Olivie Blakes’s Gifted & Talented is out now and she’s got a special treat for you! Check out the official G&T playlist below — the vibes? Corporate greed, sibling rivalry, gifted kids, clinical depression. We think you’ll love it!
By Olivie Blake
A lot of people ask me whether I write while listening to music, and the answer is I don’t, opting instead for total silence lest I accidentally type out the lyrics to what’s playing instead of whatever is being shouted down from the command center (I’m a pantser, so what happens in my brain is a total mystery until completion of the first draft; nobody’s in charge, much less available for consultation). However, a solid amount of the writing process is thinking and/or daydreaming, which is something I perform to music as often as I can. This playlist includes the songs that I listened to over the course of writing and editing my new book, GIFTED & TALENTED, a family dramedy about three siblings who, after the death of their father, must come to terms with the many failings in their personal lives, some of which are literally apocalyptic.
GIFTED & TALENTED features a variety of themes (corporate greed, sibling rivalry, the gifted kid to clinical depression pipeline) and there are definitely a few songs on the playlist specifically about the kind of ennui I tackled on the page. But the story is predominantly a character study—even more than that, it’s an examination of relationships. Like much of my work, the ensemble cast plays host to a variety of interpersonal tensions, some romantic in nature and others… well… let’s just say complex. Here are a few lyrics I felt were especially relevant to some of the character and relationship arcs in the book.
Waste My Life, Alice Merton
I wanna lose my mind with you / I wanna kill my time with you / I wanna waste my life / Wasting yours, too
Save My Life, the Band CAMINO
You’re beautiful when you’re lyin’ / and hurting me just for fun / so keep twisting the knife in / and telling me I’m the one … I can’t turn you down / to save my life / if you’re gonna break a heart / then come break mine
Scared, Joywave
I wanna touch you but I’m scared / I really love you though, I swear / I dread the moment you’re not there
EVERGREEN, PVRIS
‘Cause no one gives a damn shit / unless you’re dead / or you’re seventeen / a little born prodigy… I wanna be evergreen
INTERMISSION
Making the Bed, Olivia Rodrigo
Another perfect moment / that doesn’t feel like mine / another thing I forced to be a sign… every good thing has turned into something I dread / and I’m playing the victim so well in my head / but it’s me who’s been making the bed
Family of Six, Petey USA
Remember when they told ya it gets better when you’re older / well, for now, I still feel like a kid / cause if ya never showed me Bambi / I could breathe instead of panic / I’d provide for a family of six
Everybody’s Different, Joe P
Everybody’s better than they used to be / maybe I’m just holding up the line / back down on my knees, all this concrete’s killing me / you know I thought it’d go my way this time
Darling, the Planets, The Rare Occasions
Darling, I love you, but sometimes the planets are pulling us two different ways / How do we hold on to all that we know without one of us having to change?
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