Bright Side playlist
(Potential Spoiler Warning)
I cannot write without music—physically, psychologically, emotionally impossible. The writing process for this book started late 2012 and wrapped up early 2014. These are the songs that I fell in love with for the first time, or the hundredth time, while writing Bright Side. They inspired the overall vibe of the story and its characters, or in some cases they inspired very specific situations or even entire chapters. Kate’s passion for music is my own, though I can’t play an instrument and I’m completely tone deaf when it comes to singing. Like Kate, I LOVE me some strings, especially in unexpected places—they make any song sexy. And I’ve got a HUGE thing for California bands. I’m lucky to say I’ve seen most of these bands perform live (many of them while I was writing this book)—the rest are on my bucket list.
We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow, Soko
If Bright Side has a theme song … this is it. It’s like being privy to the internal dialogue that goes on inside Kate’s head. Just Kate talking to Kate. And it’s far from depressing, it’s realistic and encouraging. And the strings … ahh the strings. They’re magical and so, so pretty.
400 Lux, Lorde
This is Kate and Gus. Their friendship. Solid. Laid-back. True. Easy. Comfortable.
Eula, Baroness
My husband says this song is Rook. I’m not going to argue with him. When he’s right … he’s right. It is Rook.
Sleeping Witch, Royal Thunder
I saw this band play live while I was writing Bright Side. They opened up for Baroness and I’d never heard of them. They. Blew. Me. Away. The lead singer’s voice is a wall of sexy, aggressive, raw power – it’s intimidating. If Shelly had a theme song, this would be it.
Jump Into the Fog, The Wombats
The Wombats’ lyrics are smart and clever. This song is no exception. It’s Gus.
Bug Eyes, Dredg
Dredg is the most underrated band on the planet. Bug Eyes is one of my favorite songs. They’re also from California, so naturally Kate would love them. Phenomenal live.
Done With Love, Teenage Bottlerocket
You’ve gotta love any song that starts with “I got shit to do.” Teenage Bottlerocket is the best punk band around. I’ve seen them play live many, many times. They never disappoint.
Waiting All Night, Rudimental featuring Ella Eyre
I can see Kate, Clayton, and Shelly dancing to this song, because I can’t sit still when I listen to it. I love the energy—it’s happy. Happy is amazing.
Same Love, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
The first time I heard this song I was in the car with my husband and son driving down Church Ranch Road to go to lunch on a Saturday afternoon. I remember it vividly because we all sat in complete silence (which is hard for P. and I) and listened to the entire song. When it was over my husband and I just looked at each other. It was a look of agreement. A look that said I am totally on board with everything that guy just said. I wanted to roll down the window and scream, “Yes! This guy gets it! He gets it!” This song is for Clayton & Morris and Romero & Dan.
Mutilate Me, Teenage Bottlerocket
Another of my favorite Bottlerocket songs. This song is for Peter and Evelyn … from Gus … with love.
Lullaby, The Cure
I love The Cure … LOVE them. I remember hearing them for the first time when I was in eighth grade and it literally flipped a switch inside me. It was an epiphany. I finally understood what made music so magical and inspirational. It fueled a lifetime love of music.
Angels, The xx
The xx is one of my favorite bands and Romy Madley Croft is my favorite female vocalist. I could include every song they’ve ever recorded, but chose Angels because it fit within the context of the story. It’s the ultimate love song. This is how Kate sees Keller. If you have the chance to see The xx live, do it!
My Song 5, Haim
This song is Kate. Everything about this song is badass. It’s confident and doesn’t take any shit – just like Kate. This may be one of my favorite songs of all time, I love it that much. Another California band. There aren’t many female guitar players killing it, but Danielle Haim is. She. Kills. Live.
Sex, The 1975
I would include every song by The 1975 on this playlist if I could because they’re like children – hard to pick a favorite. I. LOVE. THIS. BAND. Amazing, amazing, amazing live. This song is for Franco.
Panic Switch, Silversun Pickups
This song is controlled chaos, which makes it freaking genius. Love everything about Silversun Pickups, but I especially love Nikki Monninger. She is the most badass bass player ever, pretty dresses and all. And … yup … California band.
Sweater Weather, The Neighbourhood
This song is Keller. It’s his heart and all the feelings it holds for Kate. I listened to this CD over and over and over again while writing this book. Yet another California band.
Nothing Left to Say, Imagine Dragons
This is the song Gus writes after finding out about Kate. This is the song they record together. I listened to this song no less than two hundred times in the days leading up to writing that chapter. Every time I hear it I can see Gus in my head in the recording studio singing his heart out … and it gives me goosebumps.
Northern Lights, Thirty Seconds to Mars
Though I love early screamer Leto (think The Kill), Mars latest album was released while I was writing this book. This song is my favorite on the album. It’s the oddball, and I mean that in the best possible way. And the strings. I’ll say it again … the strings. They’re beautiful. This is the kind of song I think Kate would write (at least in my head). And yeah, you guessed it, California band.
Pictures of You, The Cure
Absolutely beautiful song. Breathtaking. Robert Smith is a god.
Let Her Go, Passenger
This song belongs to Gus and Keller. I heard this song for the first time as I was working through the final few chapters in my head. I wrote those chapters while listening to this song on repeat … repeat … repeat. It may be the saddest song I’ve ever heard, but I love it.
Everything to Nothing, Manchester Orchestra
The title says it all. Manchester Orchestra tops my favorites list in two catagories: best lyrics and best live performance. They’re perfect.
Favor’s Keeper, Index Case
This song is intense and desperate and passionate. And when it hits the 3:42 point hold on, because for the next three minutes it’s perfection. This song is Gus at the end of Bright Side moving into my next book, Gus.
“And I loved you more.
Then I loved you.”
Best ending to a song ever written.
I finished this novel at 3 am today, and I’ve been walking around with a massive headache all day because of all the crying I did last night. This book wrung me dry, and I can’t stop thinking about Kate, Keller, and Gus. This was truly a beautiful story, which I’m sure will stay with me forever. There’s no way I can forget something that’s affected me so deeply, and I want to thank you for it. I’ve been listening to some songs on this playlist, because I just couldn’t let these characters go. I created a Bright Side playlist for you on Spotify, so that you can share it with everyone who’s read and loved this book: http://open.spotify.com/user/1289773912/playlist/3PpLqpASt0ECejiTBDMbe2
First – Thank YOU for reading Bright Side! And for sharing your kind words. 🙂 Second – You are a rock star!! Playlist on Spotify is epic! Thanks!
By far one of the best books I have ever read…I am a book junkie! I cannot wait for Gus!!!!!! You are extremely talented and this book has inspired me in so many ways. You should put a soundtrack together. Get somebody to record that last song that Kate and Gus did together pleaseeeeeeeee
Thank you for this awesome playlist!
Cristal, thank you for writing the words that my brain can not form, I just finished Bright Side after reading the last 25% this morning after putting my boys on the bus at 8:30. I too have a headache from the non-stop crying and can not wait for my boys to return home so I can give each of them a very BIG hug. Thanks for making the playlist, I hope it helps with the book hangover, I’ve never experience one so intense.
Looks like someone beat me (by a day) to creating a playlist on Spotify…just means your readers have great taste and like minds right?? lol Please tell me that you have a Spotify account…or that you will get one soon…possibly?? Maybe?? Pretty Please with sugar on top?? hahaha I need more of the music that rumbles through your head and courses through your veins!!! 🙂
I am so glad I stumbled across this. When I finished the book last night, I was really hoping you provided a playlist at the end. I was rather disappointed when it wasn’t there. I haven’t been able to move on from this story yet, so I am obsessively reading everything I can relating to it, including your site.
Cristal – Thank you for the playlist!! I was getting ready to move to Spotify to do the same thing when I saw your comment.
After I finished the book I was dying to listen to Rook, especially the song Gus and Kate sing together. And look what I just found and I just loved the fact that “Let Her Go” is in this. It’s the perfect song for both Keller and Gus after all they’ve been through.
All I could do was listen to Switchfoot (they’re from California too) ’cause I needed something to remind me of Kate so bad. I still feel like she’s real and it hurts so bad. Oh, and yes, I reading it all over again.
As a writer, I listen to music while I write. It provides the soundtrack for the movie playing in my head that I dictate onto the page. I always love it when writers post their playlists because like Kate, I am always in search of new and awesome music. Since music was a huge part of the story and particularly, the relationship between Gus and Kate, I was curious to find out who Rook really is and their songs. Thanks for writing such an awesome book, Kim Holden. It’s been a truly unforgettable experience. If you are ever in Minnesota, the coffee is on me. 🙂
Thanks sooo much for this list! I started to put a Spotify playlist together last night as halfway through the book and I just felt the words needed to be accompanied by a soundtrack – the words are so… Epic! – but even though I’m an avid music obsessive, Kate & Gus’s indie/alt rock world is not my arena (being more of a soul, hip hop, jazz kinda gal). BUT good music of any genre is irresistible and I feel like I’ve been opened up to a whole new world! I LOVED the tracks mentioned in the book such as “Sex” by The 1975 (for some reason this song reminds me of the energy that I felt a few years ago the first time I heard “Sweet Disposition” being performed live by The Temper Trap on some TV show I stumbled upon) “Angels” by the XX which is stunning and Panic Switch by Silversun Pickups – song is just heavy! Of course being a 70s born Brit, The Cure was part of the soundtrack of my youth. Other songs that filled my head whilst reading this book was Kyle Eastwood and Ben Cullum’s version of Sting’s Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (I’d like to think Kate would be open to a little jazz and she is just magic!), Eva Cassidy’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” (“For you there will be no crying”), and Beth Orton’s “Sweetest Decline”. Thank you Kim for the gift that is Bright Side, for sharing your words and for sharing your world of music. Which, apart from people, are two of my favourite diversions in the world. Just magic!
I tried to post a comment yesterday after I found this site upon finishing Bright Side, but it seems to have been lost in cyber-space, so let’s try this thing again… I started to put together a Spotify playlist two nights ago when, halfway through Bright Side I realised that this book NEEDED a soundtrack, because the words I was reading were so… EPIC. I’m a total music nut too, but I’m more of a nu-soul, jazz, a little hip hop type of girl, so this book in addition to opening up my heart to a set of unforgettable characters, has opened my ears to a whole new set of incredible bands. Indie/Alt rock isn’t my bag, but at the end of the day, for me good music is just good music – whatever the genre, and boy has Kim Holden introduced me to some good music as the soundtrack for this book! From the beautifully haunting “Angels” to the irresistible driving bass line and drums if “Panic Switch” (which makes me think of the first time I heard the Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition”) and of course the magic of The Cure (as a Brit girl, of Jamaican parentage, who grew up in the 80’s, The Cure was of course part of the incredibly diverse soundtrack of my youth). So, Kim, thank you for sharing the amazing story of Bright Side – these characters, who I came to know over the last day and a half of voracious reading, will stay with me for a long LONG time (v v excited to hear that we will be seeing Gus again soon!) and thank you for sharing your music with us too – this playlist certainly allow us all to carry the story with through the music.
I’d only add to this three more tracks which I heard in my head whilst reading Bright Side: (1) Kyle Eastwood and Ben Cullum’s version of Sting’s “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (I know, it’s jazz, but I’d like to think that Kate would dig a little jazz too – she only barred country music! And, well, it’s true: every little thing she did WAS magic!); (2) Beth Orton’s “Sweetest Decline” (“What’s the use in regret: they’re just things we haven’t done yet… what are regrets? they’re just lessons we haven’t learned” – these are words which sum up my thoughts on regrets – I think Kate would approve!); (3) Eva Cassidy’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” (“For you there will be no crying” – I just imagine Kate’s voice to have that deeply soulful quality that Eva’s does).
Reading and music are, apart from people, two of my favourite diversions… it’s rare that I get treated to both a new story and new music at the same time. Thanks Kate!
I finished this book two days ago and I am still so sad about it. I LOVED the characters and I felt like they were my friends. I miss Katie, Keller, and Gus. I’m looking up every song on this playlist!! Thank you for writing this book.
What can I say that is any different from others? This book was beautiful in so many ways. I cried hard. I hurt like if I personally knew them. I honestly haven’t had a book affect me as hard as this one. And that’s not a bad thing at all. It’s one of those books that you treasure for the realness it leaves behind. This book has opened my eyes. I honestly want to look at the world like Kate did, regardless of what the world throws at you; one must look at the beauty in it all.
BE EPIC. BE BRAVE! That is the way to live.
Thank you for writing a beautiful and amazing story.
I always crave a happy ending. But I’m willing to suffer for great writing, a fantastic story and characters that I’d love to meet in the real world. Check, check and check! I was on the fence, but it was the Amazon review by Tough Critic Book Reviews that sold me: “It all started as a goodreads recommendation….from Donna. Donna. The person I want to hug. Punch in the face. Hug. Punch. Damn you! You owe me valium…and ice cream.” How could I say no? The world would be a beautiful place if there were more Kates, Guses and Kellers in our midst. So much so that in times of uncertainty and sadness about my losses, I may find myself thinking, “What would Kate do?” Thank you for this beautiful story of love, strength, selflessness, and hope in the most difficult of times.
PS–I’m a sucker for strings as well. If you haven’t already, please check out UNKLE. I’m addicted to their sick combination of strings and heavy beats.
Nice playlist 🙂 I will search on spotify for sure 🙂
Do epic!!!
I can’t stop crying. Why does Keller have to go through all this? First with Lily and now Kate. Please tell me he finds a love that stays and heals him in the future. Will there be a book on that? This book is amazing. Thank you so much Kim Holden.
I just finished reading bright side. I know! I just found this book yesterday for all the years I’ve been looking for a good book. And this was epic!?Lots of emotions. I really feel the love in them. And I can’t even cry it hurts because I was reading in public?Also, I’m dying to hear the I love you’s part at the end of the Gus&Kate’s song. Really, it breaks my heart I can’t ?That’s all about it. Thank you for the epic book Kim?
Aaand I really want to hear Finish Me, Killin the sun and Missing you. Is there somewhere I can hear that? Thanks much!