Could you make a playlist of all the songs mentioned or inspirerd slow show? Love the new update. Don't want the story to end.
Thank you so much for asking! I’m so glad you’re liking this story, I can’t tell you how lovely this was to read.
@julesdrenages has made an incredible playlist with all the songs mentioned in “Slow Show” along with songs for different characters - it’s truly a marvel (and also fucking slaps) and I absolutely love it. So instead of a playlist... may I offer you a soundtrack?
Lately I don’t write with music as much as I used to. My brain gets hung up on the lyrics. BUT I PLOT to music like a motherfucker, play songs on repeat while I drive and figure out what everyone will say and where they’re standing and how to possibly Make Them Kiss. So here are the songs that either inspired a chapter, or played repeatedly underneath it. Apologies for all my messy feelings getting everywhere.
Prequel: Luke (the stumble and the fall) - Loverman by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Chapter 1 - You Light Me Up in the Dark by the Hounds Below
(His hair catches the light like a halo, making him look more of an angel than ever. Even in the darkness, he seems to notice Crowley staring at him - staring, for fuck’s sake.)
Chapter 2 - Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie
Chapter 3 - Slow Show by the National
Chapter 4 - I Like Me Better by Lauv (To be drunk and in love in New York City.)
Like Real People Do by Hozier
Chapter 5 - Colour Me In by Damian Rice (starts during the slow-zoom of gay panic after Crowley rescues the book from the Victoria harbour, builds through the golden taxi-ride back to the hotel: So I tried to erase it, the ink bled right through.)
Chapter 6 - Velvet Gloves and Spit by Timber Timbre (the song I write all my smut to, in case that interests anyone.)
Chapter 7 - Red Door (demo) by Julien Baker (I want to let you break my heart. I want to let you break my heart. I want to let you break my heart. I want to let you break me.)
Chapter 8 - Such A Perfect Day by Lou Reed
I Can’t Take It by Tegan and Sara (Don’t move so slow. I can’t take it.)
Just in Time by Valerie June (a terrible clichéd romantic slow dance in the kitchen)
Chapter 9 - Crown of Love by Arcade Fire
Chapter 10 - All I Can by Sharon van Etten (3:44 hits at the end of the chapter, Avery arriving at the docks, making a decision, and the world awash with gold.)
Chapter 11 - Quiet Light by the National (Learning how not to die inside a littleevery time I think about you and wonder if you are awake.)
Sweet Thing by Van Morrison (And you shall take me stronglyIn your arms again/and I will not remember that I even felt the pain.)
Chapter 12 - The Book of Love by the Magnetic Fields
Closing Credits - Good Man (acoustic) by Josh Ritter
ντελικασσέτεν 01.03.21 | Only Love Can Break Your Heart Space Cadet - Start Running Away Deep Tan - Camelot Shepparton Airplane - Fear Hooveriii - Control Editrix - Instant Maxshh - New Jane, New John Warish - Seeing Red Body Maintenance - Sheets Peter Muffin - Helsinki Chad VanGaalen - Nightwaves Matahara - Alas, Alas Stray Fossa - Orange Days Cool Sounds - Plains Cheekface - Best Life SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - THE SERVER IS IMMERSED Ryan Sambol - You're Still Lovable To Someone Indigo Sparke - Carnival Flock of Dimes - Price of Blue Dinosaur Jr. - I Ran Away New Bums - Cover Band The Peacers - Ghost of a Motherfucker Grave Flowers Bongo Band - Smile Guided By Voices - Free Agents Painted Shrines - Not So Bad Holiday Ghosts - Mr. Herandi Real Estate - Half a Human Alex Bleeker - Reach For My Brain Bachelor - Anything At All Julien Baker - Favor Marina Allen - Oh, Louise Michael Beach - You Found Me Out Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Carnage Tindersticks - A Man Needs A Maid
Aaaaannnndddd we’re back with some music-related goodness. I have a pretty lengthy Spotify playlist of songs from LGBTQA+ artists, and I figured I’d compile it all here for accessibility. I’m constantly adding new artists to the playlists (below), so give those a follow if you want to be up to date.
1) This one is EVERY SONG IN EVERY ARTIST’S DISCOGRAPHY AND IT IS DAUNTING AS HELL.
2) This one is a (constantly updated) playlist of all my favorite songs from these artists.
Allison Weiss
Like The Front Bottoms (Allison was actually featured on “Cough It Out” and a few other songs off of the newest Front Bottoms album), but just a single person writing kick ass indie pop/orck songs.
Songs to check out: “Motorbike” and “I Was An Island”
Gay, uses both female (she/her) and neutral (them/they) pronouns.
BOY
My friend Frank recommended this band to me by calling them “the gay Death Cab for Cutie,” so I guess they’re the gay Death Cab for Cutie.
Songs to check out: “Waitress” and “Boris.”
Brendan Maclean
Wonderful poppy songs about heartache and stuff.
Songs to check out: “Stupid” and “Hugs Not Drugs (Or Both).”
Gay.
Camp Cope
Really good indie rock music with fantastic lyricism. They’re also Australian, kind of have a Courtney Barnett vibe.
Songs to check out: "Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams” and “Flesh and Electricity.”
I can’t find a source anywhere, but lead singer Georgia McDonald is on the spectrum somewhere, and the band is vocal in its support of LGBTQA+ issues.
Chris Pureka
The queer, more laid back Shakey Graves.
Songs to check out: “Burning Bridges,” “Cynical” and “Back in the Ring.”
Genderqueer.
Courtney Barnett
Singer/songwriter with a cool garage rock flair.
Songs to check out: “Pedestrian at Best” and “Pickles from the Jar.”
Gay.
Cyberbully Mom Club
Lo-fi indie pop. Normally not crazy about lo-fi stuff, but this band does it really well and the lyrics are great too.
Songs to check out: “Drunk Text Romance” and “Life Time Warranty.”
Lead singer Shari Heck has been open about gender identity and the “boxes” of binary genders, but hasn’t assigned themselves a label from what I’ve seen.
Des Ark
Chill acoustic/indie music.
Songs to check out: “Peace to You Too, Motherfucker” and “You Pregnant Motherfucker.” Both are pretty relaxed despite their titles.
Front woman Aimée Collet Argote identifies as queer.
Hemming
Young singer/songwriter, very sad and very Julien Baker-esque. I want to protect her.
Songs to check out: “I’ll Never Be the Man for You” and “Some of My Friends.”
Gay.
Hurray for the Riff Raff
Imagine Johnny Cash. Now imagine him as a queer female fronting a band. That’s kinda what this band is like.
Songs to check out: “I Know It’s Wrong (But That’s Alright)” and “Jealous Guy.”
Frontwoman Alynda Lee Segarra identifies as queer, fiddler Yosi Perlstein is trans.
Jenny Owen Youngs
Jenny Owen Youngs is like the musical equivalent of the first person you ever had a crush on and I want to hug her a million times.
Songs to check out: “Born to Lose” and “Last Person.”
Bonus: Her cover of Jukebox the Ghost’s “Good Day,” her cover of Weezer’s “Getchoo” AND her cover of Nelly’s “Hot in Herre.”
Gay, plus she’s married to the Queen of Gay Kristin Russo (one of the founders of Everyone is Gay).
Jesse Thomas
Just say yes to more women making cool indie music.
Songs to check out: “Use Me Up” and “Leather Jacket.”
Gay.
Julia Weldon
A good mix of some folky sentiments with indie rock flair.
Songs to check out: “Marian” (I like the version from the self-titled album better) and “Same Games”
Identifies as queer and “definitely not a lesbian folk singer.”
Julien Baker
Sad, acoustic music. Like a female Bon Iver or something.
So sad, so many feels.
I want to love her.
Songs to check out: “Everybody Does and “Something.”
Gay, and also transparent about being a gay person that is 1) Christian and 2) from the South, if that’s enticing.
Mal Blum
The purest, sweetest cinnamon roll in the entire world making really good, relatable music.
Songs to check out: “New Years Eve” and “The Bodies, The Zombies!”
Non-binary and pansexual.
Mo Kenney
More swell folkish music (more of an indie rock vibe on the latest).
Songs to check out: “I Faked It” and “The Happy Song.”
Gay.
Natasha Negovanlis
Because that chick from Carmilla everyone loves also makes some pretty good music.
The only three songs on her Bandcamp are pretty spotty in terms of genre (”Nothing” has a more pop/rock vibe while “Green” is a slower, more straight pop song and “27″ is weirdly jazzy).
Songs to check out: All of them, but “Nothing” is my favorite because I just dig the whole vibe.
Unspecified, label defying queer. The queen of my heart.
No Girlfriends
Swell punk music.
Songs to check out: “You’re Impossible” and “Proposition.”
They’re literally all crushworthy lesbians and the name is a pun because they’re...all single BUT ALSO because they were apparently getting sick of people just assuming they were “the girlfriends” of dudes in bands.
Palehound
Very nice lo-fi rock. Sometimes verges into grunge territory.
Songs to check out: “Dixie” and “Molly,” just so you get the full spectrum of sounds in there.
Ellen Kempner is queer.
Partner
MORE indie rock music, because that’s what the world needs.
Literally this band has a song about Ellen Page AND they straight up just use the word “lesbian” whilst referring to themselves/Ellen Page in said song.
Songs to check out: “The Ellen Page” and “Hot Knives.”
Gayyyyyyyyyyy.
Porch Cat
Lo-fi, bedroom rock/folkish punk music.
Songs to check out: “The Haircut Song” (I like the acoustic version from “Little Songs” best) and “If Yr Not Happy.” Bonus: “Want to Be Free (I’m An Asshole Too)” with accompanying band The Fair-weather Family.
Non-binary.
Sleater-Kinney
Motherfucking Sleater-Kinney.
Songs to check out: All of them, but also “Surface Envy” and “You’re No Rock N’ Roll Fun.”
Members Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker are bisexual.
SOAK
Soulful folk music (literally, hence “SOAK”) from Ireland. The accent is endearing.
Songs to check out: “B a noBody” and “Hailstones Don’t Hurt.”
Gay.
Soko
For the most part folky/poppy, but charted into some rockish territory on the newest release.
Songs to check out: “Who Wears the Pants??” and “Why Don’t You Eat Me Now, You Can.”
Gonna put her down as pansexual/bisexual, ‘cause in an interview she said she preferred girls but had been with guys before, so.
(She also ended the aforementioned interview by saying “I love pussy,” so there’s that.)
Sports
Kind of like Modern Baseball but with a female lead singer, ya feel?
Songs to check out: “Getting On in Spite of You” and “GDP.”
Queer.
St. Vincent
Excellent, poppy indie rock.
Songs to check out: “Paris is Burning” and “Actor Out of Work.”
Unspecified queer/pansexual/dates a lot of hot women, so she’s just kinda winning at life.
Tegan and Sara
Motherfucking Tegan and Sara.
Songs to check out: Their entire discography, but also “Shock to Your System” and “Frozen.”
Gay times two.
Torres
Indie singer/songwriter.
Songs to check out: “Jealousy And I” and “New Skin.”
March is the worst month of the goddamn year. It’s just a vacuum of grief and loss and hurting. I miss Mike so much, and I’m making progress in coming to terms with it, but holy fucking shit I wish he hadn’t died. That’s all I have to say about this month, I’m happy for it to be over.
50. Store - Carly Rae Jepsen
I can't play pretend, wish it hadn't come to this
But you know there's some things you can't mend
49. Can’t Hold Us Down - Christina Aguilera
Making up a few false rumors or two
That for sure is not a man for me, slandering names for popularity
It's sad you only get your fame through controversy
But now it's time for me to come and give you more to say
48. The City - 1975
Don 't call it a fight when you know it 's a war
With nothing but your t-shirt on
47. Discovering the Waterfront - Silverstein
Pretend it’s not forever
I'll pull myself together, I'll say that I'll forget her, I'll breathe
And I'll say she never hurt me, and look at it as learning
And laugh about the good and the bad
46. Getaway Car - Taylor Swift
Well he was running after us, I was screaming, "go, go, go"
But with three of us, honey, it's a side show
And a circus ain't a love story, and now we’re both sorry
45. Fight Test - The Flaming Lips
Cause I'm a man not a boy and there are things you can't avoid,
You have to face them when you're not prepared to face them
44. Sober - Lorde
Midnight, we’re fading
Till daylight, we’re jaded
We know that it’s over
In the morning, you'll be dancing with all the heartache
43. Double Cross - Senses Fail
All my pictures have faded over time
I burnt the negatives of you
42. Sleeping With a Friend - Neon Trees
All my friends stay up past midnight
Looking for the thing to fill the void
I don't go out much like I used to
Something about the strangers and the noise
41. A Song For Ernest Hemingway - The Wonder Years
And I heard all about how his plane went down after Christmas in the Congo
He read about his own death in the paper, I bet it was freeing to know
When you destroy anything worth chasing, there's nowhere left to go
40. A Change of Heart - The 1975
And she said, I've been so worried about you lately
You look shit and smell a bit
You're mad thinking you could ever save me
Not looking like that
39. Hum Hallelujah - Fall Out Boy
I love you in the same way there's a chapel in a hospital
One foot in your bedroom, and one foot out the door
38. First Letter From St. Sean (Rearranged) - Sorority Noise
I am not alive, I didn't mean to leave you when I died
I was too scared you might be the one to leave
There's so much more to life than the flick of a knife
37. So It Goes... - Taylor Swift
Cut me into pieces
Gold cage, hostage to my feelings
36. Truffle Butter - Nicki Minaj
Your whole style and approach, I invented
And I ain't taking that back, cause I meant it
35. I Don’t Fuck With You - Big Sean
I swear I hear some new bullshit every day I'm waking up
It seems like nowadays everybody breaking up
That shit can break you down if you lose a good girl
I guess you need a bad bitch to come around and make it up
34. Dress - Taylor Swift
I'm spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we're both drunk
Everyone thinks that they know us, but they know nothing about us
33. Me vs The Highway - The Wonder Years
I remember me at eighteen, naked in your parents' basement
Young and careless, watching you blow smoke rings
And I remember me at eighteen
You sat stoic in front me, a portrait of who we'd someday be
32. The Waterboy Returns - Modern Baseball
It’s fun to be all talk, but I won't be here forever
Rough time to be a lost soul, I'm sure, but we feel the same
Death won't bring friends and flowers to your grave
31. You’re Crashing But You’re No Wave - Fall Out Boy
Case open, case shut
But you could pay to close it like a casket
30. State of Grace - Taylor Swift
We are alone, just you and me
Up in your room and our slates are clean
Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes
29. Writer in the Dark - Lorde
Stood on my chest and kept me down
Hated hearing my name on the lips of a crowd
Did my best to exist just for you
28. I’m Serious I’m Sorry - Jeff Rosenstock
I wanted to tell you I know how it feels when
The people you love just start disappearing
Ashamed that you took their presence for granted
But I didn’t want to seem condescending
27. Bonfire - Childish Gambino
They told me I was awful man, that shit did not phase me
Tell me how I suck again, my memory is hazy
26. She Way Out - The 1975
With a face from a movie scene
Or magazine, you know what I mean
25. Don’t Take The Money - Bleachers
And I saw your face and hands, colored in sun and then
I think I understand
24. The “I” in Lie - Patrick Stump
It might’ve felt good for a minute
But admit it to yourself it ain’t right
When you’re sleeping with your lover
But you’re living with your wife
23. Flicker, Fade - Taking Back Sunday
So you can go, go, go, if you want to
I wouldn't try and stop you
I couldn't say I blame you
22. Loverboy - You Me At Six
Your past has you in a choke hold
But you deserve it from what I've been told
21. A Little Uncanny - Conor Oberst
You know old Ronnie Reagan, he was a shoe salesman's son
He got himself in the movies, he impressed everyone
He fought trial by fire, was America's fate
He made a joke of the poor people, and that made him a saint
20. Like a River Runs - Bleachers
The summer's gone and I'm alone
And I get the feeling that you're somewhere close
And I wanna get up, to the rhythm of your wild, to the rhythm of your wild heart
It beats, been beating since you've gone
19. Something - Julien Baker
I just let the silence swallow me up
The ring in my ears, the taste of blood
Asking aloud why you're leaving
But the pavement won't answer me
18. Blacktop - Julien Baker
But I know you're in the pews, the same as stools around the bar
And I know I saw your hand when I went out and wrapped my car
17. Treacherous - Taylor Swift
And I'll do anything you say, if you say it with your hands
And I'd be smart to walk away, but you're quicksand
16. The Way - Ariana Grande
You got my heart, don’t know how you did it
And I don’t care who sees it babe
I don’t wanna hide the way I feel when you're next to me
15. Hard Feelings/Loveless - Lorde
When you've outgrown a lover, the whole world knows but you
It's time to let go of this endless summer afternoon
14. Cry - Carly Rae Jepsen
He never wants to strip down to his feelings
He never wants to kiss and close his eyes
13. Jacksonville Skyline - Whiskeytown
I was born in an abundance of inherited sadness
And fifty cent picture frames bought at a five and dime
12. Go Home - Julien Baker
And I haven't been taking my meds
Lock all the cabinets, send me to bed
Cause I know you're still worried I'm gonna get scared
Cause I'm alone again and I don't like the things I see
11. Reckless - You Me At Six
Your loose lips let, let words slide
You spend too much time talking about my life
Stories you will spin just for a power trip
It's safe to say that I am not into it
10. All I Need - Radiohead
You are all I need
I'm in the middle of your picture
Lying in the reeds
9. Cutting My Fingers Off - Turnover
I never wanted to make you go
You might be a stranger now
But I just wanted to let you know that I meant what I said
8. Rich as Fuck - Lil Wayne
(Will rapping this entire goddamn song on the drive the DC is forever burned into my memory)
7. No Halo (Rearranged) - Sorority Noise
The same things that plague you still plaguing me
God called you to fulfill a vacancy
I tried to see why it wasn't me
6. Sex - The 1975
You and your fit friends anyway
I'd take them all out any day
They've all got back combs anyway
You've all got boyfriends anyway
5. Wild Pack of Family Dogs - Modest Mouse
And I’m sitting outside my mud lake, waiting for the pack to take me away
And right after I die the dogs start floating up towards the glowing sky
4. Green Light - Lorde
But honey I'll be seeing you, wherever I go
But honey I'll be seeing you down every road
I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it
3. Everybody Lost Somebody - Bleachers
And there's a reason I wake up alone in strange places
A reason I see myself in a million faces
A reason I can't stop it all from changing
So come on, motherfucker, you survived, you gotta give yourself a break
2. Supercut - Lorde
In my head, I do everything right
When you call, I'll forgive and not fight
Because ours are the moments I play in the dark
We were wild and fluorescent, come home to my heart
1. Drummer Boy - MisterWives
Never want to wake up next to anybody else
Never in my life did I want to hear the wedding bells
You make me believe in something I claimed untrue
Set my fears on fire, like a phoenix I am new
With you, I am new every scar fades away, less existent with each day they fade away