the playlist for YIN YANG LOVE SONG ♪
"You'd better cool it off before you burn it out"
Happy Grammys Day to all who celebrate! I couldn’t let this day go by without sharing the Yin Yang Love Song playlist. I’ve been wrong before, but I really do think Taylor will be announcing something tonight. I can’t say I love on-stage Grammys announcements, but I really do hope we get an update about where the f reputation is. I need to be able to stream “Delicate” in peace. 😆
Anyway.
With his brother (who makes up the other half of their rock cellist duo group the Chao Brothers), Vin has a case full of Grammys and Emmys, with a potential Oscar nomination on the way. During one of the Grammy’s afterparties they went to, Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun” was the song of the night (so he knows the tune and lyrics very well), which is why Vin is so helpful during one particular Dragon Boat race scene.
Music plays such an important role in my writing process. I create playlists early and add to them throughout the entire journey: concepting, drafting, editing, promotion. I love having a collection of songs that are dedicated to a whole made-up world. It’s like bringing something tangible to something that’s…not. At least not at first. Music helps ground ideas floating around in my head and give it a little more life as I attempt to do the same on the page.
A lot of the time, I’m writing at my desk alone. Having music playing in the background is the equivalent to having the TV on with the volume set low. Musicians keep me company during the solitude. (I’m currently listening to Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude” performed by Yo-Yo Ma as I write this.)
Music was also especially important for this book since one of the characters is a prodigy-turned-rock cellist celebrity. There are several music references, but there are also specific songs that called out on the page. I wrote with a lot of the classical music in this playlist playing in the background. For other songs, I had them on repeat as I tried to catch a specific urgency or feeling. Other times, it’s the lyrics (or a single line) that captures a character or theme of the book and I can’t not add it.
Sometimes songs emerge as the “lead single” for a book.
♪ Lunar Love’s #1 song has to be “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest.
♪ Red String Theory is of course Taylor Swift’s “invisible string,” both literally and metaphorically.
♪ Which brings us to Yin Yang Love Song, which has all the vibes and messages and themes of “Vienna” by Billy Joel.
But just like lead singles don’t capture the messages or vibes of an entire album, there are so many songs that round out the feeling. We’ve got a little Yo-Yo Ma, Taylor Swift, Ashlee Simpson, Bon Jovi, Tegan and Sara, Olivia Rodrigo, Ocie Elliott, Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson, Vivaldi, and Wild Rivers to capture those misunderstood-cellist-with-a-heartbreaker-reputation and herbalist-who’s-accepted-that-she’s-destined-to-never-find-lasting-love feels.
This is the longest book playlist I’ve put out yet (there are 110+ songs in this playlist (!!)) but I guess makes sense for a book partially about music.
Before we get to Yin Yang Love Song’s playlist, I’d like to share about some more insight into why a few of these songs made the cut…
"Violin Concerto in G Minor, Op. 8 No. 2, RV 315 "Summer": III. Presto” by Antonio Vivaldi: This song comes into play multiple times throughout the book. The opening of the book happens at a celebrity’s kid’s birthday party that has a budget of over $100,000. This is important to note because now you know what kind of party to expect. The theme is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which means…they’ve turned their entire backyard into the literal four seasons. Snow machines get rolled out for winter, summer includes sand hauled in from Santa Monica Beach for the kids to make sandcastles. The birthday kid was born on Vivaldi’s birthday, and they want him to be the next Vin Chao. Prodigy, icon, success. But the third movement is also Vin’s favorite song to perform, and it comes up again in one of the most magical scenes in the book (in my opinion). This song is vibrant, urgent, and it tells such a powerful story. I listened to this one on repeat while writing said magical scene (the firefly scene).
“Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow: Nostalgia vibes are strong in this book, hence this Sheryl Crow classic. It comes up during one of the sillier scenes in the book. If you can imagine a heartbreaker rock cellist belting this song out with twenty aunties, then, well, yeah. That’s the scene. 😂
“Vienna” by Billy Joel: My god, this song. I love it so much. Chryssy loves Billy Joel. Like, wears Billy Joel shirts to bed and listens to his music kind of love. I first heard this song in 13 Going on 30 and if it hit deep then, imagine how it hits now. Yeah. It hits hard.
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out
You've got so much to do
And only so many hours in a day, hey
Slow down, you're doin' fine
You can't be everything you wanna be before your time
This song speaks to me, it speaks to Vin, it speaks to Chryssy. There’s a really good chance it speaks to you, too. Hands-down my fave Billy song, and I was crushed when he didn’t perform it when I saw him live at Madison Square Garden. We’ll always have Spotify.
“making the bed” by Olivia Rodrigo: Another devastatingly relatable one. There’s a scene in the Dandelion (the converted shed Chryssy lives in and that Vin stays with her in) where they’re about to make up Vin’s bed. In earlier drafts, there were pages of them actually making the bed (this made it really far in the editing process…) until ultimately the question became, do people really need to see them making a bed? 🙃 I live for a metaphor, though, and the themes of this song come out strong in that chapter, for Vin in particular. Listening to this song takes me back to that moment in the yellow shed in the purple room with the purple sheets.
And I tell someone I love them just as a distraction
They tell me that they love me like I'm some tourist attraction
They're changin' my machinery and I just let it happen
I got the things I wanted, it's just not what I imagined
“Cryin’” by 2CELLOS: If you want to see two rockstar cellists at work, watch any of 2CELLOS videos. (This is from one of their concerts—1:05 mark for real rockstar energy—the way Stjepan Hauser (professionally known as Hauser) lays on the ground playing cello and spins around…) If you wanted to get a feeling for what the Chao Brothers’ concerts feel like, this is it. But the venue would be the Colosseum or the Acropolis.
Here’s the full playlist. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do. Just like wildflowers, there’s a real variety of songs here, which I find kind of perfectly fitting.
Happy listening! Any songs you’d add? I’m so curious to know.
From me to you, in the present,
Lauren
About me: I’m Lauren Kung Jessen, author of Lunar Love, Red String Theory, and Yin Yang Love Song. Connect with me on Instagram for more on books and food.