All of my books have an unofficial soundtrack, because I’m always connecting songs I hear to the stories in my head, and listening to them helps inspire me throughout the various stages of the writing process. You can listen to my unofficial soundtrack for A Mortal Song here on my website. I wanted to share a little about how certain songs fit into the story for me.
Note: Vague spoilers if you haven’t yet read the book.
“Evolution” by Ayumi Hamasaki has always been Song‘s theme song, as it were. I used to picture it playing over an anime TV-show style opening featuring the characters and scenes from the book. It’s got a high energy vibe that suits that story’s action, and many of the lyrics fit Sora’s emotional journey (translation from PrimeNova):
“With your own two eyes
please decide the worth of this place.
Do it with your own standards.”
“We’ve arrived on this kind of world.
Somehow I’m very happy
somehow it hurts a lot.”
“Magic” by Ben Folds Five is the love theme from Keiji’s point of view, because to him Sora is magic. It was always playing in my head during the night scene where Sora dances apart from the kami:
“saw you last night
dance by the light of the moon
stars in your eyes
free from the life that you knew”
“You Picked Me” by A Fine Frenzy is the love theme from Sora’s point of view. After feeling she is—and must be—second to Chiyo in everyone’s eyes, having someone see her as powerful and desirable helps her recognize the value in herself and accept the feelings for him she doesn’t totally understand. And it’s seeing his willingness to put her first that allows her to accept his accidental betrayal.
“Like an apple on a tree
Hiding out behind the leaves
I was difficult to reach
But you picked me”
“You got me,
Searched the sand
And climbed the tree
And brought me back down”
Finally, “Hello Another Way” by The Brilliant Green makes a perfect ending theme. It looks both backward to connections formed and forward to a hopeful future, acknowledging the uncertainty of what lies ahead but appreciating being in this spot all the same (translation from AnimeLyrics):
“Sing to the beautiful summer which had just blossomed from the phantom darkness.”
“I reach out a hand to my dream.
Though it’s still far away, I want to believe
That someday it will surely come true.”
“For it’s because of you that I’ve managed to come this far.
I’m so glad we’ve met.“