Tunes for Tuesday #3





Tunes for Tuesday is a feature here at Midnight Reads where each week a playlist from a book we have read or want to read will be featured.

This week we are playing songs from Tom Clempson's One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite.

We loved Tom's book and you can read our book review here and don't forget to check out the interview we did with Tom here.

Over to Tom:~

Midnight Reads Playlist for ‘One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite’ by Tom Clempson.

When Midnight Reads asked me if I had a playlist for my book ‘One Seriously Messed-Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite’, my answer was a very firm ‘yes’. Not only does my book feature quite a number of songs in it, but I also listened to lots of music to help inspire parts of the book and to help me regress back to a fifteen year old, and the school that my book is set in (my old school - now a housing estate) has spawned a number of successful musicians, including my very own folky brother (Ben Clempson) and Nizlopi (of the JCB fame).

There’s just one problem… That’s too much music for one playlist! I’ve tried chopping and changing songs, picking a few from the book, a few from inspiration and a few from the school, but that just makes for a really weird and disjointed collection of music that doesn’t really represent my book in any way!

So, for now, whilst people aren’t too familiar with the book, I think it wisest to just stick to music that best sums up ‘One Seriously Messed-Up Week…’ and, if Midnight Reads would permit me, maybe I could be greedy and come back another time with an alternative playlist(?).

The playlist I’ve picked today is a collection of songs that are mentioned in the book, and songs that fit the books themes and style. So here they are:
Click on song to listen

1. It’s Growing – James Taylor You wont have to read beyond page one to find out why I picked this song. In fact you wont have to read beyond the first line. Or the first word! (James Taylor probably wouldn’t appreciate the connotations).

2. Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin This one was intended to feature in the book, but due to a lack of recognisable lyrics it got replaced by Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds (“Don’t Worry, About A Thing…”). This is one of the cheeriest songs ever, made all the more awesome by the fact that all the instruments are in fact Bobby McFerrin’s mouth!

3. What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong Another happy song that appears in the book, during one of Jacks few carefree, laidback moments.

4. All Of These Things That I’ve Done – The Killers There is a whole chapter in the book where Jack explains his love/hate relationship with this band. He’s got soul, but he’s not a soldier.

5. Chicken Payback – The Bees If I had to pick one song to sum up ‘One Seriously Messed-Up Week…’ it would probably be this. It’s fun, silly, and doesn’t always make a whole lot of sense.

6. New Born – Muse Jack also mentions this band and there’s a sequence, towards the end of the book, where the pace of this song would work so well if the book were a film.

7. Run Rabbit Run – Flanagan & Allen Another one that is mentioned in the book, which plays like a soundtrack in Jacks head. Jack is in serious danger, yet he can’t get this strange old song out of his head. This is exactly the way my own contradictory brain taunts me.

8. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Grand Central Boogie) – Gazzara This one also plays through Jacks head, during a moment of potentially cool heroism.

9. Creep – Radiohead The title of this song fits so many characters in the book, and the words of the song could be sung by Jack himself.

That’s all, thanks for listening!

Thanks so much Tom! What a mixed bag of songs! Just brilliant!!!