Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Songs in a Minor Key

So I'm folding laundry, a never-ending task in my house. I have the ipod playing in the background, and I'm singing along like I do. My mind is wandering. I'm thinking about my day at school, my boys driving to conditioning in this high wind, and the transition between scenes that I've been struggling for almost a week to write. As I'm mulling it all over, the music seeps into my consciousness, probably because a song I really like has started to play. It's in a minor key. I don't know why this occurs to me. When I let my mind wander, it roams to some pretty random places.

The song ends and the next one begins to play. This one is in a minor key as well. Now I'm intrigued. I stop folding laundry and just wait for the next one. I have my ipod on shuffle because I like not knowing exactly what's coming. Sure enough, the third song is also in a minor key. I scroll through my ipod, and although I didn't count (but I'm interested enough that I still might) the majority of the songs are in a minor key. What does this say about me?

I'm not depressed or angry. I've never been particularly angsty. But my favorite songs, going all the way back to the '80s are in a minor key. That led me to think about my reading tastes. Definately dark. I love, love, love paranormal romance and urban fantasy. My favorite authors are Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison, JR Ward, Charlaine Harris, and most recently Rachel Vincent. My favorite scene in literature is in A Tale of Two Cities when Sydney Carton goes to the guillotine and distracts the young girl in line in front of him so she won't be afraid. Dark.

My books are dark. What does it mean that my idea of an alpha male is a vampire? I'm sure a psychoanalyst could have a field day with my psyche. Some of the scenes I've written make me wonder.

Maybe it's catharsis, the idea that you can experience a dark emotion safely through ficiton. Both reading and writing take me places I don't normally go. Why relive your daily life in fiction? Although in really good fiction, even the wildest paranormal, you recognize truths about life.

Anyway...I'm rambling. I'm a happy person with a fairly normal life, but I like dark stories and songs in a minor key.

2 comments:

  1. Ive been looking for songs in a minor key..they are the kind that I adore! Can you name me a few of your favs so I can find them? Thanx! :D

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  2. Ive been looking for songs in a minor key..can you name a few of ur favs? Thanx! :D

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