cover by Vickie Van Ness
published by Good Job Publishing
published by Good Job Publishing
The Faithful, a novel by Peter W. Van Ness Get an Autographed Book HERE
Music in The Faithful
Music is integral to the story, but I can't write with music playing. It distracts me. Maybe that's because I always have a song playing in my head--usually in the background. Once in a while, I'll write a word or phrase that shoots a different song into the foreground. When that happens, I make a note of it.
Below you will find a list of the integral music and the spontaneous music in the order that it appears in the story, along with links and, in some cases, a bit of background. Some of the background might be considered a spoiler.
I also made a playlist [get it here] with music in the same order, but not always the same performance as the links below. Page numbers are from the print edition.
| Chapter One ~Part 1~ Promises | |
| Page 1 | Bruce Springsteen, Trapped (Jimmy Cliff cover) |
| Page 4 | Beatles, Across The Universe |
| Page 10 | Hank Williams, Hey Good Lookin' |
| Chapter One ~Part 2~ Messiah | |
| Page 21 | Handel: Messiah, For Unto Us a Child is Born VOCES8 & Academy of Ancient Music |
| Chapter Two ~Breakfast~ | |
| Page 26 | ZZ Top, Sharp Dressed Man |
| Chapter Three ~Part 1~ The Wine | |
| Page 34 | Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Déjà Vu |
| Page 34 | Jimi Hendrix, The Wind Cries Mary |
| Page 35 | Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5 Krystian Zimerman, piano, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein. When I wrote Their glasses meet, striking an elegant tone resonating with Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto now streaming from the bay windows, this section from the first movement (6:23) was playing in my head |
| Page 36 | Duke Ellington & His Orchestra feat. Ella Fitzgerald, It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) Live At Cote D'Azur, France, 29 JUL 1966 |
| Chapter Three ~Part 2~ The Cup | |
| Page 44 | Nadia Birkenstock, A la Source |
| Page 46 | Steppenwolf, Born To Be Wild This song's connection to the story may not be as obvious as some. John's memory of going out beyond the breakers with his father is an actual memory of mine. When I wrote, The sea held John in a love embrace, this song started playing, and it represents fairly well how I felt--the sea taking the place of Mars Bonfire's motorcycle. (This is the first song to use phrase "heavy metal.") |
| Chapter Four ~ Training | |
| Page 59 | Handel, Messiah-Finale The part that John sings when he's inspired by the sound of pouring wine begins here. |
| Chapter Five ~ Emily | |
| Page 61 | David Bowie, Space Oddity |
| Chapter Six ~ The Faithful | |
| Page 76 | Mozart, Divertimento in D major, K. 136 New York Classical Players, Dongmin Kim, conductor. The Andante [here] was in my head when I wrote, Her smooth, sultry voice soars above Mozart's background serenade. When my infant son was fussy at night, this lovely piece would always calm him down. |
| Chapter Seven ~ Crossroads | |
| Page 89 | The Five Satins, In The Still Of The Night |
| Chapter Nine ~ Sophia | |
| Page 118 | Here's a huge playlist (323 songs, 22 hrs) full of blues bands, many of which sound like the one Sophia's dad played in. You'll find one or two songs from every band that my wife, Vickie, and I put on stage from 2007 to 2021. I strongly encourage you to see any of these bands live if you get the chance. |
| Page 118 | B.B. King, Everyday I Have The Blues |
| Page 121 | Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes |
| Chapter Ten ~ Choices | |
| Page 127 | Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze Live at Woodstock |
| Page 128 | Peter, Paul & Mary, Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan |
| Page 130 | Nirvana, Drain You This song inspired my description, ...and imagined she was diving down through a tube to rescue Ashley. |
| Page 131 | Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit I imagined Ashley singing, Our little group it's always been; and Emily replies, And always will until the end. |
| Page 132 | Stevie Wonder, I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) This inspired Sophia's reply, God surely answered John's prayer! |
| Page 133 | John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, Part 1: Acknowledgement I couldn't resist making this play on words at the end of Chapter Ten. |
| Chapter Eleven ~ Little Genius | |
| Page 136 | At the beginning of this polyrhythm video you can hear what it sounds like when Rox leads Emily to the conference room. |
| Chapter Twelve ~ The Serpent | |
| Page 140 | Commander Cody, Hot Rod Lincoln |
| Page 142 | Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road |
| Chapter Fourteen ~ Carl | |
| Page 154 | The Beatles, Help The music of Carl's youth. |
| Chapter Twenty ~ The Party | |
| Page 199 | Warren Zevon, Rolland the Headless Thompson Gunner (That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen!) |
| Chapter Twenty-One ~ The Partnership | |
| Page 219 | Peter, Paul & Mary LIVE at the civil rights march on Washington DC 1963, If I Had A Hammer by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays |
| Chapter Twenty-Three ~ The Letter | |
| Page 232 | Brewer & Shipley, One Toke Over The Line (FBI agents) |
| Chapter Twenty-Five ~ Contact | |
| Page 255 | The Beatles, You Won't See Me |
| Page 255 | Simon & Garfunkel, For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her |
| Chapter Twenty-Seven ~ Divergent Realities | |
| Page 286 | Van Morrison, Crazy Love |
| Chapter Twenty-Nine ~Part 2~ Music | |
| Page 307 | The Carpenters, We've only just begun |
| Page 308 | Alicia Keys, Heartburn I imagine Sophia's performance exuding this sort of energy. Listen to the entire Unplugged album here. |
