Musicians I Want to Write Books
Some artists’ songs transport me to other worlds like usually, only fiction does. But what if I could enjoy their work in a different format? This question has brought me to today’s post, an idea that’s been on my list for months! One of my personal goals for 2022 is to write more of these creative blog posts, even if they might seem a little silly. The ones I’ve written in the past have brought me a lot of joy and I’m all about cultivating more joy for myself! So, here are some of the musicians I want to write books…and the kind of books I think they’d write!
5 Musicians Who Would Be Auto-Buy Authors
Most famous people aren’t fiction writers and if they are, there’s always a good chance a ghostwriter was involved along the way. But sometimes I listen to music by my favourite artists and think “wow, I wish there was a book with this vibe!”. This is primarily born out of my love for books (duh!) but also because I love getting to exist inside of a story for long periods of time. Longer than the average song, at least.
In my humble opinion, all of the following artists have the potential to write really good books! And if they ever do, I’ll be the first in line to buy them. There’s also a playlist at the end of the post for all your listening pleasures!
Taylor Swift
Genres they’d write:
- thriller/murder mystery
- romance
- literary fiction
Songs for the book(s)
- no body, no crime
- Dress
- the last great american dynasty
I simply cannot talk about musicians I want to write books without mentioning Taylor Swift. In fact, she inspired this whole post! When I first listened to no body, no crime I immediately imagined what a murder mystery novel written by her would be like. The song is basically halfway there already! And there’s a reason I’m currently writing a sapphic heist story inspired by Getaway Car. Taylor’s music just lends itself to stories so well!
Taylor Swift has proven time and time again that she’s a master lyricist and storyteller and I would sell my soul to read a novel by her. I also feel like she’d write some killer romance and potentially literary fiction that would rip my heart out! Either way, if she ever pens a novel, I’ll be first in line at the bookstore.
Hozier
Genres they’d write:
- literary fiction
- horror
- romance
- novel in verse
Songs for the book(s)
- In A Week
- Foreigner’s God
- As It Was
Embarrassingly, I haven’t listened to all of Hozier’s music. But I’ve listened to enough of it that I am absolutely positive that a book by him would be perfect for me. I imagine all the death and nature vibes with lyrical writing and a story that’s whimsical while also dark. The yearning and romance! I’m going out on a limb here because I have a strange feeling he’d also write a beautiful horror novel? Or at least something horror-adjacent. Ah, I can basically see the cover for these books in front of me and I need them!
Maisie Peters
Genres they’d write:
- YA/NA Romance
- contemporary
Songs for the book(s)
- John Hughes Movie
- Place We Were Made
- I’m Trying (Not Friends)
I’ve been following Maisie Peters since her YouTube days. All of her songs are certified bops and would be the perfect soundtrack to any coming of age movie. However, I also feel like Maisie would write a really great YA contemporary romance! She’s got the knack for making big feelings relatable and catchy. Something about her vibes makes me feel like her books would include multi-media elements. Think emails, texts, maybe even music playlists her characters exchange!
Sleeping at Last
Genres they’d write:
- literary fiction
- science-fiction
Songs for the book(s)
- September 15, 2017: Cassini – The Grand Finale
- One
- Mars
I love Sleeping at Last’s music a lot, particularly the ongoing Atlas project and his Astronomy album! So of course, I think Ryan would write absolutely stunning literary fiction or maybe a novel in verse! Like his music, it would be layered and have unexpected little details that just make the story that much better. Because of his interest in astronomy, I also feel like sci-fi isn’t entirely out of the picture! I can definitely see a calm and poetic story about a found family of straggly space travellers on the shelf here.
Tom Rosenthal
Genres they’d write:
- MG fantasy/adventure
- cosy mystery
- Adult fiction
Songs for the book(s)
- Throw the Fear
- Outerspace Mover
- There Is a Dark Place
If I had to pick a musician to write the soundtrack for my life, it would be Tom Rosenthal. Sorry, Taylor Swift. Tom’s music is a lot of things. It’s sad and incredibly existential and then again other songs are filled with pure wonder and whimsy and occasional odes to pasta. The range is incredible! I feel like his talents would find a home in a magical middle-grade adventure story! I could also totally see him try his hand at a cosy mystery. Alternatively, I can imagine seeing his name on the cover of a book about a small town and its inhabitants. Something slow, atmospheric and full of quirky characters.
Playlist
If, like me, you’d like to listen to all of the mentioned songs and dream about the books they could be, fear not! I’ve put them all in a handy little playlist for you.
Let’s Chat!
And that’s it for my little list of musicians I want to write books! Honestly, I had so much fun putting this together! Maybe I’ll do more music and bookish posts in the future, I have so many ideas…
⭐ What artists would you love to read a book from?
⭐ What kind of book would be inspired by your favourite song?
I hope you have a lovely day,
If you like my work and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee!
16 Comments
Mary
Ok but your taste in music is chef’s kiss!! Love this post, Lay!
bookshelfsoliloquies
hehe thank you, Mary!!💜
Sumedha
oh I LOVE this post! Taylor Swift would be amazing in literary fiction, so would Hozier. and I’m so happy to see Sleeping at Last in this list! They’re rock lit fic and sci fic too. Your music taste is great and I just followed you on Spotify so I can maybe stalk your music later haha. (ngl, one of my fav features on Spotify is seeing what friends are currently listening to and i might listen to them too)
bookshelfsoliloquies
Thank you, Sumedha! Honestly writing this post made me so sad that these books don’t already exist 😂 And haha, you’ll have to watch me switch between anything from the reputation album and half alive on repeat for hours, that’s most of my day tbh. But I do have friends with great music taste and sometimes it carries over so you might find something new! 😌
Kat Impossible
Okay, no lie, I would have felt personally offended if Hozier hadn’t been on this list, even though I knew we both liked him and the chances were more than solid he’d be here haha I agree that he’d probably write pretty good horror, but I specifically imagine something like gothic horror for some reason?
Loved this list! Also, YES for Tom Rosenthal!!!! I’ve been obsessed with him ever since he did a trailer song for this movie called Comet and then I just did a deep dive into his discography and he’s amazing.
I’d personally pick Andrew Belle and Florence Welch (from Florence and the Machine) as additional artists I’d love to read books from. Florence technically has a poetry collection out and about in the world, but I think she could also do a novella.
bookshelfsoliloquies
oh I totally agree with you about the gothic horror! And the more I think about it, the more I really want it. Tom Rosenthal is amazing, I first heard his music in various short films by some London based filmmakers/Youtubers I followed and I’ve been in love ever since, And ohhh Florence Welch is a good choice, I’d be curious to see what she’d write!
abookowlscorner
I definitely don’t mind your resolution to write more of these creative posts because I positively adored this one! I would literally grab all of these artists’ books in a heartbeat, should they ever appear in a bookstore, because I’m sure all of them would have amazingly lyrical writing and atmospheric vibes! 🥰 Like, Taylor Swift’s books in particular? I must admit, I am not a huge Swiftie because (*please don’t hate me* 😅) I feel like all her melodies are really similar and kind of boring, but I absolutely LOVE her lyrics. I think she’s one of the most talented songwriters out there, so if she were to write that crime book, you bet I’d be reading it!! Also, I kind of want Imagine Dragons to pool their resources and write a dystopian novel for me, because I just feel like they’d do amazingly at that 🤔
bookshelfsoliloquies
Aww, thank you so much! And yes, I’d snatch up that Taylor Swift book in a heartbeat, it would be so good! Imagine Dragons seem like a good choice too, I can totally see that dystopian book!
Riddhi B.
Oh my God, Taylor Swift would be such a great author- like I’d literally read every novel she wrote! And I feel like no body no crime would be like one of her best novels, because it would be super dark and gory, and while that makes me sound like a psychopath- I would be into that dark stuff! I feel like London Boy would make a great romcom too! Loved this idea- it’s so great!
bookshelfsoliloquies
Her writing would be unparalleled and I’m here for it! And exactly, I’d love to see her explore those darker bits in no body, no crime! I can also totally see London Boy as a romcom, I can basically imagine the cover for it already😂
Riddhi B.
Naemi, noooo, Taylor Swift has began to make better melodies!!! Like evermore and folklore are just lit! I’ll admit Red has similar melodies- but Taylor Swift has all albums with different kind of melodies, you are bound to find one that’s your taste! But also yes, Imagine Dragons (especially as in Radioactive) would make for a great dystopian novel!
abookowlscorner
Well, yeah, she does have a few creative melodies here and there – Look What You Made Me Do, for example, is kind of awesome 🥰 – but overall, I still feel like her stuff all sounds kind of similar 😅 So while I’d absolutely love that book of hers due to her amazing lyric writing skills, I still think I want that dystopian Radioactive version a lot more! 😂
Ashmita | thefictionaljournal
Oh tswift definitely yes!! I would love to read a book by lauv and the band muse.
bookshelfsoliloquies
I love how everyone here agrees that Taylor would write great books haha. And those are good choices!! I feel like more musicians should be writing books, clearly we’d love to read them!
Clo @ Cuppa Clo
As soon as I started reading this post I was like – Taylor Swift has to be on here right?! Like you’re so right about her storytelling abilities, are lyricism is beautiful. Definitely agree that she’d be an auto buy author for me too! Ugh imagine all fun books she’d write like I think she may want to dabble in multiple genres like she has with music so…the possibilities would be endless. I’ve only listened to one song by Maisie Peters but dang to her lyrics cut straight to my soul and I really need to listen to some of her other songs. I have a feeling I’d really enjoy them.
Ok so…I would love to read a book by Han who’s a member from Stray Kids. He’s part of the group and a subunit known as 3racha with two of his other group members, they write, produce and create the entire groups discography with some help from others. Stray Kids also release original songs not part of albums that are known as ‘skz records’ or ‘skz players’ and they can be either by one member or more. I don’t know if his skz records/players hit me so hard because he’s literally a few months older than me. Or because I relate to him in certain ways. But he has such a way with song writing that even though I don’t understand everything without subtitles, I feel so many emotions and his music and voice always hits my soul and heart. The fact he takes inspiration from books, anime, dramas etc for his songs is just everything. So in my humble and definitely biased opinion, I think he’d be able to write some awesome stories. Maybe not a full length novel but shorter stories that maybe tie together in some way. I love this post Lay! 💜
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