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Friday, April 22, 2011

Hear Greta Run

This week's Red Writing Hood prompt: Take a character from one of your stories and examine his or her iPod playlist. What 10 songs best describe the character? 

If you haven't met Greta yet, you can read about her here and here.  When you're ready, come with her on her (almost) daily five-mile run!

Losing My Religion (REM) - Greta's been to church a handful of times since Elizabeth's baptism, but she is still struggling to find comfort in her faith, something that had been so clear for most of her life.

Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis) - Being divorced is something that still surprises her.  She'll smell his aftershave on someone in an elevator and suddenly healing wounds are open and raw again.

Breathe (2 AM) (Anna Nalick) - Often overwhelmed, Greta forces herself to take a few deep breaths.  This last year of her life brought undeniable pain, but it also brought out strength she never even dreamed about. 

Survivor (Destiny's Child) - A year ago she had been a newlywed, a daughter, a friend.  Now?  She is a divorced miscarriage survivor, learning to find pride and power in those words. 

Since U Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson) - Broken marriage vows had devastated her, but her smile was beginning to feel less forced, her laughter doesn't sound so dissonant to her own ears.

F(orget) You (Cee Lo Green) - The lyrics might not fit Greta's situation literally, but the sentiment is perfect for someone slowly finding her self confidence again, even if she doesn't know it yet.

White Wedding (Billy Idol) - It's loud; it's a throwback to her younger self; it's a glimpse of hope that there could be another wedding, another beginning for her, sometime, somewhere.

SexyBack (Justin Timberlake) - Her friends are coaxing her back into civilization, into shiny pink lipgloss, into pedicure chairs to pamper her battered feet and soul, into sky-high heels that hurt her feet but find their way onto the dance floor again.

Just Dance (Lady Gaga) - Because some days, the only thing that helps is music and running or dancing or jumping around the room until her muscles burn more than the memories, and she is reminded that her body is whole and living and can do amazing things.

Not Afraid (Eminem) - Greta might be wounded, and she might be guarded, but she is not afraid.  Not anymore.

15 comments:

  1. I love your description for Just Dance. So true! Good job!

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  2. WOW. I loved it. "burn more than memories" love that phrase.

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  3. Love all the song choices!! Survivor is on my running ipod - comes in handy during the later miles. ;)

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  4. Oh girlfriend I love u!!!!!!! This list is awesome...I'm still writing Kimmy..but wow..I love Greta's list..and I feel her pain. I just want to hug her!!!!

    Awesome!

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  5. Great post! Losing My Religion and Forget You are two of my favorite songs.

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  6. great playlist!! reminded me of some music to go download

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  7. I should download some of it! I always think of things to download, then stare blankly at the itunes library when I get to the computer.

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  8. I had to start taking off some of my Beyonce/Destiny's Child. I had so much on my running playlist, because it seems to have good pacing for me and makes me feel strong!

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  9. Thank you! That means a lot coming from someone who writes poetry so beautifully.

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  10. Isn't it, though? I love the dance floor :)

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  11. Fun songs! I think survivor is perfect for her.

    This is a very interesting character study. I learned so much about her. It's like a key to her psyche.

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  12. Thank you! I think it helped me in delving deeper into her character, but I felt a little guilty linking it up, because it doesn't really fit with the narrative flow of the other Greta pieces.

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  13. Love the songs, their meaning and Billy idol! You have Billy Idol on here! I love that, too! :)

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  14. Billy Idol is just cool, right?

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  15. love, love, love your list!!!!

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