A Playlist for Ten Years and Then…

Music plays a big role in my new novel.  Ten Years and Then… features a couple of important scenes where we see our star-crossed lovers singing karaoke, for one thing.

Here are the songs that come up over the course of the book:

I’d Die For You (Bon Jovi)

In Daniel’s dorm room on Halloween night, he and Nora have an evening to themselves.

Well, they’d made out for a few minutes here and there. And they’d danced through all of Slippery When Wet. Right there in the middle of his room, with the CD playing on his little boombox. Truthfully, it was mainly Nora who danced, while he mostly shuffled his feet around and waved his arms in a sad attempt at rhythm.

At least they’d been able to slow-dance to I’d Die For You. That had been pretty wonderful.

Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

Two years after graduation, Daniel and Nora meet at a big conference – they run into each other unwittingly at a karaoke bar.  Nora drags Daniel up to sing, and she picks this song.

Holding Out for a Hero (Bonnie Tyler)

Later that night, Daniel’s co-workers serenade him:

“This one is for our Team Leader. Here’s to you, Daniel!”

Then the music came up. He recognized the song, and felt himself blush. This was completely unnecessary and deeply embarrassing—and kind of the nicest thing anyone had done for him all year.

“Go up with them!”

He shook his head. “They don’t need any more encouragement.” His co-workers were belting out—with a lot of enthusiasm and not much talent—Holding Out For a Hero.

“You’re right,” Nora said. “What they need is voice lessons.”

Don’t You Want Me (Human League)

At the end of the night, Daniel voluntarily goes up to the stage with Nora, and this time he picks the song.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re singing?”

Daniel shook his head. “You’ll see.”

“How do I know what my part is?”

“You’ll know.”

Living on a Prayer (Bon Jovi)

Four years later, Daniel and Nora (both dating other people by now) are on a cruise with their partners,  and have no idea the other one is aboard, too.  Until they see each other in the atrium of the ship on the first night of the cruise, and the ship’s cover band is playing Bon Jovi:

Daniel checked his watch as he got off the elevator on deck five. A quarter to ten, so he still had fifteen minutes before the show started. And there was music coming from deck four, the lowest level of the atrium. Familiar music.

Bon Jovi. It was a cover band, playing a decent rendition of Living on a Prayer. He walked over to the railing, looking down at the band, and the little crowd dancing—as much as you could dance to a song like that. Really they were mostly shuffling around and waving their arms a beat or two behind the music.

Exactly like he’d danced to it with Nora, on a Halloween night in his dorm room nine years ago.

Summer Nights (John Travolta & Olivia Newton John)

Two nights later on the cruise, at karaoke night, they listen to an older couple butchering that song:

They just listened to the rest of the song in silence. When it was, mercifully, over, Nora said, “Olivia Newton-John would turn over in her grave if she heard that.”

“She’s not dead,” Daniel reminded her.

“She’d want to be if she had to listen to that.”

Basically, imagine this scene, only even worse.

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John & Kiki Dee)

Nora goes up with Daniel to sing the last song of the night, a few minutes later:

When he realized what she’d picked, he burst out laughing. But he sang Don’t Go Breaking My Heart with just as much enthusiasm as she did. And when it was done, he tossed the microphone over to the hostess, pulled her into the shadows in the far corner of the lounge, and kissed her for all he was worth.

So there you have it – songs to read my new book by!