The Sound of Music

Sometimes, I think I'd give it all up -- the books, the short stories, the contract, the nominations, everything I've accomplished as a writer -- if I could only write one "House of Fun." Or a "Once in a Lifetime." Or even half of a "Back on the Chain Gang." Hell, even one-eighth of a slab of gouda like "Viva Las Vegas." Crank that sucker up, man -- it rocks!

I believe in the power of the written word to reach out and touch people. I have to. It's my job. And I've been touched so many ways by so many different writers.

No, no -- not like that! I don't mean groped! (Though there was that time Mary Higgins Clark got a little frisky after a few too many Bouchercon "pick me ups"....)

But here's the thing about short stories and books: For them to touch you, move you, make you feel something, you've gotta read the damn things. Usually all the way through to the end! Geez!

A song, on the other hand, can grab you anwhere, anytime, instantly. One chorus, one bar, one note of "Sex Machine" and you're grinning and shaking your money maker...even if you're French!

And a song can mess with your head and heart without even using words. Just listen to anything off "Kind of Blue" if you don't believe me. Or give "Gymnopedies" a try. Or "The Hustle."

(Just kidding there, folks. Please, don't try "The Hustle." It only messes with you in a "Dear God...why is it still in my head? Make it stooooooooop!" sort of way. Kinda makes you wonder if they play it every morning for the prisoners down in Gitmo.)

I got to thinking about all this -- not "The Hustle," necessarily, but the power of music -- last week after I read a blog post by the lovely and talented Louise Ure. Louise was writing about great story-songs, and I certainly have my faves. (To name but a few, because I can't resist: Steely Dan's "Cousin Dupree," Madness' "In the Middle of the Night" and "Mrs. Hutchinson," The Sugarcubes' "Motorcrash," Johnny Socko's "Tortugas" and that great love story for the ages, The Kinks' "Lola").

But darn those musicians. They get all the chicks and they can stir your soul WHILE MAKING NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. I mean "Brilliant Mistake" is a beautiful piece of poetry with some very clever lines indeed, but it doesn't exactly hang together as a narrative. The mood of the music and Elvis Costello's delivery -- that's what makes it work.

(Man, I'm really dating myself with these examples, aren't I? Please, someone, drag us into the 21st century with some analysis of a Britney Spears or 50 Cent song, would you?)

For me, writing is such a struggle I can't even listen to music while I'm working. My brain can't multi-task like that: one half humming along to Gnarls Barkley (Hey! I did it! I referenced musicians who aren't eligible to join AARP!) while the other agonizes over the best way to describe a horse or a guy picking up a gun or an elf eating ice cream or whatever the hell it is I'm trying to get on paper. I do sometimes have to put on earphones and crank the mp3 player up to 11 -- I have a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old, you know. But it's always the same track, a 45-minute-long collection of soothing, tuneless New Age noodlings with no vocals or melody or hooks to mess with my head. I may as well be listening to 45 minutes of static.

I think I'm going to try to change that up soon, though. I'm starting a new book at the moment -- the fourth Big Red/Old Red mystery. I'm still outlining, but I already know the plot and the setting and the characters. And the mood -- that I know, too. And it's a mood I love to listen to: the mood of a Bernard Herrmann score.

(Yeah, I know, I know -- most of you probably think a Waylon Jennings score's more in keeping with Big Red and Old Red. Just wait till you read The Black Dove, folks....)

I've already got my Herrmann mix ready, with music from "Citizen Kane," "North by Northwest," "Cape Fear," "On Dangerous Ground," "Psycho." (I can't do "Taxi Driver" -- the damn sax solo is too distracting.) And especially, above all the others, "Vertigo."

No, I'll never write a "Viva Las Vegas." I can't write music at all. I tried a few times, years ago, and the results were consistent, if nothing else. Meaning the songs consistently sucked.

But if one day, someone tells me I've written something that's worthy of music -- worthy of a Bernard Herrmann score, for instance -- now that would be sweet music to my ears.

Steve Hockensmith
September 13, 2007
 

Comments

[Lee]

I don't know...when I'm reading Big Red, I usually put on my "Riders in the Sky" CDs (yes, I own more than one). There's just something about Ranger Doug (the idol of American youth) yodeling "Autumn on the Trail" while Big Red describes his life that just does it for me...

I can hardly wait for "Black Dove" to see if that changes...

[Where do you sound like?]

Well, here's the thing: I don't have anything to say about songs or songwriting, but I do have a question of a sonic nature, and this is the only way I could figure to get a holt of you. So, here 'tis:

What do the Amlingmyer boys sound like, regionally speaking? Do they talk like they're from Missouri or Minasota or Montana or Montgomery? I hear them as from the shallow South, 'long about Missouri or Oklahoma, with a little of the flatness of the Midwest. If you were to cast them in a movie, who'd play them?

[Steve]

I'm sure Big Red and Old Red would love it if Riders in the Sky provided the soundtrack for their stories, Lee. Unfortunately for them, I control their destinies -- heh heh heh [rubs hands together with gleeful malevolence] -- so the mood of the next couple books is going to be a little too grim for something like, say, "Back in the Saddle Again."

As for the boys' accents, they used to be Kansas flat with just a hint of a Germanic clip (their parents sprechened the Deutsch, remember), but once they hit the trail and took up the cowboy life, they picked up more of a Texas-style twang. That's on paper. When I do a reading, though, Big Red tends to sound like he's from the area affectionately known as Kentuckiana (Southern Indiana/Western Kentucky), because...well, because that's where *I* grew up!

-Steve

[Jennifer McKenzie]

The music that came to mind for me in "Holmes On The Range" was Sons Of The Pioneers. But then, some of the setting in "Holmes" reminded me of my Dad (who loved L.P. Holmes westerns) and he loved "Sons Of The Pioneers".
But I can definitely see the appeal of the Hitchcockian (is that a word?) strains to keep the suspenseful mood.

[Steve Hockensmith]

The Sons of the Pioneers are great, but I think we'd still have to go for something darker. Maybe we could split the difference and come up with somebody in the country'n'Western world who's not afraid to get dark. Hmmmmm. Johnny Cash, maybe? "The Man in Black" sounds like a great villain.

Oh, and I forgot to answer Where Do You Sound Like?'s question about movie casting. Sometimes I try to picture HOLMES ON THE RANGE as a vehicle for the Wilson brothers, Owen and Luke, only I can never figure out who'd be which brother. I think Sam Rockwell would make a great Old Red and -- call me nuts if you must -- Ben Affleck comes to mind for Big Red. They'd probably all look pretty dorky with their hair dyed red, though. So if I had to go with natural redheads...geez, I don't know...Donny Most and Carrot Top?

-Steve

[Cap'n Bob Napier]

I think you should write a book in which they both talk like Lawrence Welk, another German from the middle of the US. As for the appropriate music to play while reading, I prefer silence.

[Melody]

Well as for music, I am with Cap'n Bob, I also like silence when I read it helps me to picture and hear Big and Old Red. However, if you are looking for music to inspire your muse then I suggest that you look to Kenny Roger's "The Gambler," and the Eagle's "Desperodo," both very moving story songs that would inspire anyone to write something. :) As for accents I thought Big Red reminded me of my Grandpa who was born in Souther Indiana :) and as for actors I've always pictured Eric Close playing Big Red and for Old Red, Dale Midkiff. If you don't know who they are check out the DVD TV Series "The Magnificent Seven," wonderful show and not to be missed. *Hugs* from another fellow Southern Indiana Hoosier, Melody

[Steve]

Yo, Melody! I Googled Eric Close and Dale Midkiff and can see why you picture them in the roles. I think Midkiff has a tad too much midriff to play Old Red these days, though. And Close is about 8.9% too handsome to be Big Red...although he's exactly what Big Red *thinks* he looks like.

Thanks for the hugs! Only don't squeeze too hard -- I'm still pretty tender....

-Steve