I love books, music, and romance, so here's a fun little video playlist of songs that celebrate all three things. And I'm always looking for more (or any song with "Book" in the title, really), so if you have one to suggest, please leave it in the comments.
Great doo-wop fun: "Who Wrote the Book of Love?" by the Monotones, performed here by Sha Na Na.
The first literary love song I ever knew, thanks to the "When Harry Met Sally . . ." soundtrack: "I Could Write a Book," music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, performed here by Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak in the film of the musical in which it first appeared, "Pal Joey":
"Everyday I Write the Book," by Elvis Costello (thanks to my friend Ben for introducing me to this one):
I'm including this video because it seems like the result of a lot of teenage daydreaming about love as it's presented in books. . . . It's exactly the fantasy I would have had at age 15, after swooning over "Romeo and Juliet" in Honors English I and watching the Keira Knightley "Pride and Prejudice" two hundred times. And I'm also including it because, ah hell, I love this video now: "Love Story" by Taylor Swift:
But a much better and more honest song about love, and one of my all-time favorite songs, period, is "The Book of Love" by the Magnetic Fields, performed gorgeously here by Nataly Dawn:
And finally, to finish on a fun note, "My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors," by Moxy Fruvous:
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Video Sunday: Great Literary Love Songs
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These were all fantastic, but my favorite would have to be Taylor Swift. Probably because I write YA and it feels so magical. Thanks for this Cheryl.
ReplyDeleteBut Frank will always be #1, especially because my hubby sang, "The Way You Look Tonight" at our wedding :)
ReplyDeleteI think Taylor Swift has a usb link to the 16 year old that still lives inside of me.
ReplyDeleteI always liked this book song, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paD_lC52dFc&feature=related
Complete with muppet!
Thanks for the fun topic. Here's my addition: "The Book of My Life" by Sting.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful song.
"You're My Favorite Book" is a great song by the band Stars.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great blog topic. Fun to find your blog. I'm retweeting your link on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite "book" song is "Close as Pages in a Book" from the now forgotten Up in Central Park. Couldn't find anything on youtube that included lyrics. You can hear a tiny bit here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/0,,193626-12382648,00.html
I love Barbara Cook, but her version is a little droopy. I like Bing Crosby's better. Tiny bit here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Close-As-Pages-Book/dp/B001GM2EZU
There's another fantastic song from this musical called "The Fireman's Bride," which I can't find anywhere, not even lyrics, which are wonderfully witty. Proof that you cannot find everything you're looking for on the internet.
these were great - thanks cheryl!
ReplyDeleteBooks, Music, and Romance? This blog entry has my name all over it.
ReplyDeleteHere's one more for your setlist, Cheryl. In other circles, I am known as a Bruce Springsteen fanatic. (It's a good life.)
Here's a beautiful Bruce song I hope you'll enjoy adding to your Literary Love Song List: BOOK OF DREAMS (Bruce Springsteen.) It's a song from his his 1992 CD, LUCKY TOWN.
First up, a live peformance clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpVduSOxvLg
The official cut from the album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9peHAPdP-k&feature=player_embedded
And the lyrics, because I am the completist when it comes to all things Bruce:
BOOK OF DREAMS (B. Springsteen)
I'm standing in the backyard
Listening to the party Inside
Tonight I'm drinkin' in the forgiveness
This life provides
The scars we carry remain but the pain slips away it seems
Oh won't you baby be in my book of dreams
I'm watchin' you through the window
With your girlfriends from back home
You're showin' off your dress
There's laughter and a toast
From your daddy to the prettiest bride he's ever seen
Oh won't you baby be in my book of dreams
In the darkness my fingers slip across your skin
I feel your sweet reply
The room fades away and suddenly I'm way up high
Just holdin' you to me
As through the window the moonlight streams
Oh won't you baby be in my book of dreams
Now the ritual begins
'Neath the wedding garland we meet as strangers
The dance floor is alive with beauty
Mystery and danger
We dance out 'neath the stars' ancient light into the darkening trees
Oh won't you baby be in my book of dreams
Love musicians who write about writing. The grass is always greener on the other side of the page.
p.s. Does Bruce Springsteen's DANCING IN THE DARK count? It includes one of my, ahem, favorite author-centric lines of all time:
"I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book"
Um. Yes. I can relate.
Oh. One More Thing:
See also this website: A CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND at
http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/10/18/list-em-carefully-top-10-songs-about-writing/
for a lovely list of "Songs About Writing." Some selections you know about as per your blog; most of the songs are new to my ears. I hope the songs ring true to those of us who love and live to write.
-Pamela Ross
Cheryl, I sure hope you get this. I'm a little late seeing this post. Have you ever heard of the song "Hand of Sorrow" by Within Temptation?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ttYwm7GEA
The really cool thing about this song is that they wrote it based on "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb. A book based song!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Book/dp/055357339X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274710431&sr=1-1
Hope you enjoy the music video.
WandaV
"Book of Love" by Dar Williams is beautiful.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt0hX6YsDL0