Interesting fact: Story of My Life was my original title for this book. I can’t even do it justice, just go listen to it.ħ. First, it’s from Rain Dogs, which is the most perfect album ever. But if I HAD to pick my favorite song of all time, and be bound to it forever, it would probably be this one. Ask me my favorite movie, or song, or TV show, and I freeze up, unable to commit to just one. I think Owen, the ultimate music snob, would approve.Ħ. I was listening to a lot of Clash while I was working on this book. Again, a great song about the power of radio. And being able to put that on repeat, for the bad days when you really need to hear it.Ĥ. There’s something nice about David Byrne letting you know it’s gonna be all right. It’s also one I was listening to while I was writing, especially at the beginning, which for me is always the scariest part. I mean, I love the sad ones too, but it’s nice to know he can be happy, at least occasionally.ģ. songs where Michael Stipe sounds like he’s having fun. There’s a lot of stuff about radio in the book, so this fits. It came out a few years ago, and the video was all violent and caused a bit of a a controversy, which is unfortunate because this is a beautiful, uplifting song. It was in my mind a lot when I was writing the book, the way a song with just be there, and then start to represent the story whenever you hear it. I feel like I’ve grown up with Madonna, and I love her stuff, but this is probably my favorite song. Okay, so I am old enough to remember when the video for “Borderline” hit MTV and we eighth grade girls, en masse, headed out to buy rubber bracelets and fingerless gloves. The direct link is here.ġ.”What It Feels Like For a Girl,” Madonna. I have taken the song titles and her reasons for choosing them directly from her blog.

This is the Sarah Dessen created playlist for her novel, Just Listen.

Just listen sarah