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March 25, 2022
Olivia Clare Friedman's Playlist for Her Novel "Here Lies"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Roxane Gay, and many others.
Olivia Clare Friedman's novel Here Lies is a lyrical and captivating debut.
The New York Times wrote of the book:
"Friedman’s poetic novel explores mourning, memory and motherhood in a future Louisiana that has been ravaged by climate change… [The reader] becomes immersed in Friedman’s layered and luscious prose, the vibrant colors of Alma’s world, the flowers so real ‘you could smell their rankness, the air brimming with sweet, candied stink.’ Most captivating, though, is the stillness and quiet — lines that end abruptly and the images that conjure a deafening silence — representations of the graveyards that no longer exist, but whose absence is haunting."
In her own words, here is Olivia Clare Friedman's Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel Here Lies:
I tend to listen to music just before or after I write, but not during. It’s hard for me to listen while I write, because I feel like I’m trying to read two things at the same time. But once I have a draft going, and I get the feel of where it’s headed, where I am, I’ll start knowing what songs begin to fit the story. Just before I write the scene, or just after—that’s when I’ll play the song, usually on repeat. It isn’t strange for me to listen to the same song 20 times in a row.
I’m trying to achieve an atmosphere. I’m listening for a tone in the music that’s going to give me the kind of movement and emotional resonance I want in the scene. For my novel Here Lies, I was listening to two different shades of music. I wanted music with tones that were wistful, melancholy, nostalgic, shimmering. The kinds of songs you listen to late into the night or in the dark pre-dawn. (That’s when I wrote so much of this novel, every day before the sun came up.) Other times, for different scenes, I wanted music that was upbeat, on the move, brightly shimmering.
This playlist is particular to this book, but some of the songs are a playlist for my writing generally. Music is one of the things that holds all my writing together across the years.
“The Book of Love” (The Magnetic Fields)
I love the tone of this song. I listen to it again and again because there’s something about the desire inside of it, and the simplicity. It’s been a favorite of mine for years.
“I’m Going To Jackson” (Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash)
The upbeat twang of this song fits some of my scenes perfectly. My novel mostly takes place in Louisiana, so songs with a twang were always in my head for the book. Plus, my main characters listen to Cash when they’re taking a special road trip.
“Close To You” (The Carpenters)
All these songs are songs I love, and I’ve been listening to The Carpenters since I was a kid. This song’s one of their anthems. My main character Alma listens to The Carpenters too. And certainly, the melancholy in Karen Carpenter’s voice reflects Alma’s desire to get close to others.
“Come Back From San Francisco” (The Magnetic Fields)
I can’t stop listening to The Magnetic Fields. The tone of their songs struck perfectly for this book—but I think that’s true for so much of my writing too. The lyrics for this one aren’t relevant for any of my characters. No one’s coming back from San Francisco in my book. But again, it’s that longing tone that’s captured so well here that I want for the book and so much of my work.
Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1
I played classical music growing up, and it’s still a big part of my music life. I love the first movement of this Prokofiev concerto for its vitality and motion. Favorite recordings include pianists Martha Argerich and Yefim Bronfman.
“Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” (Elvis Presley)
I fell in love with this song when I lived in Las Vegas. Again—there’s that melancholy swoony lilt to it. Presley’s voice takes me miles away.
“Maybellene” (Chuck Berry)
“Good Golly Miss Molly” (Little Richard)
“Everyday” (Buddy Holly)
“Here You Come Again” (Dolly Parton)
“Talking In Your Sleep” (Crystal Gale)
“Johnny B. Goode” (Chuck Berry)
“Ain’t That A Shame” (Fats Domino)
My characters go on a road trip, and these are some of the songs I imagine they listen to on the radio. They’ve all got a real pulse, whether that pulse is fast or slow. Listening to these while I wrote those road trip chapters really helped my own momentum too.
Psalm 42/43 – As the Deer Longs
One of my characters sings this psalm. It’s been a favorite of mine for a long time. It’s no surprise to me I was drawn to this psalm for the book since the psalm is about longing.
Olivia Clare Friedman is the author of the story collection Disasters in the First World and a poetry collection The 26-Hour Day. Her fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, The O. Henry Prize Stories, Granta, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, among other publications. Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she teaches Creative Writing at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she holds the title of Nina Bell Suggs Endowed Professor.
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