It took me almost a year.
A year to create the translation, create the artwork, and find a song for each of the 136 chapters.
It´s Done, but it´s not over yet.
I went on a neverending journey, and in parallel a journey to find some Terrific Tunes that would finish each chapter in style.
Damn Did I Find Me Some Gems
I did it, I found 135 awesome songs. Yes only 135 as it seems I forgot to add a song to one chapter, but maybe that was meant to be, so I left it empty.
All other chapters end with a song which should just add that little more feeling to the chapter. You can skip them, or get the full multi-media experience.
For some chapters I knew exactly what song I wanted, but more often I went down the rabbit hole and searched for a song that matched the mood.
If you are a frequent flyer on my Midnight Gems trips you probably heard some of these songs before, because if I find a Gem it´s gonna go in the show.
That does not mean it´s not worth just looking back one more time and flipping through all those songs as if they were snapshots of times gone by.
The Last Chapter has been published, the last song has been played. But when one book closes, a new book opens.
I expect that new book to open somewhere this week, the first chapters are drafted, the high-level story has a blueprint inside my mind, and these last couple of days I am finding my closure.
My Closure
Closure, because this story has been a constant in my life for the past fourteen years as I told you in my personal story:
Now the story has been told there is just one thing left to do, play the music and end it all on the last note.
The plan was to find ten of the most memorable songs that for me are really a great fit with the overall story.
Let´s see how I do.
The Top Ten
Number 10
This choice is a bit boring because I will go with the song from Chapter One. The chapter ends with me talking about Sea Devils, and the song is just hunting enough while the picture fits the idea of a bloody battle giving chapter 1 just that extra bit of depth.
Number 9
This song comes from Chapter 42 and does a wonderful job of creating this little bit of loveliness. This little break we all need some time, and I could not get this song out of my head for weeks.
Number 8
Around Chapter 25 we find out that tea might not be everyone's brew. Tea plays a big part in the early chapters and this one is just so perfectly fitting. I used quite some funny songs but this story and bloody British tea idea is just too funny.
Number 7
How fitting that after 100 Chapters I myself and the protagonist were in need of some Therapy? and a moment of clarity. The story is filled with moments of clarity, which makes it a bit different, but that is how I like it.
Number 6
This story is about hope, about trusting in what you know will come. But sometimes all hope seems to fade and it dies painlessly. It did in Chapter 22 this is one of those gems that I found and I still play it...on sad days.
Number 5
Fire plays a role, for some reason I can not get enough of it just as in Chapter 30.
I used many awesome covers but this song is just so close to my heart, I grew up listening to Leonard and later on to PJ Harvey and Nick Cave, and of course. This song was so nice, I used it twice not on purpose but because I forgot and there were many fiery moments on this journey.
Number 4
This is another one I couldn´t get out of my head and my playlist. A never-ending journey is filled with endless days and lonely nights. Well Done Miss McCartney you made Chapter 113 unforgettable.
Number 3
Sometimes you need to end with a bang and maybe this should have been the song that ends the story, but it did not. It ended Chapter 127 but in the end, this is what I felt. A darkness at the heart of My Love. My frozen heart will not get it any easier, but it will defrost a little over time.
Number 2
This song says it all. In Chapter 116 I have to bury another loved one. A life of never-ending loss, that is why we have memories to hold on to. One of my all-time favorite songs for those who did not know.
Number 1
The song that drives the journey already appears in Chapter Six. The hunt for whoever rules the world is what makes me leave my comfort zone and set out to discover a world I could not have imagined.
My Lorde, I love this version I used many covers, but this one really underlines the story and therefore ends up at #1
Runners UP
Damn, this was hard.
I saw heroes such as Bowie, Nick Cave, Neil Young, and Tori but they all did not make the cut.
They did not even end up in the Top 3 runners up:
Like I said many covers, but only a few do it better than the original. Poppy did it so much better. The Tatu song was awesome but this is just a blast at the end of Chapter 50
Those damn melancholic Brits, they have a way with music The Smiths, The Cure, Suede, and then this Killing Moon song this is just so my sound and so underrated halfway through the book in Chapter 65
Just one left, this song about an ivory tower should have made the top ten if I knew what song to swap for it. I did not, but if it was a Top 11 Lenka would be in it. In Chapter 102 we find he that rules the world living in his ivory tower, his own little bubble at the top.
Encore
Now while flipping through those chapters there was one song I was sure I needed to add to the Top 10. One song that made a lasting impression, and the closer I came to the end the more confused I got.
I was sure it was part of one of the chapters, 100% sure.... 90% when I hit Chapter 120 and I had not seen it yet. 85% when I hit Chapter 130. When I closed Chapter 134 I was sure it would not be in the last two chapters.
Maybe I am blind as a bat and it´s somewhere, maybe it just got replaced at the last moment, or maybe it was at the end of that chapter that got deleted. But it should have been there.
Because we all are bound by invisible chains we need to let go of them during our many and endless wondering.
Thank goodness you made it till the end Pees, Love and I am out of here!
The Closure A Personal Story With A Soundtrack:
Personal Story With A Soundtrack - A New Adventure - Part 1
Personal Story With A Soundtrack - A New Adventure - Part 2
For those who have the balls to start reading and listening to my masterpiece this:
Beyond Doubt: Whispers of the Unseen - Chapter 1
[Source Pic](All pics by MYI & AI unless watermarked or mentioned)