Music and Monogamy: "Baby, every song is our song…"

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Every couple is supposed to have an “our song,” that one melody of significance that characterizes the strength, depth and resilience of their relationship. That one tune that will be played at the wedding and every anniversary thereafter, even if the kids complain about it making their ears bleed and forcing their blood glucose levels through the roof as they watch mom and dad sneak some much needed kisses. It’s hard to believe that a simple melody can represent the complexities of eternal devotion and love. Or is it?

How important is a song to a relationship? I’ve noted that I haven’t seen the “love song” as a part of many stories lately. Actually, I can’t remember reading a story recently that includes one, or any kind of music connection really (except, of course, unless it’s a main plot point).

Have you ever used music in your romances or erotica? Can music, the rhythm of life wrapped in melody and harmony, be erotic or romantic within the written word? Being a social dancer, I love all kinds of music and it’s natural to think about it when I’m writing. Almost all my stories have a song that I have connected to them, even if it doesn’t appear anywhere in the final product.

For example, I always liked John Denver’s You Fill Up My Senses, which is a bunch of similes chained together by a fast 1-2-3 waltz beat, and when I wrote Second Nature, in which Wis, the hero, duly fills up his mate’s senses beyond her wildest dreams, I had that song in my mind. In Snow Job, the hero, Aleksi, chooses his favorite Russian waltz—based on one of my favorites—as the song his intended, but not intentional, bride will walk up the aisle to. It’s vibrant, joyful, and captures the passionate spirit of their union--scarves, wooden stakes, and all.

For shy cowboy Randy Stide and his lady love, literature professor Rumani Gladstone, in Ride 'Em, Girlfriend!, Forever by Vince Gill seemed to suit, and I also couldn’t resist a scene where he introduces her to the rumba and the tango while they're naked. I mean, how often does THAT opportunity knock?

While writing Pleasure 2035, a campy futuristic paranormal, I must have listened to Disturbia by Rhiannon a million times, and even have Mayflower, the beleaguered heroine, perform her own cover of it, among other, um, musical performances she gives throughout the book, in an effort to distract the villain (if you count shouting during sex scenes music...lol).

What about you? How does music play a role, if any, in your stories or your writing process? Do your couples have a song that characterizes them to you as you write, or have you ever given your couples an “our song”? Do you and your significant other have a favorite song?

I guess I’ve never used an “our song” element per se in a story, at least not so it would be noticeable to the reader, but I do find I like to incorporate some kind of musical element. Maybe it’s because my husband and I have never really had an “our song.” Early on, we sort of did, but it kept changing, from the Everly Brothers’ Dream to Aerosmith’s Don’t Want to Miss a Thing to our favorite ballroom tune at the time. So finally, being the ever-logical, sexy cad he is, my husband said, “Baby, every song is our song.” And I believe him. :)