In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Gary Jackson’s poetry collection small lives is a graphic novel in verse where the Black superheroes wield both their powers and vulnerabilities in this unforgettable and powerful fable.
Maya Marshall wrote of the book:
“There’s a charmed and charged theater in Gary Jackson’s small lives that’s rare in contemporary poetry. At its center, this book is about power: who has it, how it twists, how it’s weaponized, how it’s abdicated. On its face, it’s a superhero story in the tradition of Moore’s The Watchmen. A welcome counterbalance to our thirty-second culture, small lives is a tender, gritty thriller that resists hopelessness.”
In his own words, here is Gary Jackson’s Book Notes music playlist for his poetry collection small lives:
For this playlist, I paired fourteen songs with individual poems that appear throughout the five sections of my upcoming poetry collection / graphic novel-in-verse small lives. (thank the sonnet’s influence, or this would have been a much longer listen)
I’m not going to list all the rules I created for myself, but most of these songs were on heavy rotation as I wrote this book. Others are directly referenced in the poems themselves. And while there are lyrics that resonate with the themes and various speakers, I’m a firm believer in a melody’s ability to carry us along. I tried to pace out the song/poem pairings to approximate a soundtrack for the entire book, starting with the third poem in small lives, and ending with the very last.
Givin ‘Em What They Love by Janelle Monáe featuring Prince (The Electric Lady, 2013)
“The Invincible Woman introduces herself”
Though it’s technically not the opening track, I still consider it the introduction to Janelle Monáe’s second studio album The Electric Lady, her cyborg personae, her Afrofuturistic-infused landscape. Full of swagger, it’s a perfect lead-in to The Invincible Womanand the speculative world of small lives. Prince’s contribution is all over this song, and his verse is particularly apt, which I’m doing my best to not cite here (another rule I’m imposing on myself) because just reading it on the page won’t do it justice.
Love Hangover by Diana Ross (Diana Ross, 1976)
“The Invincible Woman enjoys her night off”
One of my rules is that any song that’s part of the diegetic soundtrack in small lives has to be included, so we have this song from Diana Ross’ second self-titled album (that alone is a move). When I’m in the mood for disco while I’m writing, I usually go to Donna Summer, so I’m not sure how Diana made it in this poem about The Invincible Woman and The Willpower Man in a club when the power goes out, but something about the “sweet love” refrain stuck with me and so here we are. Shout out to Erykah Badu’s cover of this song at the 2007 BET Awards: I could probably make a soundtrack just using Badu’s catalog, but that’s another exercise for another time. And she’ll show up on this list soon enough.
Nice Work if You Can Get It by Billie Holiday (1937)
“old lions”
Sung by Mari McCabe (aka Vixen from the DC Universe), it fits the hyper-metatextual reality of the poem featuring Black superheroes receiving and/or still waiting for their flowers, chasing fame and money and, if not love, maybe, at least, adoration? This song is an exception in that it wasn’t on repeat when I was writing the poems for this collection, though Holiday has found her way into my books before.
Save Me by Aretha Franklin (I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, 1967)
“tryouts”
How could I not use this track, which has Aretha asking Batman and Green Hornet to come save her? It echoes Lucille Clifton’s poem “if i should” which poses the same question to Superman, and in turn echoes one of the central questions in this poem and maybe the entire collection: who needs saving from whom, and who deserves saving? If I could only keep one song from this list to score the book, it’d be this one.
Thieves in the Night by Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, 1998)
“on power”
I could find a place for this song in every soundtrack to every book I’ve written. From my favorite era of hip hop, any song that cites Morrison and references Star Wars has my attention (the Yasiin Bey verse will always resonate). Out of the three main figures in small lives, The Willpower Man seems to struggle the most with reconciling his given and chosen roles and maybe becomes the most disillusioned because of it.
Rollin Stone by Little Simz (Sometimes I Might be Introvert, 2021)
“The Invincible Woman has a case of the mondays”
A good friend turned me on to Little Simz and I’m glad he did, as soon as I heard this track, I put it in heavy rotation. Like Monáe’s “Givin Em What They Love,” there’s a level of undeniable swagger and a beat that immediately grabs you. Then it switches / eases up / but that hubris is still there, and it’s fucking fun, though there’s an undercurrent of weariness that also speaks to where The Invincible Woman is at during this section in the book.
Take me to the River by Al Green (Al Green Explores Your Mind, 1974)
“in blackest day, in brightest night”
A bit of an easter egg since the poem only says that The Willpower Man is singing Al Green, but doesn’t say what song. And I don’t include any reference in the notes section either, but this is the song he’s singing to himself as he walks alone under artificial moonlight before being called to action.
Build by EARTHGANG (Royalty, 2018)
“The Willpower Man”
Another track I can’t separate from The Willpower Man and his reflection in this poem. There’s a healthy dose of nostalgia here, while acknowledging its flawed lens. And in a collection that plays with individual and collective voices, I love how this song alternates and conflates the plural and singular.
Jealous Guy by Donny Hathaway (Live, 1972)
“newscast”
Another song that’s directly referenced in the first line, along with the original John Lennon version. But it’s Donny Hathaway’s cover I remember hearing when I was growing up. Lennon released his version just the year prior and went on record saying how big of a fan he was of Hathaway’s version (similarly, Al Green approved of The Talking Heads’ cover of “Take Me to the River,” released four years after the original). Besides Holiday, Hathaway was the only other artist on this list I didn’t have in heavy rotation. But its reference here made so much sense that from the very first draft, I knew the speaker would channel some version of the core sentiment of the song in other poems too—especially in their reception of The Telepath.
Untitled/Fantastic by Slum Village (Fantastic, Vol 2., 2000)
“acts of kindness”
Slum Village’s Fantastic, Vol 2. is my favorite album from the same era of hip hop that gave us so many watershed records, like Black Star (earlier on this soundtrack), The Fugees’ The Score (1996), The Roots’ Things Fall Apart (1999), and too many other artists to list here. Almost any song off this album could be here, but it’s the ethereal beat that stands out to me—there’s so much space between each bar, each verse, demonstrating J Dilla’s range as a producer. J Dilla, T3, and Baatin broke up after this album (with just a few collaborations after), and now that Dilla and Baatin have passed on, there’s an added layer of bittersweetness. It goes without saying this speaks to the three main figures in small lives—The Telepath, The Invincible Woman, and The Willpower Man—and where they’re at, and where they’re heading.
No Wow by The Kills (No Wow, 2005)
“moon”
I originally didn’t want to score this poem with a song, but goddamn, “No Wow” is such a perfect lead-in to The Kills second studio album (between this and The Electric Lady, is this a pattern I didn’t know I had?). The opening immediately announces trouble, and the lyrics sync up so well with what’s coming down the line for our heroes.
Telephone by Erykah Badu (New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), 2008)
“necropolis”
Written in response to J Dilla’s passing, Badu recorded this song at the storied Electric Lady studios (so many of my favorite albums from this era of neo-soul and hip hop were produced there, and so many albums and tracks I love going back to the late 60s as well). You can hear Badu and Ahmir Thompson (aka Questlove) give an audible release by the song’s end that is just so touching. Another artist whose catalog I could use to score every book, and probably my entire life, I’ll only say this: “Telephone” has a place in every book—maybe every poem—I write.
Fighter by Edie Brickell and Steve Martin (Love Has Come For You, 2013)
“small lives”
At first, I resisted scoring the title poem, since the pressure seemed too great. But no less pressure than using the title poem for the title of the book, so why not? It’s Edie Brickell’s vocals backed by Martin’s banjo that speak to The Invincible Woman’s position at this point in the collection. Part supplication, part resignation, and acknowledgment there’s still work to be done, speaking of which…
May-December by Yasiin Bey aka Mos Def (Black on Both Sides, 1999)
“work”
I knew from the start that I wanted to include at least one instrumental track, and when I went back to collect the songs I listened to on heavy rotation, a few tracks, including this one, jumped at me. I know I’m breaking my own rule since Yasiin was also part of Black Star, but hey—he’s solo here and since it’s an instrumental, I’m allowing it. And while I’ll admit the melody here may not complement the poem as well as other songs on this list do with their poetic counterparts, the idea that this track concludes Black on Both Sides fits so perfectly in the sense that it gives a little buoy to the album as it fades out, so I’m hoping some of that energy rubs off here. I’ve already talked about how much I dig a good opening track on an album, but I also love a good closing, and I can think of few better ones than “May-December.” That, and the title’s reference to a generational passing seems apt.
Thanks for listening!
Gary Jackson is the Toi Derricotte Endowed Chair at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Director of the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics. He is also the author of origin story and Missing You, Metropolis, which was the winner of the 2009 Cave Canem Poetry Prize.