Writey Music

I'm curious as to whether everyone else listens to music as much as I do while writing. I tend to like music that gets me in the mood for what I'm going to do. I know that some of these songs aren't exactly intended to communicate what I'm using them for, but they work for me anyway...

If I'm writing something serious, like Philosophical, Drama, serious Sci-Fi, or Scary stories, I usually listen to classical music, especially Haydn, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler.

If I'm writing Poetry, I don't listen to any music.

If I'm writing Sexy, I like songs like these:
Shaed's Perfume - "You better believe I fell in love with you"
Billie Eilish's Strange Addiction - "I'm the powder, you're the fuse / Just add some friction"
Billie Eilish's Bored - "Giving you what you're begging for"
Billie Eilish's Ocean Eyes - "You really know how to make me cry / When you gimme those ocean eyes"
Bea Miller's Bored - "But you don't satisfy the hunger in my mind / 'Cause our bodies are predictable"
Muse's Madness - "And some kind of madness has started to evolve"

If I'm writing Super, I like:
Halsey's Castle  - "I'm headed straight for the castle / They wanna make me their queen"
Halsey's Young Gods - "And we'll be flying through the streets with the people underneath"
Halsey's Hold Me Down - "Knock me out, knock me out / Saying that I want more, this is what I live for"
Halsey's Don't Play - "I don't give a damn what you say to me / There ain't no time for games with me"
Shaed's  Trampoline - "Flippin' in the air / I never land, just float there"
Shaed's Thunder - "Let's get loud like thunder"
Shaed's Silver Knife - "Mental pictures of a silver knife / In your chest / It feels right"
Awolnation's Seven Sticks of Dynamite - "Lipstick like dynamite, seven sticks of dynamite"
Evanescence's Do What You Want - "Do what you, what you want / If you have a dream for better"
Evanescence's Sweet Sacrifice - "Fear is only in our minds"

Also, for certain stories, I have certain songs that I like to kick off a chapter with. With my Wings of Fortune story that's currently in progress, for example, I like:
Hey Violet's Unholy - "Don't say it's unholy / If I let you come hold me"

There are a lot more in my playlists, but I got tired of finding links and lyrics. This gives an idea, anyway. I'm really just curious whether others listen to particular sorts of music when they're writing as well.

HikerAngel wrote: I'm curious as to whether everyone else listens to music as much as I do while writing. I tend to like music that gets me in the mood for what I'm going to do. I know that some of these songs aren't exactly intended to communicate what I'm using them for, but they work for me anyway...

If I'm writing something serious, like Philosophical, Drama, serious Sci-Fi, or Scary stories, I usually listen to classical music, especially Haydn, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler.

If I'm writing Poetry, I don't listen to any music.

If I'm writing Sexy, I like songs like these:
Shaed's Perfume - "You better believe I fell in love with you"
Billie Eilish's Strange Addiction - "I'm the powder, you're the fuse / Just add some friction"
Billie Eilish's Bored - "Giving you what you're begging for"
Billie Eilish's Ocean Eyes - "You really know how to make me cry / When you gimme those ocean eyes"
Bea Miller's Bored - "But you don't satisfy the hunger in my mind / 'Cause our bodies are predictable"
Muse's Madness - "And some kind of madness has started to evolve"

If I'm writing Super, I like:
Halsey's Castle  - "I'm headed straight for the castle / They wanna make me their queen"
Halsey's Young Gods - "And we'll be flying through the streets with the people underneath"
Halsey's Hold Me Down - "Knock me out, knock me out / Saying that I want more, this is what I live for"
Halsey's Don't Play - "I don't give a damn what you say to me / There ain't no time for games with me"
Shaed's  Trampoline - "Flippin' in the air / I never land, just float there"
Shaed's Thunder - "Let's get loud like thunder"
Shaed's Silver Knife - "Mental pictures of a silver knife / In your chest / It feels right"
Awolnation's Seven Sticks of Dynamite - "Lipstick like dynamite, seven sticks of dynamite"
Evanescence's Do What You Want - "Do what you, what you want / If you have a dream for better"
Evanescence's Sweet Sacrifice - "Fear is only in our minds"

Also, for certain stories, I have certain songs that I like to kick off a chapter with. With my Wings of Fortune story that's currently in progress, for example, I like:
Hey Violet's Unholy - "Don't say it's unholy / If I let you come hold me"

There are a lot more in my playlists, but I got tired of finding links and lyrics. This gives an idea, anyway. I'm really just curious whether others listen to particular sorts of music when they're writing as well.

For me, it's mostly:

Howard Shore tunes from LOTR,
Enya,
Celtic music of various types,
the more whimsical tunes by Pink Floyd

Songs that create a mysterious and mystical sense of place and time to let my imagination flow and help the room disappear.

Of course, the right kind of weed is even more important.

Shadar

shadar wrote: For me, it's mostly:

Howard Shore tunes from LOTR,
Enya,
Celtic music of various types,
the more whimsical tunes by Pink Floyd

Songs that create a mysterious and mystical sense of place and time to let my imagination flow and help the room disappear.

Of course, the right kind of weed is even more important.

Shadar

Ooooh--I'm going to try celtic music right now. Sounds badass!

I may have to give the weed thing a try sometime... but I haven't yet!

HA HA  Shadar listens to Enya and LOTR




* Secretly hoping nobody finds out that I listen to Howard Shore, Zimmerman, Enya and James Horner (rip) 

From the lists above, I concur on
-Tchaikovsky (love me some Grieg / Mendelssohn too)
-B52s (and most "classic" "pop".  Kinks, Clash, T-Rex.... I'm addicted to "songmakers" too... Dylan, Cohen, Waits... depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll even go for old school jazz like Artie Shaw...)  I don't choose the music according to what I'm writing, but the mood the "real life" me is in when I put on the "conceptfan" costume...
-The right kind of weed (i.e. the kind where the inevitable second one doesn't cause the rest of the day to be written off... getting harder to locate these days)

conceptfan wrote: -The right kind of weed (i.e. the kind where the inevitable second one doesn't cause the rest of the day to be written off... getting harder to locate these days)

Not in a cannabis-legal state like Washington, which has shops everywhere. IMHO, Durban Poison is the most Writey strain of weed ever invented.

Shadar

shadar wrote: Not in a cannabis-legal state like Washington, which has shops everywhere. IMHO, Durban Poison is the most Writey strain of weed ever invented.

Shadar

I envy both the choice you have and the "-legal" bit.

Although the lack of both doesn't stop me agreeing it's a great accompaniment to writing fiction

It's funny - when I'm configuring or programing the systems I work on for my day job I often need to listen to music (everything from Chill to Classical to New Age to 80's to Alternative, to foreign music German and Italian) however when I'm trying to write a script I normally need quiet and music does not help me. Maybe it's because writing doesn't come naturally to me and/or when I'm writing, because it's for video, I need that space to visualize it.

I like to listen to synthwave when I write. It can shift from calming and contemplative to really energetic, so it can adjust to what you're writing. Also the vast majority of songs have no vocals, which helps. Here are some songs

I don't tend to have music on specifically for writing, but when I am writing I often have a few favourite tracks on in the background, such as:
Linkin Park - Numb
Evanescence - Bring me to Life
Alice Cooper - Poison
Frankie Miller - I can't change it
House of Pain - Jump Around
One Republic - Counting Stars

Of all of them, I'd recommend listening to Frankie Miller and "I can;'t change it" the most. It's not a well known song and is very haunting.