A Priori, the Soundtrack - Re-Posted!
Okay, so like about a year ago, I posted this fic called A Priori. It was my longest fic in fandom then, and the response kind of blew me away. (Still does!)
With it, I included a soundtrack, one I'm still ridiculously proud of. And last night I got an e-mail from the lovely gracecourage (can I say I love that username? I do!) and she wanted to show me the cover she'd made for the soundtrack, and I just kind of spazzed all over it because, well I think they're absolutely GORGEOUS. And I said I'd love to show them off, if she would post them, and she did! So here's a re-upload of the A Priori soundtrack!
I approached this soundtrack like framing a film, and in some cases, the music built more into the scene than my words ever could.
01. Imogen Heap - I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)
This is the opening credits song, if at all. My mind's eye sees David in the plain bed, too-short at the end, his mouth twitching, eyes trying to flutter open. Like waking up from a dream.
02. Spoon - The Ghost Of You Lingers
This tune came to me a few days before the story was completed, originally there was a huge gap between this and the next song. But I thought this track was brilliant and slightly sinister, the ghosts lingering around the monastery, haunting the people wandering it's halls.
03. Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says
In my personal canon (and many of you know this) Sam Winchester loves the Smiths. But I wasn't writing Sam, I was writing David. I think it might have been an over-indulgence in Wes Anderson-ing this up, but I really thought of him as a Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/Nico/Early 80's NYC Art Punk type of guy. And then there's the whole bit of Alaska woven in there, that flowed itself into the plot.
04. Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
Ahh, my moment where the English teacher that lives in my head jumps up on a desk and shouts "FORE-SHADOWING!!" or rather, after-foreshadowing? However you want to put it, I chose this to juxtapose against David and the Sam lurking in the wings. Something that David wouldn't be able to grasp the complete IRONY that is him singing this particular song.
05. The Jesus And Mary Chain - Head On
I vacillated between this version, and the Pixies cover. I think they're both great driving songs, what ultimately won me over was--and this is so shallow! But the fact that the band's name tied in more thematically to this story than the Pixies. But really, you can imagine either version here, in the scene where Dean drives David into town, and he starts warming back up to him. Trying to get their heads 'round each other, y'know?
06. Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky
I love this as a montage theme. What can I say, I think the commercials for Eternal Sunshine made great use of it. It sort of fit my tone, like with the choppy beats and the vintage art-house-ish sound. Reminded me of like, old Beatles videos or To Sir, With Love, when they have the photo montages. Man, I'm such an anglophile. :D
07. Liz Phair - Big Tall Man
Another song that had to fight to stay. I was listening to this song when I came up with A Priori. In fact, I was listening to this song, which was on a playlist and the track that followed it was another Liz Phair, What Makes You Happy. The working title to this was that, in fact. It was all supposed to center around that idea, that Dean would deal with the pain of losing Sam, all that mattered was that he made himself into a person without all the baggage of his past, and he was happy. But that theme sort of stepped into the background as Dean found himself unable to leave Sam.
08. Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic
Honestly, if the Impala had a theme… But really, this is the slow, shoe-gazing crashing sex scene that played out in my head. I just think of them together, hands gripping skin, tasting each other.
09. Nico - Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie)
The Cardinal's theme, I love the quiet and the chaos in the arrangements, and Nico's voice is always haunting. I needed something to evoke the idea of a spirit that was profane in action, though believed itself to be divine in nature. I always love blurring that line like that. And I don't know, I just get a real feeling of a church, of hallowed ground with this song.
10. Feist - Mushaboom
My "domestic bliss" theme. I love this song, I want to wrap it up and have its babies. Anyway, this frames the lives that Dean and David have started to build for themselves away from Katonah, away from hunting, away from the past. This is a song for a hopeful future, to me.
11. Beck - Farewell Ride
I wanted a song like this for the flashbacks, David re-living the memories of Sam, of what drove him. I like this because it feels like part Old Western, part funeral march. I think of old, bone-thin horses pulling a cart slowly forward, as the sky burns red with the setting sun. Or something like that. But it's a funeral march, the slow descent of Sam, and his demise, his burial. But it's the burial of a living man, in a way.
12. Lou Reed - Perfect Day
Again, I like irony. I think of this as the last scene, when David embraces Dean after his memories have come flooding back, and everything fades to black. It's a perfect day. Really.
13. The Walkmen - We've Been Had
This is the song I chose for the epilogue, or at least to open it. I just liked the orchestration of it, the way it flowed and sort of drew out Dean's voice for me. It's like waking from another dream, and I think it brings us to the next part of the story, where we see things through his eyes.
14. Abra Moore - Happiness
One of the most depressing songs I've ever heard. But goes back to the theme of happiness, and what Dean wanted for Sam and David. But the cost of happiness has become a burden.
15. Joseph Plunket and the Weight - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Remember what I said when I said that Sam loves The Smiths in my mind? This song was really too perfect not to include, I actually had trouble figuring it out when I first heard it, I could barely hear the original within all the grit and grime and deconstructed sounds. I think it's who David is, a Sam with all the layers peeled away, deconstructed.
Cover and back art by gracecourage, please go feedback her at her journal and let her know how lovely this is!
Sendspace link | Megaupload link (backup)
With it, I included a soundtrack, one I'm still ridiculously proud of. And last night I got an e-mail from the lovely gracecourage (can I say I love that username? I do!) and she wanted to show me the cover she'd made for the soundtrack, and I just kind of spazzed all over it because, well I think they're absolutely GORGEOUS. And I said I'd love to show them off, if she would post them, and she did! So here's a re-upload of the A Priori soundtrack!
I approached this soundtrack like framing a film, and in some cases, the music built more into the scene than my words ever could.
01. Imogen Heap - I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)
This is the opening credits song, if at all. My mind's eye sees David in the plain bed, too-short at the end, his mouth twitching, eyes trying to flutter open. Like waking up from a dream.
02. Spoon - The Ghost Of You Lingers
This tune came to me a few days before the story was completed, originally there was a huge gap between this and the next song. But I thought this track was brilliant and slightly sinister, the ghosts lingering around the monastery, haunting the people wandering it's halls.
03. Velvet Underground - Stephanie Says
In my personal canon (and many of you know this) Sam Winchester loves the Smiths. But I wasn't writing Sam, I was writing David. I think it might have been an over-indulgence in Wes Anderson-ing this up, but I really thought of him as a Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/Nico/Early 80's NYC Art Punk type of guy. And then there's the whole bit of Alaska woven in there, that flowed itself into the plot.
04. Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
Ahh, my moment where the English teacher that lives in my head jumps up on a desk and shouts "FORE-SHADOWING!!" or rather, after-foreshadowing? However you want to put it, I chose this to juxtapose against David and the Sam lurking in the wings. Something that David wouldn't be able to grasp the complete IRONY that is him singing this particular song.
05. The Jesus And Mary Chain - Head On
I vacillated between this version, and the Pixies cover. I think they're both great driving songs, what ultimately won me over was--and this is so shallow! But the fact that the band's name tied in more thematically to this story than the Pixies. But really, you can imagine either version here, in the scene where Dean drives David into town, and he starts warming back up to him. Trying to get their heads 'round each other, y'know?
06. Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky
I love this as a montage theme. What can I say, I think the commercials for Eternal Sunshine made great use of it. It sort of fit my tone, like with the choppy beats and the vintage art-house-ish sound. Reminded me of like, old Beatles videos or To Sir, With Love, when they have the photo montages. Man, I'm such an anglophile. :D
07. Liz Phair - Big Tall Man
Another song that had to fight to stay. I was listening to this song when I came up with A Priori. In fact, I was listening to this song, which was on a playlist and the track that followed it was another Liz Phair, What Makes You Happy. The working title to this was that, in fact. It was all supposed to center around that idea, that Dean would deal with the pain of losing Sam, all that mattered was that he made himself into a person without all the baggage of his past, and he was happy. But that theme sort of stepped into the background as Dean found himself unable to leave Sam.
08. Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic
Honestly, if the Impala had a theme… But really, this is the slow, shoe-gazing crashing sex scene that played out in my head. I just think of them together, hands gripping skin, tasting each other.
09. Nico - Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie)
The Cardinal's theme, I love the quiet and the chaos in the arrangements, and Nico's voice is always haunting. I needed something to evoke the idea of a spirit that was profane in action, though believed itself to be divine in nature. I always love blurring that line like that. And I don't know, I just get a real feeling of a church, of hallowed ground with this song.
10. Feist - Mushaboom
My "domestic bliss" theme. I love this song, I want to wrap it up and have its babies. Anyway, this frames the lives that Dean and David have started to build for themselves away from Katonah, away from hunting, away from the past. This is a song for a hopeful future, to me.
11. Beck - Farewell Ride
I wanted a song like this for the flashbacks, David re-living the memories of Sam, of what drove him. I like this because it feels like part Old Western, part funeral march. I think of old, bone-thin horses pulling a cart slowly forward, as the sky burns red with the setting sun. Or something like that. But it's a funeral march, the slow descent of Sam, and his demise, his burial. But it's the burial of a living man, in a way.
12. Lou Reed - Perfect Day
Again, I like irony. I think of this as the last scene, when David embraces Dean after his memories have come flooding back, and everything fades to black. It's a perfect day. Really.
13. The Walkmen - We've Been Had
This is the song I chose for the epilogue, or at least to open it. I just liked the orchestration of it, the way it flowed and sort of drew out Dean's voice for me. It's like waking from another dream, and I think it brings us to the next part of the story, where we see things through his eyes.
14. Abra Moore - Happiness
One of the most depressing songs I've ever heard. But goes back to the theme of happiness, and what Dean wanted for Sam and David. But the cost of happiness has become a burden.
15. Joseph Plunket and the Weight - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Remember what I said when I said that Sam loves The Smiths in my mind? This song was really too perfect not to include, I actually had trouble figuring it out when I first heard it, I could barely hear the original within all the grit and grime and deconstructed sounds. I think it's who David is, a Sam with all the layers peeled away, deconstructed.
Cover and back art by gracecourage, please go feedback her at her journal and let her know how lovely this is!
Sendspace link | Megaupload link (backup)