being inflicted – but he is finding his way back to himself.
Pur:Pur is a band from Kharkiv, fronted by Nata Smirina. “Їду Додому” means “I’m coming home”; the melody is cheerful on its surface but quietly melancholy. Nata sings: “We grew up and everything changed. The trees got shorter, the sentences got longer. But something will always be native: a person, a house, a city, a nation. Mama, I’m coming home.”
Sam Wachman is a writer from Cambridge, Massachusetts with Ukrainian roots. His short fiction has appeared in Sonora Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, and New England Review. Before writing The Sunflower Boys, he taught English to primary schoolers in central Ukraine and worked with refugee families in Europe and the United States.