Beautiful Monster Play List

***BEAUTIFUL MONSTER PLAY LIST***

Because music has a powerful influence over me and my art, I thought it was only right to put together a ten-song play list for my current WIP, Beautiful Monster. Mind you, this isn’t music I use while writing it. I always listen to wordless new age music whenever I write so as not to get easily distracted (except when writing blogs, of course, in which case, I’ll listen to anything). The play list in question has more to do with the songs’ influences on the story. For some of the songs, I use their lyrics as dialogue, while others just seem to fit perfectly with the events. Enough gum flapping. Let’s get right to the first track! And for the sake of keeping everything organized, the songs will be listed in alphabetical order by their band name. Starting with…

***BRIAN KENNEDY: DRY YOUR EYES (COVER SONG)***

This song was originally done by Mike Skinner a.k.a. The Streets, but to be honest, I like the Brian Kennedy version better. Let’s look at the title for a moment: Dry Your Eyes. Being unable to cry in front of people is a common theme with Windham Xavier’s characterization. Yes, he’s a male. Yes, he’s a hardened warrior. According to society, both of those things make crying a social taboo. There are many times in the novel where Windham would have been justified in unleashing his biblical flood of tears, but he chooses not to because he doesn’t want to give his attackers a reason to humiliate him. He only saves his tears for those who truly deserve them.

***BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE: TEARS DON’T FALL***

Another song about being unable to cry? Sure, why not? Although since it’s Bullet For My Valentine, there’s going to be a lot of screaming and rage. This song could technically be a battle theme for when Windham goes up against Torger and Shelly. It’s heavy, it’s badass, and it gets across its message perfectly. And just to clarify, Torger and Shelly are deemed undeserving of Windham’s tears despite the fact that they’re the reason he feels the way he does.

***DELAIN: COME CLOSER***

The phrase “come closer” is used a lot in my novel whether it’s Shelly’s hypnotic voice seducing Windham into captivity or Tarja urging him to open up and bare his soul to her. I might even have one of the characters sing the lyrics to this song, I don’t know yet. “Winter shadow cools you, white before your eyes. Summer shadow soothes you, nothing on your mind.” I don’t know what it is about the winter/summer shadow lines, but those are my favorite in the whole song.

***NIGHTWISH: WHILE YOUR LIPS ARE STILL RED***

The dramatic tension within Beautiful Monster is clearly urging Windham and Tarja to love each other, so this Nighwish song is the perfect anthem for their eventual romance. “Kiss while your lips are still red.” It’s just a more loving way of saying “kiss before you die”. With Windham’s chaotic mind and suicidal thoughts, you don’t know how long this is all going to last for him. Even after hooking up with Tarja, he still has to tell his story of captivity to the Commander. It’s doubtful even Tarja’s loving gestures could help him out with that one considering how insensitive and cruel everybody at Paladin Cross seems to be.

***OTHERWISE: BEAUTIFUL MONSTER***

Of course, where would this story be without its namesake? The phrase Beautiful Monster accurately describes Shelly Atwood along with the woman she draws inspiration from, Lucy Butler from Millennium. They’re both attractive as hell. They’re both the epitome of all evil. The only difference is, Lucy’s seductive ways are a means to an end while Shelly’s seduction is the end game. Lucy wants to create an army of brainwashed mediocre teenagers while Shelly wants all the free sex she can handle. These brutal features are evident in the opening lyrics of the song: “There’s something about the way that she makes me hate myself. I could run away but I don’t want no one else. Say what you want. It’s already done. It’s Russian Roulette and love is the gun. You don’t know her, you don’t know her like I do.”

***PANTERA: THIS LOVE***

It’s pretty obvious by the story’s actions so far what will go down in chapter ten. I won’t say what exactly, but the writing is on the wall for Shelly Atwood. Her time is running out. And what will Windham say to her? “I’d kill myself for you! I’d kill you for myself!” Phil Anselmo sounds like a total badass when he says that in this song. Windham, though not as stereotypically male as Phil, will hopefully sound just as brooding and cold.

***THE POLICE: I BURN FOR YOU***

Hopefully, Windham will get the opportunity to sing this lovely song to Tarja, the one woman who deserves his tears. “Now that I have found you in the coolth of your evening smile. The shade of your parasol. And your love flows through me. Though I drink at your pool, I burn for you. You and I are lovers. As nighttime falls around our bed. In peace we sleep entwined as your love flows through me. Though and ocean sooths my head, I burn for you.” This is by far The Police’s most romantic song. I could listen to it over and over again and picture having a beautiful woman to sing it to. Okay, Garrison, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here.

***SARA AYERS: ARE YOU COMING HOME?***

You know that meme that says, “Great writers steal”? Well, maybe I’ve taken that lesson too much to heart when it comes to this new age song, which can’t be found on You Tube unfortunately. The lyrics “crush the bones, burn the bodies” are what Windham sings to himself when he watches Shelly’s castle burn to the ground. The question “Where are you going, beautiful boy?” is also from that song, albeit said by Shelly during her seduction of Windham. There’s something powerful about Sara Ayers’ voice that makes any lyrics seem like pure heaven. That’s probably the point of her music.

***TOTO: I’LL BE OVER YOU***

Imagine having to sing this heartfelt breakup song to your female rapist. Luckily, Windham won’t have to do that. But the lyrics fit like OJ Simpson’s glove. “There were the nights holding you close. Someday I’ll try to forget them, as soon as my heart stops breaking, anticipating. As soon as forever is through, I’ll be over you.” No kidding, Windam. No fucking kidding!

***WITHIN TEMPTATION: FROZEN***

No, I’m not talking about the Disney princess song. I’m talking about a Within Temptation song dealing with the topic of domestic violence. Sharon Den Adel sings about how she can’t feel her senses, how she can only feel the cold. That’s what Windham feels when he’s watching the castle burn, as entertained by it as he is. That’s what psychological trauma does to the human brain: it dulls the senses and makes zombies out of the sharpest minds. Poor Windham. Poor, poor Windham.

***CONCLUSION***

So that’s all I have for you today. If you have any other ideas for what you’d like to see added to this list, let me know in the comments section. You can even go on You Tube and check out the songs that are on the list now (save for the Sara Ayers song, because it’s not there). I’m Garrison Kelly! Even when you feel like dying, keep climbing the mountain!

***PUBLIC DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***

CHOIR TEACHER: Our next song that we’re going to perform is called “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel”.

JAMES: (doing a blunt affect Garrison voice) I hate religious songs.

GARRISON: Hahahahaha!

Song of Myself

***SONG OF MYSELF***

This past Monday night, instead of watching WWE Raw, I went to the Showbox SoDo in Seattle to listen to the epic music of Nightwish along with their opening acts Sonata Arctica and Delain. It was a fun and exciting night, one that I will cherish as much as when I saw them in 2008 at the same venue, if not more so. Nightwish was one of the many bands that got me through a lonely life at college from 2007 to 2009. To repay them for their awesomeness, I will do another lyric journal, but with their namesake. “Song of Myself” was released on their 2011 album Imaginarium, the final CD to feature second lead singer Anette Olzon. While I don’t know if her departure was on sour terms, I do miss her a lot, but that’s not to take anything away from Floor Jansen, who’s just as awesome as her first two predecessors. But no matter who the lead singer is, she’ll have Tuomas Holopainen’s genius lyrics to guide her through every song. Let’s get busy!


The nightingale is still locked in the cage
The deep breath I took still poisons my lungs
An old oak sheltering me from the blue
Sun bathing on its dead frozen leaves

A catnap in the ghost town of my heart
She dreams of storytime and the river ghosts
Of mermaids, of Whitman's and the ride
Raving harlequins, gigantic toys

A song of me song in need
Of a courageous symphony
A verse of me verse in need
Of a pure-heart singing me to peace

All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing

All that great heart lying still
In silent suffering
Smiling like a clown until the show has come to an end
What is left for encore
Is the same old dead boy's song
Sung in silence
All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angelwing

A midnight flight into Covington Woods
A princess and a panther by my side
These are Territories I live for
I'd still give mt everything to love you more

A silent symphony
A hollow opus #1, 2,3

Sometimes the sky is piano black
Piano black over cleansing waters

Resting pipes, verse of bore
Rusting keys without a door

Sometimes the within is piano black
Piano black over cleansing waters

All that great heart lying still and slowly dying
All that great heart lying still on an angel wing

I see a slow, simple youngster by a busy street,
with a begging bowl in his shaking hand.
Trying to smile but hurting infinitely. Nobody notices.
I do, but walk by.

An old man gets naked and kisses a model-doll in his attic
It's half-light and he's in tears.
When he finally comes his eyes are cascading.

I see a beaten dog in a pungent alley. He tries to bite me.
All pride has left his wild eyes.
I wish I had my leg to spare.

A mother visits her son, smiles to him through the bars.
She's never loved him more.

An obese girl enters an elevator with me.
All dressed up fancy, a green butterfly on her neck.
Terribly sweet perfume deafens me.
She's going to dinner alone.
That makes her even more beautiful.

I see a model's face on a brick wall.
A statue of porcelain perfection beside a violent city kill.
A city that worships flesh.

The 1st thing I ever heard was a wandering
man telling his story
It was you, the grass under my bare feet
The campfire in the dead of night
The heavenly black of sky and sea

It was us
Roaming the rainy roads, combing the gilded beaches
Waking up to a new gallery of wonders every morn
Bathing in places no-one's seen before
Shipwrecked on some matt-painted island
Clad in nothing but the surf - beauty's finest robe

Beyond all mortality we are, swinging in the breath of nature
In early air of the dawn of life
A sight to silence the heavens

I want to travel where life travels,
following its permanent lead
Where the air tastes like snow music
Where grass smells like fresh-born Eden
I would pass no man, no stranger, no tragedy or rapture
I would bathe in a world of sensation
Love, goodness and simplicity
(While violated and imprisoned by technology)

The thought of my family's graves was the only moment
I used to experience true love
That love remains infinite,
as I'll never be the man my father is

How can you "just be yourself"
when you don't know who you are?
Stop saying "I know how you feel"
How could anyone know how another feels?

Who am I to judge a priest, beggar,
whore, politician, wrongdoer?
I am, you are, all of them already

Dear child, stop working, go play
Forget every rule
There's no fear in a dream

"Is there a village inside this snowflake?"
- a child asked me
"What's the colour of our lullaby?"

I've never been so close to truth as then
I touched its silver lining

Death is the winner in any war
Nothing noble in dying for your religion
For your country
For ideology, for faith
For another man, yes

Paper is dead without words
Ink idle without a poem
All the world dead without stories
Without love and disarming beauty

Careless realism costs souls

Ever seen the Lord smile?
All the care for the world made Beautiful a sad man?
Why do we still carry a device of torture around our necks?
Oh, how rotten your pre-apocalypse is
All you bible-black fools living over nightmare ground

I see all those empty cradles and wonder
If man will never change

I, too, wish to be a decent manboy but all I am
Is smoke and mirrors
Still given everything, may I be deserving

And there forever remains the change from G to Em


***WEEKLY SHORT STORY CONTESTS AND COMPANY***

Although I posted “Medicine Man” online yesterday, that wasn’t the one that will go into this week’s contest. I have different plans for the “paper hearts” prompt. It’s called “Ninja” and is named after a Skindred song, much like “Medicine Man” is named after a Pantera song. Here’s the synopsis to “Ninja”:

CHARACTERS:

DJ Rouge, African Assassin
Andrew Bradley, English Mercenary

PROMPT CONFORMITY: DJ leaves behind paper hearts as his calling card.

SYNOPSIS: Andrew is assigned by Babylon Bank to raid an African diamond mine in an attempt to bring them a priceless rock known as the Ninja’s Ruby. When he gets there, armed with an AK-47 and a belt of grenades, he begins slaying mine workers and rebel soldiers left and right with no absence of malice. The actual rock he’s looking for isn’t in the mine itself, but in the eye socket of a sword-slinging vigilante named DJ Rouge, who also came to the diamond mine, but to free the slaves instead of kill them. DJ and Andrew engage in a heated battle over the gem and the former’s quickness and stealth earns him the nickname “African Ninja” from his opponent.


***DARK FANTASY WARRIORS***

Up next on the barbecue rack is Courtney Robyn, the psycho-bitch serial killer from “Mastodon”. Is it strange to say that this murderer is scarier to be around than a raging version of the eponymous animal in question? Shit, I’d rather get stepped on by a wild beast than get stabbed in the chest by Courtney Robyn.


***WRESTLING DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***

KEVIN OWENS: What happened to the guy with the weird hair and the glasses?

MICHAEL COLE: Mauro Ranallo is ill this week.

KEVIN OWENS: Yeah, he probably got sick from listening to your commentary.

MICHAEL COLE: That’s nice.