When Songwriters Read the Minds of Fictional Characters...

Okay, still not telling you about California and whatever inside joke-type thing I mentioned last time. (Oh wait, was it "Last week, I died and went to heaven. Or, as you mortals call it, California."? I made that up to put as my Facebook status, but I couldn't get online til we got home... Ah well... It seemed quite clever at the time.)

This post shall be short (still haven't done quite ALL my work due tomorrow *grimaces*) and dedicated to...

SONGS THAT ARE TOTALLY ABOUT FICTIONAL CHARACTERS!!!!!!! (except not really)

You know when you hear a song and could swear the songwriter was channeling a character in some book, since the song fits the book perfectly?... Well, you may not, but I get that a couple of times, and I thought I'd devote a post to it, since it's better than going to fan forums and being all "LYK OMG+++ this song is SOOOOOO just like the book!!!!!!!!!!!" Okay, I am way too mean to fangirls. But mocking them is almost as fun as being one *grins deviously*

So, first off, the song I'm listening to right now:

"Still in Love With You" - Jonas Brothers
This song always makes me think of Brandon and Callie in the It Girl books by Cecily vonZiegsaricantspellhername. I think this song pretty much sums up Brandon's feelings. And I can't really imagine a girl doing that to Joe, Nick, or Kevin... or anyone for that matter... I still don't quite get how Brandon went to get Callie a drink and all of a sudden she and Easy were running off to make out... That's the only situation I can think of where you would forget to tell your boyfriend you were breaking up... So, yeah, I think JB was channeling Brandon when they wrote this, cuz it's just too perfect...

And is that song about the same thing as "7:05"? Just asking...

Okay, next song...

"Hero/Heroine" by Boys Like Girls
I was listening to this song a few days ago (actually, yesterday, I believe...) and it really reminded me of Twilight. Of course, I am a bit obsessed with reading that book right now, but the lyrics seemed to fit perfectly with Edward's whole we-shouldn't-be-together thing ("Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?", " Never felt so good to be so wrong") And just this whole part sounds just like Edward:

"I never thought that you could break me apart
I keep a sinister smile and a hold of my heart
You want to get inside
Then you can get in line
But not this time

Cause you caught me off guard
Now I'm running and screaming"

I was going to include the line " And I feel a weakness coming on", but I don't think weakness would be the best thing for Edward to feel... Well, I haven't finished the series yet...

But seriously, isn't that one a bit freaky how well it works?

(DISCLAIMER: Okay, it may not work as well as I think; I haven't even finished the first book yet... but it works with what I've read so far!!!)

And finally...

"Movin' On" by Good Charlotte
This whole song is basically what Steinbeck was trying to say in Grapes of Wrath, condensed into 3-and-a-half minutes of pop-punk (Yeah, I'm half-kidding. But only half.) It tackles the themes of "life sucks" and "suck it up" that were so prominent in Steinbeck's classic novel.

The line "Like all my friends, they just keep dying" is similar to the Joads's situation; their family members (Grampa and Granma) and friend Casy died in the course of the book.

The line "the hard times will come, and we'll keep movin' on" should probably be the Joad family motto. Seriously, Ma is wayyyy too into not crying and getting over it (Poor Rose :( )

So I guess " People 'round me always crying/ In this place that I like to call my home" wouldn't quite be true, since Rose of Sharon gets to cry, like, twice before Ma makes her stop, and the Joads leave home pretty early on...

But overall, I think the theme of the song and the theme of the book are the same. Or, themes, rather. Including...

" Life,
Hope,
Truth,
Trust,
Faith,
Pride,
Love,
Lust,
Pain,
Hate,
Lies,
Kill,
Laugh,
Cry,
Live,
Die"

I'm sure a person with more time on their hands could find all those things in Grapes of Wrath...

...So, if Steinbeck was born in my generation/the one before mine... would he have been a punk rocker instead of a whiny author?...