Top Ten Tuesday: Songs I Wish Were Books

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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish.

I’ve been excited about this week’s topic since I first saw it on the list last month.  I love love love music, so anything that combines my love of books with my number one favorite thing is perfect for me.  I originally planned to choose ten books that I love and pair them each with a song that I felt fit the overall theme of the book. This very quickly turned into long book soundtracks so I’m saving those for a new blog feature (stay tuned for that!), and instead I’m sharing songs that I wish were books!

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1. You and Me – Parachute 

Baby, I’ve had this same dream
Where I wake up wondering
What it really means
If the world came running down

If it was you and me against the world
Baby, they’ve got us under but
We’ll take whatever we want.
If it was you and me against the world,
You get the car, I’ll get the cash,
We’ll take the money and run.

Sounds like the anthem for a great heist love story to me!

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2. Secret Love Song, Pt. II – Little Mix

We keep behind closed doors
Every time I see you, I die a little more
Stolen moments that we steal as the curtain falls
It’ll never be enough
As you drive me to my house
I can’t stop these silent tears from rolling down
You and I both have to hide on the outside
Where I can’t be yours and you can’t be mine

But I know this, we got a love that is homeless

Why can’t I hold you in the street?
Why can’t I kiss you on the dance floor?
I wish that it could be like that
Why can’t it be like that? ‘Cause I’m yours
Why can’t I say that I’m in love?
I wanna shout it from the rooftops
I wish that it could be like that
Why can’t it be like that? ‘Cause I’m yours

Most of the LM fandom believe that this song is about a secret lesbian relationship. The girls have even said that they wanted to shoot a music video for the song with a queer cast.

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3. Figure Me Out – The Summer Set

I’m a bit too pop for the punk kids, but I’m too punk for the pop kids
I don’t know just where I fit in cause when I open my mouth I know nobody’s listenin’
To the words of a prophet who still can’t turn a profit
Cause I don’t fit in with the in crowd, but I’m too Hollywood to go back to my hometown

Cause they think that I’m famous when I know I’m a fraud
Who got too fucked up on the finer things to remember who he forgot

But I believe there’s more to life than all my problems maybe there’s still hope for me to start again
Get my feet back on the ground
Pull my head out of the clouds
I think it’s time for me to figure me out

Let’s get back to the basics and take it back to the basement
Where I heard Born To Run for the first time and I stared at my dad in amazement
He said, “Son don’t stop chasing great and keep pounding the pavement.”
So I’d much rather die tryin’ to make something sacred than live as another YouTube sensation

I’ve been imagining this as a book ever since I first heard the line “Cause I don’t fit in with the in crowd, but I’m too Hollywood to go back to my hometown.”

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4. 18 – One Direction

So kiss me where I lay down
My hands pressed to your cheeks
A long way from the playground

I have loved you since we were 18
Long before we both thought the same thing
To be loved and to be in love
All I could do is say that these arms were made for holding you
I wanna love like you made me feel when we were 18

This one is really self-indulgent because this is one of my favorite One Direction songs. I’m a huge sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope and this one gives me all the feels.

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5. for him – Troye Sivan

We are runnin’ so fast
And we never look back
And whatever I lack, you make up
We make a really good team
Though not everyone sees
We got this crazy chemistry
Between us

You don’t have to say I love you to say I love you
Forget all the shooting stars and all the silver moons
We’ve been making shades of purple out of red and blue
Sickeningly sweet like honey, don’t need money
All I need is you

Troye wrote this song for his boyfriend, which makes it even cuter than it already is.  I NEED a book about this immediately.

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6. Jet Black Heart – 5 Seconds of Summer

Everybody’s got their demons
Even wide awake or dreaming
I’m the one who ends up leaving
Make it okay

See a war I wanna fight it
See a match I wanna strike it
Every fire I’ve ignited
Faded to grey

‘Cause I’ve got a jet black heart
And there’s a hurricane underneath it
Trying to keep us apart
I write with a poison pen
But these chemicals moving between us
Are the reason to start again

The blood in my veins
Is made up of mistakes
Let’s forget who we are
And dive into the dark
As we burst into color
Returning to life

I don’t have much to say about this one except that I love these lyrics and it would be really interesting to see how they translate onto the page.
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7. Anything – Hedley

Burn that guitar, you can never be a star,
I can, I can, I can, so

A thousand disbelievers couldn’t keep me on the ground,
I’ve invented a momentum that’ll never slow me down,
I believe it ’cause I feel it, and I shout it out loud,
I can, I can, I can, so

Everybody said, boy, don’t go any higher,
Uh uh, fuck that, I can do anything,
Never push the limit, and don’t play with fire,
Uh uh, fuck that, I can do anything

The beginning to a great story about a musician who follows his dreams despite everyone telling him to give up.

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8. Pull Me In– The Graduate

Can’t see the path ahead
But I can smell the rain
Hide beneath the canopy
I never would complain
Eyes on the sky
We see the darkness start to grow
We could build a fire
Or just wait to drive
Either way I’m fine
I’m alive, I’m home

We traded everything and left the country side
Metal towers, skylines
Over lucid starlit nights
Found a north side neighborhood
That we could call our own
I’m just fine, I’m alive
I am home

I’m falling over edges with you
I’m longing just to see your face again
I’m taking on the world
To give you everything you need while I’m away

All our friends in our hometown
They don’t call us anymore
I can’t remember feeling less alone
When you call me yours

…..
Wake up with the sun
Pull me in
And I’m in love with the whole world again

I can’t even begin to explain how much this song means to me and what I’d give for it to be a book.   I’m just fine, I’m alive, I am home

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9. New Year’s Day – Pentatonix

We could be kings of the world
On top of the nation
It’s a celebration of the moments to come
The city’s on fire
We’re holding up lighters
Raising them higher and we’ve only begun

Take me all the way
Hear me when I say
Let’s kiss the past away
Like New Year’s Day

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10. Shine – Years & Years

I remember us alone
Waiting for the light to go
Don’t you feel that hunger
I’ve got, so many secrets to show
When I saw you on that stage
I shiver with the look you gave
Don’t you hear that rhythm
Can you show me how we can escape

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This might be my favorite post I’ve ever written. I had so much fun looking through my iTunes library (over 12,000 songs!) and imagining the songs in my head.  Maybe I’ll do another post like this some time again. PLEASE link me to your TTT posts. I’m really excited about this week’s topic and I want to read as many posts as I can! 

40 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Songs I Wish Were Books”

  3. That Little Mix song was so touching – I’d heard it before on the radio, but just watched the music video you had linked and properly read the lyrics … wow O.O that’s all I can say. If that was a novel, I’d be all over it – it would be so tragic and beautiful and gahhhh. (Also, TROYE in the music video?! What!? When did that happen!!)

    I love “for him.” too – does it really bug you, like it does me, that it’s the only track in Blue Neighbourhood that isn’t capitalised? Why is that!!

    Here’s my TTT; I wish I put in a Troye song now – it would definitely be HEAVEN!! I would really appreciate it if you could check it out if you have a spare moment or two! Thanks 🙂
    https://introtoblurb.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/top-ten-tuesday-songs-as-books/

    (gave you a follow, and will go do so on twitter as well – really like your blog! 🙂 )

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    • Isn’t that LM song great? That isn’t the official music video, it’s a mix of clips from the original version of Secret Love Song and scenes from Troye’s music videos but it works great for the song.

      for him isn’t capitalized because when Troye originally wrote it he stylized it that way, and he said it looked too strange to him to change it.

      Checking out your post now!

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  6. I love all of these choices! Absolutely love Little Mix. I can see that song being a contemporary novel with a nice sappy love story. Haha. I’d love to read Black Magic as a book. It totally has a Teen Witch vibe. I love that movie. I’d love to read Jetblack heart as a novel as well. I love the lyrics. I haven’t heard much music Troye Sivan. I have no idea how because I’ve seen a ton of him on Youtube.

    And of course, Pentatonix. <3<3 Now 2x Grammy winners. I love them.

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  9. I always forget how much I loved Parachute. They had some amazing songs. She (For Liz) and Forever and Always remain to be my favourite song of theirs, although Forever & Always would be far too sad a book for me haha.

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  17. this is a fantastic list! you’ve introduced me to a few songs I haven’t heard before! I had a lot of fun going through my itunes to create my list as well! 😀

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  23. Ok, super embarrassed that I only knew two of the bands on your list. But! Thank you so much for introducing me to Shine, Parachute, and The Graduate. *happy dance* I found new music 😀 -Vonze’s Reader Blog / adventurekettle

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