Playlist: The Look of Love

This is a fan tribute to The Look of Love by Sarah Jio, which I recently reviewed.

I coloured the different songs according to John Lee's Six Love Styles, the theory which inspired the novel.

All song lyrics quoted belong to their respective artists and recording companies. Any translations of German lyrics are mine.

All images were found on Google and labeled for reuse.

Caution: Lyrics may imply spoilers about the novel's plot.

Josh/Katie

(Eros: Lust)

"When my legs don't work like they used to before

and I can't sweep you off of your feet,

will my mouth still remember the taste of your love?

Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?"

- Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud"

Mary/Luca

(Agape: Unconditional Love)

 "I don't mind spending every day

out in your corner in the pouring rain.

Look for the girl with the broken smile.

Ask her if she wants to stay a while.

- Maroon 5, "She Will Be Loved"

Mel/Vivian

(Storge: Friendship)

"I've been spending the last eight months

thinking all love ever does

is break and burn and end - 

but on a Wednesday, in a cafe,

I watched it begin again."

- Taylor Swift, "Begin Again"

Charles/Elaine/Matthew

(Pragma: Rational Love)

"How can you just up and walk away

and look me in the eye and say

you did it all for love?"

"What was I supposed to do?

Falling out can be so cruel,

but I just can't ignore the truth."

- Lady Antebellum, "All For Love"

Lo/Grant/Jennifer

(Ludus: The Game of Love)

"Objection! I don't wanna be the exception

to get a bit of your attention.

I love you for free and I'm not your mother

but you don't even bother.

Objection! I'm tired of this triangle,

got dizzy dancing tango.

I'm falling apart in your hands again.

No way - I've got to get away."

- Shakira, "Objection"

Flynn/Celeste

(Mania: Obsession)

“When you can't sleep at night, you turn towards me
and I cool your forehead without knowing about your fever
and the same yellow carnations wilt on the walls
and you cry as if from another country … ”         - City, “Wand an Wand” (“Wall to Wall”)

Jane/Cam

"Whatever you think, wherever this is going,

whatever we feel (maybe it's just an illusion),

you've been a gift since I first met you.

Since I first met you, I wear joy in my eyes."

- Herbert Groenemeyer, "Glueck im Blick" ("Joy In My Eyes")

Playlist: Anna Karenina

(A message to eventual purists in the audience: Try not to cringe too much. The point isn’t to be dignified, deferential or setting-appropriate, but to keep the powerful and complex emotions of the story alive in people’s hearts, 21^st-century-style. I like to think that, instead of rolling in his grave, Leo Nikolayevitch would be amused or even flattered.)

Dolly to Stiva

“I’ve been cheated by you since I don’t know when,
so I made up my mind it must come to an end.
Look at me now!
Will I ever learn? I don’t know how,
but I suddenly lose control;
there’s a fire within my soul.
Just one look and I can hear a bell ring.
One more look and I forgive everything, oh … ”
- ABBA, “Mamma Mia”

Kostya to Kitty
”A waltz for the chance I should take,
but how will I know where to start?
She's spinning between constellations and dreams,
her rhythm is my beating heart.
So she dances
in and out of the crowd like a glance.
This romance is
from afar, calling me silently … ”
- Josh Groban, “So She Dances”

Vronsky to Anna

“Beauty queen of only eighteen,
she had some trouble with herself.
He was always there to help her,
she always belonged to someone else.
I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door.
I’ve had you so many times, but somehow I want more …
- Maroon 5, “She Will Be Loved”

Anna’s Dilemna
”I feel it in the air as I'm doing my hair,
preparing for another date.
A kiss upon my cheek as he reluctantly
asks if I'm gonna be out late.
I say I won't be long, just hanging with the girls;
a lie I didn't have to tell.
Because we both know where I'm about to go
and we know it very well …”
- Rihanna, “Unfaithful”

Jealousy (Kitty, Dolly & Lydia)
”Who's that girl? Where's she from?
No, she can't be the one
that you want; that has stolen my world.
It's not real – it's not right –
it's my day – it's my night!
By the way,
who's that girl living my life?”
- Hilary Duff, “Who’s That Girl?”

Anna to Karenin

“Lie to me, betray me,
scream out loud, only don’t be silent.
Chart a course for me,
give me something, anything to feel.
How far have you already gone?
I see you struggle with every word.
Your heart beats without a sound.
You are silencing our love to death.”
- Ina Müller, “Du Schweigst” (“You Are Silent”)

Karenin to Anna

“Oh, how come I deserve to be
the fool that he makes out of me?
At least you could have given me a clue!
You could have had a one-night fling,
and in time I'd forget evyerthing,
but I've got no chance.
I'm left no time to understand.
If you could see you've hurried love … ”
- Herbert Grönemeyer, “What’s All This?”

Kitty to Kostya
”So this is me swallowing my pride,
standing in front of you, saying, "I'm sorry for that night
and I go back to December all the time.”
It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you,
wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine.
I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right.”

- Taylor Swift, “Back to December”

Seryozha
”It ain't easy growing up in World War III,
never knowing what love could be, well I've seen.
I don't want love to destroy me like it has done my family.
Can we work it out? Can we be a family?
I promise I'll be better, Mommy, I'll do anything … ”
- P!nk, “Family Portrait”

Kostya and Kitty’s Marriage

“You are golden,
precious as a prayer flying up through the air
while the rain is falling.
Golden, timeless as a kiss; baby, I don’t want to miss
another perfect moment.”
- Lady Antebellum, “Golden”

Kostya to Nikolai

“Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend
somewhere among all the bitterness.
And I could have stayed up with you all night
had I known how to save a life.”
- The Fray, “How To Save A Life”

Anna’s Suicide  

“Through the crowd, I was crying out
and in your place there were a thousand other faces.
I was disappearing in plain sight.
Heaven help me, I need to make it right.
No light, no light in your bright blue eyes.
I never knew daylight could be so violent.
A revelation in the light of day:
you can't choose what stays and what fades away.”
- Florence + The Machine, “No Light, No Light”

Karenin and Vronsky in Mourning

“ … and when I say that I don't care,
it really means my engine's breaking down.
The chisel chips my heart again;
the granite cracks beneath my skin;
I crumble into pieces on the ground.”
- Elton John, “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore”

Levin Family/Karenin to Annie

“For one so small, you seem so strong.
My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm.
This bond between us can’t be broken.
I will be here, don’t you cry … ”
- Phil Collins, “You’ll Be In My Heart”

Kostya’s Epiphany
”Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found;
was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.”
- traditional, “Amazing Grace”

Playlist: Tribute To Afsarah Eden

Since Star Trek: Voyager – Protectors comes out in two days, I’ve started re-reading the previous volumes. I’ve seen people making playlists like this on Tumblr; I wish I could create beautiful graphics like they do, but all I have is the lyrics – and they are, after all, the most important part.

Again, spoiler alert for The Eternal Tide.

1. “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross

Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence,
my father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then
spin me around ‘til I fell asleep,
then up the stairs he would carry me
and I knew for sure I was loved …
If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him,
I’d play a song that would never, ever end -
how I’d love, love, love
to dance with my father again.

2. “Suddenly I See” by K. T. Tunstall

Her face is a map of the world, is a map of the world.
You can see she's a beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl
and everything around her is a silver pool of light.
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it;
it makes you calm.
She holds you captivated in her palm.

Suddenly I see (suddenly I see):
This is what I wanna be.
Suddenly I see (suddenly I see)
why the hell it means so much to me.

3. “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele

There's a fire starting in my heart,
reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.
Finally I can see you crystal clear -
go ahead and sell me out, and I'll lay your s**t bare.
See how I'll leave with every piece of you.
Don't underestimate the things that I will do.
There's a fire starting in my heart,
reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.

4. “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye

[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over,
but had me believing it was always something that I'd done.
But I don't wanna live that way,
reading into every word you say.
You said that you could let it go
and I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know -

[Gotye:]
- but you didn't have to cut me off,
make out like it never happened and that we were nothing!
And I don't even need your love,
but you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough.
No, you didn't have to stoop so low,
have your friends collect your records and then change your number!
I guess that I don't need that, though -
now you're just somebody that I used to know.

5. “Your Guardian Angel” by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Seasons are changing and waves are crashing
and stars are falling all for us.
Days grow longer and nights grow shorter,
I can show you I'll be the one.

I will never let you fall (let you fall),
I'll stand up with you forever.
I'll be there for you through it all (through it all.),
even if saving you sends me to heaven.

6. “Shake It Out” by Florence + The Machine

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't,
so here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road.
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope;
it's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat.
'Cause looking for heaven, found the devil in me -
Looking for heaven, found the devil in me.
Well, what the hell … I'm gonna let it happen … to me, yeah …

7. “A Flower Tells A Story” by Katherine Jenkins

A flower tells of lights dimmed early,
of a star burned out too young:
a story of a hero
too often left unsung.

(…)

I thank you for the gift to us,
the greatest there can be:
Your courage when you fought for liberty.