Hey Frens! It’s Maren with another backstage-secrets post leading up to the launch of Crueler Mercies. Today, I’m going to be doing a deep dive into a few of the songs on my writing playlist.

Vita's Daylist is available to listen to here: sad princess indie pop tuesday afternoon

Queen of Peace — Florence and the Machine

I was actually pretty late to the Florence game—I only got into her music during the pandemic, which is incidentally also when I started seriously pursuing writing. Florence has such beautiful imagery in her songs, so no matter what book I’m working on, it’s inevitable that she makes it onto my playlists.

This is the song that I always think of first when asked about Crueler Mercies. There’s something so melancholic about the triumph presented in the lyrics. It also has such a wonderfully propulsive sound to it. Plus, the storytelling of the song itself—the conquering of a kingdom—is so perfectly attuned to Vita’s experiences.

The lines that always hit the hardest:

Oh, the queen of peace

Always does her best to please

Is it any use?

Somebody's gotta lose

Like a long scream

Out there, always echoing

Oh, what is it worth?

All that's left is hurt

Like the stars chase the sun

Over the glowing hill, I will conquer

Ivy — Taylor Swift

I’ve been on (and occasionally off) TS hype train since debut, and over the years, I’ve had a lot of favorite songs. But since the release of Evermore, I’ve had a favorite favorite Taylor song, and that’s Ivy.

It’s not often that I get really strong cinematic vibes from music, but Ivy has always played out like a film in my head. From the first time I heard it, it made me think of the women throughout history who have not had the choice to marry who they wanted, and the dangerous lengths they would go to for love anyway. I adore a good tragedy (looking at you, Paolo and Francesca from Dante’s Inferno! If you’re not familiar with them, they’re basically the real-life Romeo and Juliet).

To add to that, there’s a huge group of people who have claimed Ivy for the sapphics, which definitely fits with Vita and Soline’s story. Vita is meant to be marrying the general of the enemy’s army, but the only person she really wants to spend her time with is Soline. It’s dangerous, and foolish, and none of that matters in the face of the person she wants to become and the woman she wants at her side when it happens.

The lines that always hit the hardest:

Oh, goddamn

My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Taking mine, but it's been promised to another

Oh, I can't

Stop you putting roots in my dreamland

My house of stone, your ivy grows

And now I'm covered in you

Sunlight — Hozier

Can this list be all Hozier songs? Because I could put his whole discography and be satisfied. (I mean, I even mentioned Paolo and Francesca earlier, so how could I not choose his song about them??? Don’t worry though—that’s on the full playlist)

Sunlight has a special place in my heart for this story. I take the naming of characters pretty seriously. Probably too seriously, actually, given that I often can’t start writing the book until I have the perfect names selected. It’s usually a long process to get them figured out, because while I don’t always know what the right choice is, I always know the wrong ones, and my brain refuses to write a character when they don’t have the right name.

(This, thankfully, is exclusive to the main cast, so side characters can usually be given names on the fly)

I also grew up in fandom spaces, so I had high hopes that someday, people would talk about my characters with portmanteau ship names. It’s probably against some unspoken rule to try to game your own future-fandom, but I spent a lot of time thinking about that.

Vita’s real name is Vittoria, which—like the English Victoria—means “victory”. But Vita itself means “life”, which I’ve always loved for her.

Soline’s name took me longer to choose, but when I found it, I knew instantly. Sol, like the sun. “Sunlight”. I loved that.

I imagined people someday calling them “solvita” in their tumblr tags and twitter (rip) posts. Life, and the Sun that sustains it. It was such a beautiful pairing of names to me.

So, all that said—Hozier’s Sunlight is an absolute favorite of mine. It feels like an intimate look into Vita’s feelings for Soline, even before she really understands them herself. Hozier says it best: Carry me slowly, my sunlight.

The lines that always hit the hardest:

All the tales the same

Told before and told again

A soul that's born in cold and rain

Knows sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

And, at last, can grant a name

To a buried and a burning flame

As love and its decisive pain

Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight

Labour — Paris Paloma

I’m sure you’ve all heard this song by now, so there’s probably not a lot I need to do to explain how this one fits. I think it’s one of the feminist anthems that’ll stand the test of time.

The most important connection between the song and the book actually comes from the music video. It’s a stunning production in how straightforward and pointed it is. If you’ve read the book already, you’ll probably know what scene I was writing with that video in mind.

The lines that always hit the hardest:

The capillaries in my eyes are bursting

If our love died, would that be the worst thing?

For somebody I thought was my savior

You sure make me do a whole lot of labour

The Fruits — Paris Paloma

I needed this Paris double-act because both songs are just too good not to mention. This one is a deeper cut, but everyone should go listen immediately!

This song is gorgeous but so, so sad. It’s included below in the longer snippet, but I have to call out the lyric “screaming birds sound an awful lot like singing” as being especially tragic (and especially Crueler Mercies coded).

The lines that always hit the hardest:

"Devil", you call me

But seem to be enjoying

The fruits of my labour that came to me too young

When he stole my virtue

I'm glad it seems to serve you

That I was born a daughter and not a son

For if I'm going down

I guess I'll take you with me

Screaming birds sound an awful lot like singing

Instrumental Songs

There are 22 songs on the playlist with lyrics, but there are also 13 instrumental songs, and I’d be remiss not to mention a few of the highlights here briefly.

• Carmina Burana (O Fortuna) by Carl Orff — I mean, come on…. It’s a classic for a reason. You’re gonna need this for the last few chapters!

• Pilgrims on a Long Journey by Cœur de Pirate — On a long journey is absolutely right, because I always feel like I’m halfway through a fantasy quest when I listen to this piece. Very beautiful but also a little lost?

• Winterspell by Two Steps from Hell — this is one of my absolute favorite songs to write to. It has amazing energy, and there’s an almost pirate-vibe to it without being full-on Pirates of The Caribbean soundtrack. I definitely recommend listening to this in particular.

• Everyone’s Memory is Snow by PHILDEL — This one is quieter but still very driven. I have a few PHILDEL songs on this playlist, but something about this one feels so Vita to me.

And that’s all, folks! You can check out the whole playlist at the link above. It’s a sometimes fun and always angry feminist mashup that I had a great time piecing together over the course of 3 years.

Thanks Frens!

Maren ◡̈