Set the stereo to repeat, walk away

Very few of you know this (at least I think) but I am an aspiring author, and today I'm going to talk about me because I have to share my most recent source of inspiration with the world. It's a song. And it's been on infinite repeat, provided I am near a computer or have my iPod, since I found it. In fact, I'm listening to it as I write this. Yes, it is that good.



The Band Perry
Kimberly Perry and her
two brothers Neil and Reid.



What is this magical song that has inspired me both as a person and a writer? Not so fast. Let me tell you how I found The Band Perry first. 

I was half-listening to my XM radio one day, you know, tooling down the highway with the radio playing in the background while your thoughts are far away on something else. One lyric in this song pulled me away from those thoughts. The lyric...

"Who would have thought forever could be severed by the sharp knife of a short life."

Chilling right? I was so intrigued by this single sentence, both poetic and poignant all at once, that I jotted it down in the notepad of my phone. Admittedly, I did this while driving. (I'm a horrible person. Chastize me later.)

But the sad fact is that I never looked up the song. It wasn't until I heard it again that I heard the whole song and fell head over heels. I kept it on repeat for the better part of a day at work. The more I played it, the more the lyrics haunted me when I wasn't actively listening to the song. (This goes against nature because normally when you play a song you've had in your head it quenchs the need to hear it and the nagging goes away. Not true in this case!)

So I Googled. I found out that Kimberly Perry had shared the story behind the song with The Boot here. Once I read that I, of course, had to listen ten-zillion more times. The chorus kept getting to me. See...

"If I die young bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song"

Long story longer, I went home and immediately wrote the opening chapter to a new story. If you know me, you'll know that the story is in no way as sweet and wonderful as the song. In fact, it's a very creepy horror story. Regardless, this song MADE me write it.

Oh, just listen to the damn song already!!!