All of these songs inspired me in different ways while writing
The Mare. Some of them I listened to a lot, some just a couple of times. Some of them had a very simple relationship to the book; they are love songs, especially for teenagers, especially love that is more about longing than anything else. The last one is about the feeling of horses, in a dream-world way; horses bursting into locker-room hell to save somebody named Johnny who is a boy in the song, but when I listened he could be anybody, male or female. Others of them are about being not young anymore, and feeling lost, like it's over for you, but trying to find a way to give something. Some of them aren't my kind of music usually, but somehow they connected me to the story, even if just briefly. Most of them, though, I really love.
1. "Gracias a la Vida" by Mercedes Sosa
Because to me this is Silvia's voice. Even if she never uses it, and even if the singer is Chilean, not Dominican. Also, it's the underlying voice of the book. I don't know how to explain that.
2. "Spain" by Kristen Hersh
This is Ginger — her younger, scrappier side. Which is still there.
3. "Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith
This is Ginger too — older, but still trying and believing in something good for her.
4. "13" by Big Star
This song is somehow about both Ginger and Velvet; the feeling of love being very tender and new. Velvet is just feeling it; Ginger is remembering it.
5. "So Sick" by Ne-Yo
This is the same thing, but more in Velvet's consciousness. And it's more about loss, but still flavored with sweetness. I pictured Velvet listening to this song on her Princess radio.
6. "Obesesion" by Frankie J. ...