5 Songs That Remind Me of My Favorite Books

We all have those songs that take us back to a different time whenever we hear it; here's mine.

One of my favorite things to do is to create memories associated with something. I will wear a certain perfume on a trip or listen to my favorite song on repeat when reading my favorite book to make sure that whenever I smell that smell or hear that song, I will be brought back to a great memory. These 5 songs will transport me to some of my favorite books, and they're also really great songs.

1. Trojan Horse by Sebastian Paul

Trojan Horse by Sebastian Paul has been my #1 song for the past three years on my Apple Music (sry not sry) Replay. This song played on a shuffle in the summer of 2021 while I was reading Lore by Alexandra Braden (one of my favs). For some reason, the beat and the Geek symbolism in the song made it an immediate addition to the library. I was reading this book while on a trip to Nashville with my cousin. Of course, I made us go see the parthenon (greek mythology for me, invisible string centennial park for her). I continued to listen to my recently added playlist while I read, so Trojan Horse would play about every 20 minutes while. I finished the book while on the plane home, and for some reason, I have now donned Trojan Horse, my airplane song. For every takeoff and landing, I listen to this song. No matter what. In the three years that I have started this tradition, I have listened to Trojan Horse no less than 50 times in a plane, and each and every time I am reminded of Lore and the feeling I had reading that novel for the first time.

Lore is such a special book for me because of it's insane way of making me feel like I did when I first read Percy Jackson. It has that innate feeling of wonder and exhilaration you get when you know you are just reading a wonderful book. It was a perfect adult mythology read, and for PJO readers, this is definitely the book for you.

2. Burning Gold by Christina Perri

Burning Gold. WOW. This song was one of the first ever songs I listened to while reading. If you've read some of my other posts, you will know that The Heroes of Olympus series was the first book series I ever read and what sparked my love for reading. Before then, I had a HUGE aversion to reading and school. These books truly changed my life. At the time, I was 11 years old, and my 17-year-old sister and I were sharing an iTunes account (read: I was mooching off my sister for YEARS before I finally got my own account in college). She had just discovered Christina Perri and had bought her entire Head or Heart album. This is also a time where I will note that all the music I end up associating with books is typically my chance because I am a serial recently added shuffler BUT, this one is just SO PERFECT for the quests in this series, especially when you associate it with Leo Valdez. Also, I think it is important to mention here that other songs I deeply associate with these books are Doses and Mimosas by Cherub and Good Day by Nappy Roots. Anyway, back to Burning Gold, the lyrics work so well with the book:

"I've had enough

Of chasing luck

I need, I need a change

I'm setting fire to the life that I know (I know)

Let's start a fire everywhere that we go (we go)

We starting fires,

We starting fires till our lives are burning gold

Till our lives are burning gold"

You cannot tell me that is not a demigod just getting so pissed off at the gods and figuring out where they fit in the world through their quests. But especially Leo, with the whole setting fire to the life that I know part. Honestly, this is just such a great song, and the whole album is worth a listen. Another song from that album that really reminds me of PJO is Sea of Lovers, it reminds me of all of them on the Argo and finding happiness in the pockets.

3. Sons and Daughters by Allman Brown

This song was - shocker; another recently added shuffle turned INTEGRAL part of my reading music. This song was on shuffle while I read the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard in high school. This song reminds me of the series as a whole, but specifically, I think about Glass Sword. I always get transported to one scene, which honestly, I don't remember too well because I have not revisited the series since I read it originally, which is surprising considering I made Red Queen my personality for about a year (I had three crown rings, the brother jewel earrings, crown bracelets, anything red and silver, etc). But the scene I always think about is when Cal and Mare are on the run (I think) and they are staying in this cave sitch with some other newborns and maybe they had been separated or something I don't remember, but essentially they are just being domestic and are getting water from the river, cooking, doing all that jazz. But in this time, I just really wanted them to be together, and this song was serving Cal and Mare for me, and I can only think about them when I read it whenever I hear the song.

"And I'll build a fire

You fetch the water and I'll lay the table

And in our hearts

We still pray for sons and daughters

And all those evenings

Out in the garden, with red red wine

These quiet hours turning to years"

Yeah, idk those lyrics were serving for me. ANYWAY, next.

4. River by Leon Bridges

This song is just beautiful. If you have not listened to River, you must do so right now. I initially found this song from watching Big Little Lies with my mom, but I rediscovered it just around when I was about to take a big trip to Egypt (another story for another time). Obviously, as I was listening to this song, NON-STOP, it had to make it on the Egypt playlist. My flight to Egypt was excessively long (as you can imagine), and I found myself reading rather than sleeping in those three plane rides to get to my destination. One of my favorite series is the Hades x Persephone saga by Scarlet St. Claire (greek mythology...we GET IT). A Touch of Darkness is an absolute classic read in my library, so what better to read on my long trip to Egypt? I started off reading the first novel, A Touch of Darkness, and quickly moved to the recently released A Game of Retribution, the second novel from Hades' POV. As any normal person would do, I continued to shuffle my Egypt playlist, but one song resonated through the playlist: River.

Reading A Game of Retribution, you get a rare insight into Hades' thought process when it comes to Persephone, and the reader gets to see how in love with her he is.

"Been traveling these wide roads for so long

My heart's been far from you

Ten-thousand miles gone

Oh, I wanna come near and give ya

Every part of me

But there is blood on my hands

And my lips aren't clean."

These lyrics are exactly how Hades' thinks when he thinks of Persephone, and it was Kismet that this song was on my playlist. Don't let me fool you into thinking all of my songs make sense because another huge connection I have to A Game of Retribution is Baianá by Barbatuques, which is all in Portuguese, and I do not understand a single word...

5. Pumpin Blood by NONONO

Yet another random song that holds so much weight in my reading life. This song I discovered peak divergent era. It was the song over a recruitment video for my sister's sorority, so of course, I bought it on iTunes. I listened to this song over and over and over while devouring the entire series on the floor of my grandpa's office. I would lay on the dog bed (why????), drink blue Gatorade, and eat Cape Cod chips while I looked out the sliding glass door to their garden. I read all three books just like this with my iPod blaring Pumpin Blood, Hey Brother, and Run Boy Run repeatedly. It was always just another one of those random correlations but after going back and revisiting the song, it is relatable to Tris and her dauntless era.

As you have very much gathered by this blog post, my music taste is odd and all over the place. Often the music I listen to has nothing to do with the book I am reading, but I think that's the beauty of music. It is all about the feeling and vibe. I don't care about the lyrics, as long as my brain makes the connection between music and page. I love being able to play myself a memory by listening to music with such strong memories tied to them, and I hope you do too!