It is September 6, 2024, exactly two weeks and four days until pub day.
Or, so I thought.
I went into this month thinking to myself, okay, that is happening this month, but not until the END of this month. But then a couple of indie book stores put the book out, almost a full month early, and people started messaging me saying they were buying it. And then today, I woke up to more messages from people saying that Indigo sent out their preorders.
So what I'm saying is, this book is launched. This book is eager and sneaky and jailbreaky and it is OUT THERE where just any old person can get it and read it, and I can no longer smile smugly at everyone and say, "Sorry, you'll just have to wait until September 24," while secretly freaking out inside my brain trying to figure out how to flee the country before I have to start having awkward in-person conversations with people about my book.
It's here. We're there. Have mercy.
But in honor of this turn of events, I'm going share with you the Official I Think We've Been Here Before Playlist (pretend there are tooting horns now). If you've been here long enough, you know that I love making playlists and that I always make playlists for each of my books.
This time though, I'm going to share with you the lyrics from the songs that go with the book. You can do one of several things:
1. Listen to each song after you've read the corresponding chapter.
2. Listen to each song while you're reading the corresponding chapter.
3. Listen to each song before you read the corresponding chapter.
4. Listen to the whole playlist before and after you read the book and see if you feel any feelings either way.
I'd probably do a combo of #1 and #4. But you do you.
Okay. That's the preamble. Here's the playlist!
Chapter 1 (Nora): Last Christmas by Wham! (The Jimmy Eat World version)
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Chapter 4 (Hilda & Family): THE ONE MOMENT by OK Go
Chapter 9 (Petra): WE WILL BECOME SILHOUETTES by The Postal Service
I wanted to walk through the empty streets
And feel something constant under my feet
But all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors
Because the air outside will make
Our cells divide at an alarming rate
Until our shells simply cannot hold
All our insides in and that's when we'll explode
And it won't be a pretty sight
And we'll become
Silhouettes when our bodies finally go
Chapter 32 (Marlen & Hilda): SUBURBAN TREES by Jump, Little Children
Credits on the wall
Chapter 37 (Nora & Jacob): LOVER by Taylor Swift
We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January
This is our place, we make the rules
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?
Chapter 55 (Marlen & Hilda): SONG OF GOOD HOPE by Glen Hansard
I'm sitting by the windowsill
I got nothing but time to kill
I took this all for granted, but I won't do that again
That'll be the last Christmas
The sky is burning
No more need to hurry
We were right to worry
We were right to worry
The birds are gone now
The time has come now
Just close your eyes now
Just close your eyes now
The sea is crying
The moon is sighing
It's terrifying
It's terrifying
It's all around us
The end is ground us
The star has found us
I once read about a time machine
They learned to teach electrons
To go back to where they started
Should we go back to where we started?
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, you gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special
Chapter 4 (Hilda & Family): THE ONE MOMENT by OK Go
You're right
There's nothing more lovely
There's nothing more profound
Than the certainty
Than the certainty that all of this will end
That all of this will end
Chapter 5 (Nora and Sonja): WE WON'T LAST THROUGH DECEMBER by LJ Mercer
There's nothing more lovely
There's nothing more profound
Than the certainty
Than the certainty that all of this will end
That all of this will end
Chapter 5 (Nora and Sonja): WE WON'T LAST THROUGH DECEMBER by LJ Mercer
We won't last through December
My stomache's in my shoes
Chapter 9 (Petra): WE WILL BECOME SILHOUETTES by The Postal Service
I wanted to walk through the empty streets
And feel something constant under my feet
But all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors
Because the air outside will make
Our cells divide at an alarming rate
Until our shells simply cannot hold
All our insides in and that's when we'll explode
And it won't be a pretty sight
And we'll become
Silhouettes when our bodies finally go
Chapter 32 (Marlen & Hilda): SUBURBAN TREES by Jump, Little Children
(Note: This is a song I stumbled across on a Spotify playlist while I was doing my final edits. The scene where Marlen turns on the radio and the song The End of the World by Skeeter Davis is playing was already in there by then, so this felt like such a lucky find.)
Credits on the wall
scrolling ultra vision
static on the call
applauding the decision
End of the World
is playing on the radio
Chapter 36 (Hank & Irene): IN THE VALLEY BELOW by Dove Season
Chapter 36 (Hank & Irene): IN THE VALLEY BELOW by Dove Season
The season's comingThere's room for both of usYou can't choose your loveYou can't choose your loveI could use your loveCan't lose your loveIf this is the endLet's start all overStart all over againI believe we canStart all overOn earth as it is in heaven
Chapter 37 (Nora & Jacob): LOVER by Taylor Swift
We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January
This is our place, we make the rules
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?
Chapter 55 (Marlen & Hilda): SONG OF GOOD HOPE by Glen Hansard
Watch the signs nowYou'll know what they meanYou'll be fine nowJust stay close to meAnd may good hope, walk with you through everything
CHAPTER 59 (Nora & Jacob): APOCALYPSE NOW (& LATER) by Laura Jane Grace and the Devouring Mothers
The bliss of your kiss in the apocalypse
On top of the world, at the end of the world, with you
Chapter 62 (Nora & Jacob): IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA by Neutral Milk Hotel
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me
And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
Chapter 68 (Everyone): STARS AND MOONS by Dizzy
I am starting to see stars and moons
(It's an awful sham, but I follow suit)
This is how it ends, a courageous boom
(Neighbours wave their hands, as we're passing through)
And it's awful sad how two lovers bloom
(Come and watch them dance, dance into their doom)
I am starting to see stars and moons
(Come and watch them dance)
Chapter 69 (Everyone): DON’T BE AFRAID, YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD by Akron/Family
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Chapter 70 (Everyone): THE LAST CHRISTMAS (WE EVER SPEND APART) by The Arkells
(Note: I put this song on the playlist before I read all of the lyrics. Then when I went to write this blog post, I laughed at how perfect they ended up being...)
On top of the world, at the end of the world, with you
Chapter 62 (Nora & Jacob): IN THE AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA by Neutral Milk Hotel
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me
And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
Chapter 68 (Everyone): STARS AND MOONS by Dizzy
I am starting to see stars and moons
(It's an awful sham, but I follow suit)
This is how it ends, a courageous boom
(Neighbours wave their hands, as we're passing through)
And it's awful sad how two lovers bloom
(Come and watch them dance, dance into their doom)
I am starting to see stars and moons
(Come and watch them dance)
Chapter 69 (Everyone): DON’T BE AFRAID, YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD by Akron/Family
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Don't be afraid, you're already dead
Chapter 70 (Everyone): THE LAST CHRISTMAS (WE EVER SPEND APART) by The Arkells
(Note: I put this song on the playlist before I read all of the lyrics. Then when I went to write this blog post, I laughed at how perfect they ended up being...)
I'm sitting by the windowsill
I got nothing but time to kill
I took this all for granted, but I won't do that again
That'll be the last Christmas
BONUS TRACK:
TIME MACHINE by Daisy the Great
The sky is burning
No more need to hurry
We were right to worry
We were right to worry
The birds are gone now
The time has come now
Just close your eyes now
Just close your eyes now
The sea is crying
The moon is sighing
It's terrifying
It's terrifying
It's all around us
The end is ground us
The star has found us
I once read about a time machine
They learned to teach electrons
To go back to where they started
Should we go back to where we started?
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