Partials, Personality & Your Playlist

Welcome to Bex @ Kindle Fever and I’s new blog feature: Your Fate in Fiction. Every other week we will be posing a question or a post inspired by a book. We invite others to join in the fun – answer the question in the comments or make a blog post of your own and link it in the comments so we can visit!

This post was inspired by the amazingtastic book Partials by Dan Wells. One of the characters, Xochi, collects music players and they sort of get a sense of the owner’s personality from the music on each of them. So we decided it might be fun to make a list of some of the songs that are pieces of our personalities and what someone might find on our music players if they found it in some rubble heap in the future.

What would a person from the future who stumbled on your music player find? 

I have so much music I love that this was a really hard list to narrow down… so I know this is quite a long post – but come on, it’s music.. it rocks (literally and figuratively!)

Twenty-Four – Switchfoot I LOVE Switchfoot’s album The Beautiful Letdown. This is one of the more gut-wrenching songs they sing for me. We’ve all had moments where there’s a Before and an After (much like Partials except on an individual scale) and the lyrics “I’m not who I thought I was 24 hours ago” really speaks to me for that reason and yet still it’s hopeful “I’m not copping out, not copping out” This song has reached out to me many times during my life.

Gone – Switchfoot [on the same album as Twenty-Four], is another favorite of mine. Gone is an upbeat, catchy song with lyrics that really make me think about society and where we’re going. So often we’re looking for material things when in reality those things don’t last. I really love EVERY single line in this song but if I had to pick favorites: “Gone, like frank Sinatra, like Elvis and his mom, like Al Pacino’s cash…” and “we got information in the information age but do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages..” I can picture someone from the future listening to that song, and it resonating with them, looking around and seeing everything that we valued from the Before in heaps and garbage piles and the song being like a prophecy from the past.

Ashes and Wine – A Fine Frenzy I am a HUGE A Fine Frenzy fan, their CD One Cell in the Sea is one of my favorite albums ever and I really love all of the songs on it [a rarity for me] so it was incredibly hard to choose just ONE song. This is an achingly beautiful song about letting go, and yet hoping:” Is there a chance? A fragment of light at the end of the tunnel? A reason to fight? Is there a chance you may change your mind? Or are we ashes and wine?” I think it’s a song everyone can relate to at some point in their life.

History – Matthew West I really love this song so much, it’s definitely a favorite. It speaks to me on many levels, the beat and melody is so catchy and the tone is both hopeful and contemplative. It makes me put my life in perspective. How each of our life stories is a part of history that we’re all making with “every choice that you are making, every step that you are taking, every chain that you are breaking, history is in the making” It’s so hopeful about letting go of the things that have hurt us and mistakes we’ve made and moving on. I can’t say enough about this song really.

I Didn’t Know My Own Strength – Whitney Houston This is actually a recent addition to my playlist, but it’s become an instant favorite so I couldn’t leave it off this list. If someone were to find my player and wonder what meant the most to me, my life, and know my personality this song fits perfectly. We all go through tough times and in those times we find our inner strength and find that we’re often stronger than we ever thought we could be. My favorite lines from this song: “and I crashed down, and I tumbled, but I did not crumble”

Shake it Out – Florence + The Machine I’ve just recently become a huge fan of Florence + the Machine, Ceremonials is probably my number one played album at the moment, with Shake It Out being my fav song on the album. I happened to stumble on this song [I don’t listen to the radio so I had no idea it was a hit song LOL] while I was watching the New Years Rockin’ Eve, and I fell in love. I looked it up on iTunes and have been hooked ever since. I loved it so much that when I reviewed the final book in the Fever series, Shadowfever I included the youtube video of the song because it fit Mac, the main character SO well!

Legacy – Nicole Nordeman I love this song because it’s so simple and honest. I think we all wonder if we’re leaving a legacy and what sort of impact we’re making. My favorite lines of the song “I want to leave a legacy,How will they remember me? Did I choose to love?” Nicole Nordeman just has such a beautiful voice.

Little Willow – Paul McCartney This is my favorite Paul McCartney song, definitely not as well known as some of his big hits like Let It Be [another fav] but this song spoke to me through a really hard time. I love everything it has to say, that sometimes life is cruel but you can make it though and eventually you’ll heal. It’s one of the most touching songs I’ve ever heard.

Passenger Seat – Death Cab for Cutie I also love Death Cab, Transatlanticism is my favorite album of theirs and Passenger Seat is so beautiful. It reminds me of how much I love to sit in the backseat and just watch the world go by and contemplate everything. Seriously, if I had a million dollars I would hire a driver and just drive around and listen to music. This has such a fantastic sound to it, it’s not a flashy song, quite subdued really, but I love the feeling it gives me. It’s like I am so THERE with every lyric and note.

The Remedy (I Won’t Worry) – Jason Mraz This song is one of my favorites to listen to when something is bothering me and I’m trying to let go. It’s a great stress reliever with its upbeat lyrics and sound. It totally makes me smile.

Hakuna Matata – The Lion King Soundtrack Come on, you know you love Hakuna Matata! I totally still listen to this song ever since the movie came out. It never fails to cheer me up and put a huge smile on my face!

That’s the Way It Is – Bruce Hornsby This song puts me in a good mood every time I listen to it too. It’s so hopeful: “that’s just the way it is – but don’t you believe them” – don’t let people get you down! The instrumentals are awesome on this too; I wish I could play it on the piano.

Mad Season – Matchbox Twenty Mad Season is my fav album by MB20. I really enjoy all the songs on the album and I listen to different songs when I’m in various moods. I listen to this song when I’m in a mood where I feel like things are not necessarily going my way but I’m not giving up yet – or to express my frustration. I listened to this whole album and this song a ton when I was in high school.

Bitch – Meredith Brooks This is one of my fav songs from the 90’s – and really anyone who stumbles onto my mp3 player is going to have a TON of hits from the 90’s This song rocks for so many reasons, it’s perfect to express that there’s so many parts of my personality – not everyone sees them all but doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Sometimes I put this on when I’m in a slightly rebellious mood or I want a fun song.

Cannibal – Ke$ha I’m not a big Ke$ha fan, this is the only song I have of hers, but I absolutely love it. It totally describes my sense of humor that I enjoy listening to this for fun! [Bex & Amanda won't stop making cannibal jokes about me, since I started quoting it when I listened to it in chat] My favorite lines: “use your finger to stir my tea, and for dessert I’ll suck your teeth” I’m sure people from the future will think I was a closet people eater. :X

Every Day is a Winding Road – Sheryl Crow Another great 90’s hit. This is the perfect song on my philosophy of life, “Everyday is a winding road,I get a little bit closer, Everyday is a faded sign, I get a little bit closer to feeling fine”

There You’ll Be – Faith Hill This song touches my heart because it seems to have come on the radio every time someone close to me passed away. Every time I hear it it’s a little reminder that “I’ll keep a part, Of you with me, And everywhere I am, There you’ll be” it such a powerful message that our loved ones are always with us as long as we remember them.

Partials‘ author Dan Wells has also shared the songs you’d find on his music player so be sure and check that out: HERE.

What would a person from the future who stumbled on your music player find?