When Books and Music Collide
Any Counting Crows fans out there? This post is about my love of music and my love of books colliding and making my heart smile (which books almost always do.) I love Counting Crows, and their song, Murder of One, is one of my favorites. There is a nursery rhyme about crows in one of the verses that’s always struck a chord with me . Turns out, it’s always reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books.
I was listening to Counting Crows while I was writing about books the other night, and maybe that is what I needed to bring back one of my favorite books from childhood. I know you are wondering: if it was one of my favorite books from childhood, how could I have forgotten it and why did I never make that connection before now? No clue… maybe it was all of those drugs in the ’60s (j/k, I wasn’t even born in the ’60s).
One of My Favorite Childhood Books
The Secret of the Seven Crows by Wylly Folk St. John was published in 1973 and I would guess I probably read it in early elementary school, so a good 30+ years ago.
There was something mighty spooky about that huge old clapboard structure behind the sand dunes and the sea oats. It was as gray as the stormy twilight sky behind it and the rolling waves of the Gulf in front of it and the Spanish moss that hung on the bent and twisted live oak and cedar trees all around it.
Shelley’s family moves into an old mansion on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and discover that there is a mystery to be solved and a treasure to be found before the house can really belong to them. Shelley wants to solve the mystery all by herself…but encounters danger…intriguing clues…a poltergeist… and spooky Gulf Coast legends.
-from the back cover
A Childhood Gem
Sounds good, right? I remember connecting with this on so many levels. Shelley, wanting to prove herself to her father, wanting to do it on her own, but then finally solving it as a team. Growing up I always wanted to fit it but I usually felt just outside of “in”. I loved the mystery and suspense of it (I’ve always been a lover of mystery books). And I loved the crow poem, which is probably why the song resonated so much and was so familiar.
When I heard this song the other night and it brought “The Secret of the Seven Crows” back to me, my heart truly smiled. I have no idea if I would love this book as much as an adult, but I now have another childhood gem in my treasure chest.
What About You?
What about you? Are there any songs that make you think of a particular book? Or books that make you think of a particular song?
A Long December
On a side note about my love of Counting Crows, I titled the first book I wrote (still in its infancy, never edited, never read by anyone but me) “The Long December” and I listened to their song on repeat while I wrote it.
