Songs As Building Blocks by Rathan KRUEGER

Think of your favorite song. Chances are, it’s not the same as the other people reading this. That doesn’t, or shouldn’t, make your favorite song any less important to you. Now, think of why your favorite song is your favorite song. Again, you and the others reading this will have a different reason. One persons made love for the first time with their song playing in the background. It was a Winter night, in a heated pool. The steam that rose from the water matched their passion. Another person heard their favorite song when their pet died. It was old and was its time, but that didn’t make the pain hurt any less. The song came on the radio and seemed to be speaking to the mourner. They even wrote a letter to the musician, thanking them. Yet another person loves their favorite song because it got them a night of free drinks at a bar. It was karaoke night and there was only one song they knew by heart. Not for any sentimental reason, it was just popular. The crowd loved it and treated the bar star to all the bottles they wanted. And on, and on.

People are made up of the songs they love. Science says it’s cells, religion says it’s souls, but reality says it’s songs. If you were to ask someone what their top ten favorite songs were, you’d have the secret code to their universe. A person on a diet of symphonies probably bleeds red wine and laughs at those with hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia. A die-hard fan of heavy metal music maybe has an aversion to authority and knows how to throw a punch. A person with eclectic tastes is more than likely never a boring conversationalist and has a roommate, their music collection. Songs give you a lot of details about a person, so why not use songs to build a character?

I’d like to try an experiment. With the help of my media player and the “shuffle” button, I’m going to build a character from five songs. I’ll cheat a little by picking the first song: Oldelaf & Mr. D’s “Le Café”. The next four are Aurora’s “This Can’t Be Love”, Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, Ace of Base’s “The Sign”, and Delerium’s “Run for It” (featuring Leigh Nash). Immediately, I see a woman. She’s somber, yet she has a spark of life. A lively spark that’s rarely seen. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is introspective. She’d be right at home staring out a window on an Autumn afternoon, looking at people living their lives. With a cup of coffee in her hand… a surprisingly sweet cup. Her breath and cup fog the window but she doesn’t notice until she can’t see anymore. She writes initials with her nose… CZ. A lover? No… her. “Christie Zenda”. She wrote it as a question to herself. “Christie Zenda, why don’t you put the past away?” She wipes the window with her arm and sits in a zebra-striped chair…

All that came to me as I listened to those songs. Christie Zenda didn’t exist until that paragraph. Writers, my advice to you when you’re creating a character is to not be afraid of a little music. You may create your own Christie Zenda, or the next Hamlet.

Tx Rathan !

We'd love to read more from you bro !