In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
David Haynes’s Martha’s Daughter celebrates a talented storyteller in his first collection.
Publishers Weekly wrote of the book:
“Haynes untangles the pretensions and biases of his Black characters in this masterful collection. […] It’s a knockout.”
In his own words, here is David Haynes’s Book Notes music playlist for his story collection Martha’s Daughter:
Yes, I did once consider moving to a city with an excellent eclectic radio station, a factor higher on my list than had been weather or crime rates. This was years before everything was streamed, including an array of broadcasters who continue to do it the right way. I’m in my happy place when a Dinah Washington song is followed by a Frightened Rabbit song is followed by a Yo Yo Ma Cello Suite. Many years ago, when some of the first pieces in Martha’s Daughter: A Novella and Stories were first being imagined, I had the occasion to visit a psychic reader. Without regard to whether I or you believe in such matters, among the four things that she told me about myself (all of which came true or were right on the money character-wise) was the fact that there is always music around me. This was well before the advent of the device in my pocket that contains somewhere north of 14,000 pieces of music. When you’ve had genuinely diverse playlists in constant rotation for as long as you can remember, it’s hard to associate the writing of a piece of fiction with a single piece of music. On the other hand, people like me are happy to suggest a song for every occasion or for, in this case, each story in a collection, be it mine or yours. The challenge is picking only one. Here, in the order that the stories appear in the collection, is the list for Martha:
The Chi-Lites “Yes I’m Ready if I Don’t Get to Go” “Martha’s Daughter”
Martha’s daughter Cynthia was one of those kids who, like me, was sent off on the busses, to “halls of high learning.” The Chi-Lites made it sound so positive and hopeful: Classic 70s soul from back in the day when a bit of optimism was permitted or even encouraged. Very shortly thereafter, Marvin Gaye asked, “What’s Going On?” and we were done with this sort of thing.
Lyle Lovett “That’s Right, You’re Not From Texas”
One of the two songs on the list that is also the title of the story. I realized I didn’t really “get” Texas the moment I stepped off the plane to interview for a job that kept me there for two decades. Twenty years in Dallas, and yet somehow it never captured my imagination. This is one of only two stories I ever wrote about living in the Lone Star State. The character in my story is as baffled about Texas as I always was. I believe Lyle would be pleased with the way my story aligns with his intention.
The Emotions “Blind Alley”
The other song that that is also the title of the story: At one point I was going to write a whole collection of stories titled with the names of Stax soul classics. This story was the first effort in that failed project. “Blind Alley” always had this title and never had anything to do with the song. Well, except for the fact that there is an actual blind alley in the story. I am always happy when this song pops up on rotation. It’s everything you love about Memphis soul.
Sly and the Family Stone “Somebody’s Watching You” “Big Things Happening Here”
This is the most paranoiac story I’ve written, and this song rather matches that mood. It’s my other Texas story. I wrote it long before the things in the story started coming true. (Or maybe I wrote this story before the news started reporting the things that happen in this story.) The Sylvester Stone guitar chords underneath the first line of the final verse break my heart.
Prince “Adore” “Taking Miss Kezee to the Polls”
Much of my fiction has been written on the road—at art colonies and retreat centers and vacation rentals. This is the only story in the collection written entirely in Minnesota. Every word of it. It’s also the oldest story in the book. I was teaching middle school in Saint Paul, and the students were paying entirely too much attention to Michael and not nearly enough attention to Prince. I failed repeatedly to correct this error on their part, but those children are all well into middle-age by now and are fully ashamed of their youthful folly. Everyone has a favorite Prince song, even if they don’t know it. This is mine.
The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1” “The Lives of Ordinary Superheroes”
The version from “Yoshimi Wins: The Live Radio Sessions,” please. One good superhero story deserves another. My story is sort of sad, and this live version of Yoshimi, with vocals, piano, and an English horn, is beautifully melancholic, if just this side of syrupy. One hardly misses the karate chop sound effects of the original.
Peter Gabriel “Secret World” “Dear Daniel David or How I Came to Know Jesus Christ as My Personal Lord and Savior”
I listened to this album for years before I realized what this song is about. I was mesmerized by the music and, as always, Peter Gabriel’s vocals. My understanding was hastened by a video of an extraordinary performance where Gabriel ends up on stage curled into a fetal position. Had I actually attended to the lyrics from the start, I’d have seen how on-the-nose this song is, maybe even a little too on-the-nose. It’s extraordinary difficult to write about mental illness, and it took me many years to write “Dear Daniel Davis.” It’s difficult to inhabit any character’s psyche, and even more so when that psyche is a place of pain and disconnection and fear.
Maxwell “This Woman’s Work” “Your Child Can Be a Model!”
My story is about a single mother with an obnoxious job, a deadbeat ex, and a tween son crashing with gusto into hardcore puberty. The Kate Bush original was written for the scene in “She’s Having a Baby” featuring an extremely difficult birth. Let’s pretend that Maxwell’s (far superior) version more directly aligns with my purposes. It’s the moment when he drops out of his elegant falsetto and sings “whatever you need” that support my case. And as far as my purposes go, what she needs, Maxwell, is for you to put your own underwear in the washer and to run the vacuum now and then.
Nancy Wilson “Guess Who I Saw Today” “How to Be Seen in Public”
Speaking of cheesily on-the-nose, this song’s title and plot could be fairly construed as a distant cousin to the story I selected it for, but it’s only the dark irony of their final turns that connects them. “How to Be Seen in Public” may be the most cynical story I’ve ever written. Nancy Wilson’s moment of revelation may be more painful, but I’m the winner in the darkness competition.
Nina Simone “Alone Again, Naturally” “The Weight of Things”
Nina Simone completely reimagines the Gilbert O’Sullivan song, transforming a mawkishly sad lament into a masterpiece of bitter grief. Ironically cheerful piano interludes divide Simone’s autobiographical versus, and I am destroyed every time she arrives at the final chorus and wails “god in his mercy,” one of only four lines retained from the original. “The Weight of Things,” indeed.
Diana Ross “Home” “On the American Heritage Trail“
Don’t get me started on “The Wiz”—a thing I mistakenly did at the recent Kimbilio retreat, where it was me against a workshop of six extraordinarily talented writers who, for whatever reason, enjoy movies that are, in fact, a hot mess. For the record, I was noting that, hot mess notwithstanding, the “Feeling That We Had” scene is an outstanding screen representation of the warmth of black family life. AND I said: The other saving grace of the film is the recording of Diana Ross’ performance of “Home” in the finale. I doubt the denizens of the rundown motel in my story think of their home with such fondness, but their home it is.
Bonus Tracks (because they are always on rotation!)
“There’s No Leaving Now” Tallest Man on Earth
“Superwoman” Stevie Wonder
“Rise” Raveena
“Tears That Don’t Matter” Iron and Wine
“Sorry” Beyonce. (Like Beyonce, I ain’t.).
David Haynes is the founder of Kimbilio, a retreat for fiction writers of the African diaspora. Now in its ninth year, Kimbilio boasts a roster of today’s most celebrated talent in fiction including LaToya Watkins, Jamel Brinkley, Rion Amilcar Scott and Jonathan Escoffery. David is also an emeritus professor of English at Southern Methodist University, where he directed the creative writing program for ten years. Since 1996 he has taught regularly in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Several of his short stories have been read and recorded for the National Public Radio series “Selected Shorts.”