I put a lot of music into my fiction, because my characters also listen to a lot of music. The lyrics of the songs they play serve as a way of expressing—first to themselves, then to the people they’re with—what they long for and what breaks their hearts. I know it’s true for me, and I think it’s true for a lot of other people, that many of my ideas about love were formed as a result of listening to a range of songs, from Cole Porter to Lucinda Williams to Paul Simon. Partly as a homage to the artists who wrote and performed these songs, but also out of a belief that introducing readers to the music I love will enhance the experience of reading my work, I wanted to make that soundtrack I created for myself available to the readers of my work—although, of course, each of us also needs to create our own soundtrack, at times, featuring the songs that reverberate for us in particular.
But on the chance that you might want to know what’s featured on my playlist, I’ve put together a list of the songs I was listening to when I was writing Where Love Goes. In no particular order, here they are:
Patsy Cline—“I Fall to Pieces”
Joao Gilberto/Stan Getz—“Para Machucar Meu Coracao” (the whole album, actually)
The Waterboys—“How Long Will I Love You?”
Traveling Wilburys—“End of the Line”
Suzy Bogguss and Chet Atkins—“I Still Miss Someone”
Loudon Wainwright—“So Many Songs”
Peter Gabriel—“Mercy Street” (and every other song on So)
Townes Van Zandt—“If I Needed You”
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong—“They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (and a heap of other Ella Fitzgerald recordings)
Jennifer Warnes/Leonard Cohen—“Joan of Arc”
Van Morrison—“I’m Carrying a Torch for You” (and a few dozen other Van Morrison songs)
George Jones—“He Stopped Loving Her Today” (and just about anything else George Jones ever sang)
Marc Cohn—“True Companion”
Timbuk 3—“Wheel of Fortune”
Zachary Richard—“Big River”
Bobbie Cryner—“Too Many Tears Too Late”
Lyle Lovett—“If I Were the Man You Wanted”
Randy Newman—“Falling in Love”
Roberta Flack—“First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
Dougie McLean—“Ae Fond Kiss”
Dolly Parton—“I Will Always Love You” (and a lot of the old Dolly and Porter Wagoner duets)
Maura O’Connell—“Blue Train”
Dwight Yoakam—“Ain’t that Lonely Yet”
Paul Simon—“Hearts and Bones”
Nancy Griffith and Arlo Guthrie—“Tecumseh Valley”
Crowded House—“Fall at Your Feet”
Mary Chapin Carpenter—“Something of a Dreamer”
Otis Redding—“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”
Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane—“My One and Only Love”
Alison Krauss—“I’ve Got that Old Feeling”
John Gorka—“Bigtime Lonesome”
Greg Brown—“Spring Wind”
Dave Mallett—“Red, Red Rose”
Mary Black—“Past the Point of Rescue”
Steve Earle—“Goodbye”
Tom Waits—“Whistle Down the Wind”
Kieran Kane—“I Keep Coming to You”
The Mavericks—“Neon Moon”
Joni Mitchell—“Amelia” (also the entire Blue album)
Silly Sisters—“Somewhere Along the Way”
Patty Loveless—“Here I Am”
Vern Gosdin—“Time Stood Still”
Chet Baker—“Someone to Watch Over Me”
Cheryl Wheeler—“Almost”
Nina Simone—“I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl”
Steeleye Span—“Dawn of the Day”
Vince Gill—“We Won’t Dance”
The Roches—“Expecting Your Love”
Travis Tritt—“Foolish Pride”
Kate and Anna McGarrigle—“Heartbeats Accelerating”
Bruce Cockburn—“Someone I Used to Love”
Lucinda Williams—“Passionate Kisses”
Where Love Goes Page 36