Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

I haven’t participated in a top ten tuesday for a while, but when I saw this week’s prompt I was like oh hell yeah – let’s do this! Combining books with music? Right up my alley! It was pretty hard to think of some good songs I think should be turned into books, though, and I basically ended up with a list of some of my favourite songs (plus a few others) since those were the only ones I could think of. Of course, they are also the songs whose stories I know best – and I really would like to see these songs made into books!

So, here’s my list…

1. “Doolin’ Dalton/Desperado reprise” by the Eagles

This is one of my all time favourite songs (it’s in the top 2) of my absolute favourite album ever, Desperado. In fact, I’d like the whole album to be turned into books. Desperado itself is partly based on a (non-fiction) book about a couple of outlaws in the Wild West (such as Bill Doolin and Bill Dalton). I’m intrigued by the entire album and its atmosphere, but in particular by this song and I think it’d make a really cool story!

2. “Yellow Submarine” by The Beatles

Well, basically anything by The Beatles, really. Some of their songs tell the most amazing (or absurd) stories, and I’d love to see those in (coherent) writing.

3. “Crossroads” by Cream

I’ve never listened to the original version of this song (although I’m going to look it up after I’m done writing this) but Cream/Eric Clapton’s version is one of my favourite songs. After watching Supernatural, I started to think of crossroad demons when hearing this song, even though there’s no explicit mention of selling souls to anyone. I wasn’t the only one to make the connection, though. The song was originally called “Cross Road Blues” when Robert Johnson wrote it in 1936, and, together with the fact that he died at a young age, this song caused people to think that Johnson sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads. Pretty cool story, huh?

4. “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

I don’t think this one needs a whole lot of explaining. Apart from the fact that this song is brilliant from a musical perspective, it also tells an intriguing story that I’d love to see in the form of a novel.

5. “Brothers in Arms” by Dire Straits

This song is absolutely beautiful (magnificent intro!) but it also has me intrigued about the story behind it. I think it’s about a war, but it could also be interpreted in lots of different ways, especially these first lines:

These mist covered mountains

Are a home now for me

But my home is the lowlands

And always will be

What happened? Is this person living in exile? What’s going on? I gots to know!

6. “Hotel California” by the Eagles

Another Eagles song, but definitely one worth a separate story. “Hotel California” has been shrouded in mystery for a very long time and it sounds like one hell of a novel could be written about it. “You can check out any time you want but you can never leave…” Tell me more!

7. “Space Oddity” by David Bowie

Bowie was a master storyteller, so it feels only right to include him in this list! “Space Oddity” is probably my favourite Bowie song, so I’d love to see this as a novel. What would be the biggest challenge, I think, is capturing the atmosphere of the song, which is a very specfic one.

8. “Lola” by The Kinks

A young man moving away from home to the big city and falling madly in love with a trans woman. I think that would make a wonderful story – if handled right and with respect, that is.

9. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” by The Temptations

I absolutely love this song, although I don’t listen to it all that much. I think it could be turned into a nice YA novel about a boy wanting to know about his absent father after learning about his death and finding out the dad was a horrible guy. It should definitely retain the amazing vibe The Temptations put into the song, though.

10. “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd

Oh, Pink Floyd, how I love thee. This song is a tribute to Syd Barrett, who was one of the founding members of the band and wrote many of their songs, but struggled with mentall illness and the effects of psychedelic drugs and eventually left the band. It’s an amazing composition consisting of 9 parts (split into parts I-V and VI-IX on the album) and I’m not sure what kind of novel would be made out of it – but I know it would be good.

And that’s it! This top ten was so much fun to make! What are some songs you would like to see as books?