I "followed" Celeste Ng just for practice and yesterday there was a notice that it was the first birthday of "Little Fires Everywhere" and there is a playlist of songs for each main character. Ah...playlists. I have yet to make one for myself on Apple Music but then I don't seem to listen to much music even though we have everything in the world available to us now. I think of the days of spending my allowance buying a 45 rpm every week...Elvis Presley, Richie Valens, Fabien.
Little Fires Everywhere takes place in 1997 and 1998, so how could I resist the opportunity to put together a playlist of the '90s music I grew up with? Each main character in the book would have listened to very different music, so here is a song for each—one that they'd both listen to and that captures their personality.
Lexie: "Spin the Bottle" (The Juliana Hatfield Three)
Parties, truth or dare, kissing a movie start: this is the perfect blend of teen innocence–meets–burgeoning sexuality, and perfectly encapsulates Lexie's golden, slightly dizzy view of life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUAVbGoR81I
Parties, truth or dare, kissing a movie start: this is the perfect blend of teen innocence–meets–burgeoning sexuality, and perfectly encapsulates Lexie's golden, slightly dizzy view of life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUAVbGoR81I
Trip: "Insane in the Brain" (Cypress Hill)
For me, this is a classic jump-around-get-stupid party song, ridiculously catchy, just the kind of thing Trip would have blasted from the rolled-down windows of his Jeep. I suspect he'd have been oblivious to the complexities of the song and the connotations of the lyrics and just enjoyed the beat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RijB8wnJCN0
For me, this is a classic jump-around-get-stupid party song, ridiculously catchy, just the kind of thing Trip would have blasted from the rolled-down windows of his Jeep. I suspect he'd have been oblivious to the complexities of the song and the connotations of the lyrics and just enjoyed the beat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RijB8wnJCN0
Moody: "Good Intentions" (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
Moody would've been into alternative and the melancholy of Toad the Wet Sprocket would have been right up Moody's alley. And of course the regret of this particular song—"It's hard to rely on my good intentions"—is Moody in a nutshell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xejQogXzrPw
Moody would've been into alternative and the melancholy of Toad the Wet Sprocket would have been right up Moody's alley. And of course the regret of this particular song—"It's hard to rely on my good intentions"—is Moody in a nutshell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xejQogXzrPw
Izzy: "What's Up?" (Four Non-Blondes)
The existential angst, the crescendo from resigned frustration to furious scream, the prayer for a revolution: I can't think of a song that better captures Izzy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc
The existential angst, the crescendo from resigned frustration to furious scream, the prayer for a revolution: I can't think of a song that better captures Izzy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc
Pearl: "One Hand in my Pocket" (Alanis Morissette)
"Ironic" might be the Alanis song that best represents the '90s, but this has always been my favorite, and the most like Pearl: startlingly earnest, a bit confused and contradictory, still figuring it all out and doing the best she can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUjIY_XxF1g
"Ironic" might be the Alanis song that best represents the '90s, but this has always been my favorite, and the most like Pearl: startlingly earnest, a bit confused and contradictory, still figuring it all out and doing the best she can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUjIY_XxF1g
Mrs. Richardson: "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (The Monkees)
Of course Mrs. Richardson needs a song about suburbia—but not just any song. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is about how perfect life isn't quite as perfect as it seems. At the same time, it's a song criticizing conformity and artificiality... by The Monkees, a band manufactured for TV. The levels of irony keep echoing right through that reverb-soaked ending. (Plus, some people insist it's about being trapped in an insane asylum—a whole other level of commentary on suburbia, maybe.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUzs5dlLrm0
Of course Mrs. Richardson needs a song about suburbia—but not just any song. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is about how perfect life isn't quite as perfect as it seems. At the same time, it's a song criticizing conformity and artificiality... by The Monkees, a band manufactured for TV. The levels of irony keep echoing right through that reverb-soaked ending. (Plus, some people insist it's about being trapped in an insane asylum—a whole other level of commentary on suburbia, maybe.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUzs5dlLrm0
Mia: "1979" (Smashing Pumpkins)
When I was seventeen, I'd put this song on the tape deck in my car and roll down the windows and just drive. And that's actually what this song is about—youth and recklessness and the intoxication of being constantly on the move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aeETEoNfOg
When I was seventeen, I'd put this song on the tape deck in my car and roll down the windows and just drive. And that's actually what this song is about—youth and recklessness and the intoxication of being constantly on the move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aeETEoNfOg
You can hear all of these songs—plus a few extras to accompany key moments in the book—on Spotify.
