It’s not uncommon at all for composers, producers, and songwriters to take inspiration from the literary world. There are literally hundreds of examples of great songs written from the perspective of a literary character, or that reimagine their fate, or that simply just take the essence of a novel or short story and create a new fictional world of song that lives inside the book world.
Take, for example, Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” (inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Bloc Party’s “Song for Clay [Disappear Here]” (inspired by the protagonist in Ellis’ Less Than Zero), Gordon Lightfoot’s “Don Quixote” (a succinct retelling of Cervantes’ classic tale), or Iron Maiden’s 13-minute roller coaster “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (inspired by Coleridge’s poem of the same name).
Can you add a new chapter to this age-old songwriting trend?
Your challenge is to write one verse of a song (add a chorus if you’re feeling ambitious!) based on a specific literary character from an existing book. Submit the verse in text or record yourself singing it as you wish. Good luck!
Share your work with us via email or on social media with the hashtag #soundflychallenge (and tag us @learntosoundfly).
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