With everyone busy with the holidays, I thought it might be a good time for some “oldies but goodies.” This post previously appeared on another Austen blog and possibly on my own, but whenever or wherever that was, the response was so great that I edited the post to include suggestions made by my readers (many from people a lot younger than I am). Allow me to present Dancing with Austen – Redux:
Emma:
Save the Last Dance for Me – The Drifters – Mr. Knightley asking Emma to dance
Uptown Girl – Billy Joel
I Feel the Earth Move – Carole King – Emma to Knightley, once she figures him out
Mansfield Park:
Who’s Sorry Now – Connie Francis – Maria Bertram after she had run off with Henry Crawford
Puppy Love by Paul Anka – Fanny’s crush on Edmund Bertram
The Wanderer by Dion and the Belmonts – Henry Crawford
Smoke From a Distant Fire – Sanford Townsend Band – Rushworth throwing Maria out of the house due to her affair with Henry Crawford
You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift – Fanny to Edmund’s portrait
Northanger Abbey:
Big Girls Don’t Cry – Four Seasons – Catherine Morland being sent from Northanger Abbey
Impulsive – Wilson Phillips – Catherine to Henry
Why Must I Be a Teenager in Love? – Dion and the Belmonts – Catherine Morland falling in love with Henry Tilney
Persuasion:
This Magic Moment – The Drifters – Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot’s first kiss
Beyond the Sea – Bobby Darin
Jump – Pointer Sisters – Louisa Musgrove and Captain Wentworth
Without You – Harry Nilsson – Wentworth to Anne
Upside Down – Diana Ross – Louisa Musgrove’s fal
Pride and Prejudice:
Wicked Game – Chris Isaak – Darcy thinking about Elizabeth
Scientist – Coldplay – Darcy after being dumped by Elizabeth
Runaway by Del Shannon – Lydia and Wickham
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by the Platters – Mr. Darcy emerging out of the fog on his way to see Elizabeth
The Tracks of My Tears by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles – Elizabeth Bennet thinking she has lost Mr. Darcy because of the Lydia/Wickham fiasco
He’s So Fine – Chiffons – Caroline looking at Darcy
Beyond Belief – Elvis Costello
You’re So Vain – Carly Simon – Lizzy meeting Darcy for the first time
It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls – Lydia
These Eyes – The Guess Who – Elizabeth mooning over Darcy after the Lydia/Wickham fiasco
Let’s Stay Together – Al Greene – Darcy to Elizabeth
Life in The Fast Lane – The Eagles – Wickham and Lydia
You Are My Special Angel – The Vogues – Darcy and Elizabeth walking across the fields (P&P 1995)
You Should Be Dancing – Bee Gees – Kitty and Lydia
Right Place, Wrong Time – Dr. John – Darcy’s first proposal
If Loving You is Wrong, I Don’t Want to be Right – Barbara Mandrel – Darcy’s obsession with Elizabeth or Bingley’s with Jane
We Are Family, I’ve Got All Sisters With Me – Sister Sledge – The Bennet Girls
Sense and Sensibility:
Say Something – Christine Aguilera – Marianne to Willoughby
Didn’t Mean To Hurt You – Michael Jackson – Willoughby to Marianne
Raindrops – Dee Dee Clark – (P&P 2005) Marianne Dashwood being rescued in a rainstorm by Mr. Willoughby
You’ve Got a Friend – James Taylor – Brandon to Marianne
You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman – Carole King – Elinor to Edward
All Out of Love – Air Supply – Marianne’s realization that Willoughby does not love her enough to marry her
All I Have to Do is Dream – Everly Brothers – Marianne of Willoughby
Looking forward to reading your contributions.
P.S. Dying to Write, a Patrick Shea Mystery, is on sale on Kindle for $1.99. The story takes place at a Jane Austen conference where Austen purists butt heads with JAFF writers, and it ends in murder! The sale is part of Amazon’s countdown program, so the sooner you buy the book, the less it costs before returning to the full price of $4.99 on 12/15.
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Oh, Mary. These are excellent. I think that Celine Dion’s song ‘The Power of Love’ applies to all six of Jane Austen’s books. She has another one, ‘Seduces Me” which might be a good Wickham/Lydia song. I can’t wait to read what others come up with. How fun this is!
Author
Yes, the Power of Love would be perfect!
Austen Redux–U2 Edition
“With or Without You” — Emma (I can’t stand her, but I love her anyway)
“Beautiful Day” — Darcy and Elizabeth confessing their feelings for each other on their walk in 1995 P&P
“Sweetest Thing” — Lydia
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” –Edmund in Mansfield Park…until he realizes he loves Fanny
“Pride” (“In the Name of Love”) — Darcy, of course!
“Stuck in a Moment” –Darcy after Elizabeth’s refusal
“Vertigo” — Marianne’s reaction to Willoughby’s cutting her at the party in London
“Stand Up Comedy” — Elizabeth when Lady Catherine visits Longbourn
“One” — Elinor and Edward Ferrars
Okay, I need to be grading essays, not perusing my mental U2 playlist….
Warmly,
Susanne 🙂
Author
I bet you’ll think up more during the day. When I first wrote this, I couldn’t get it out of my head.
No! No! No! Modern music with Jane Austen, just doesn’t work.
Author
Regency dancing was very physical. I think Jane would have jumped right in there.
Terribly funny, some of those songs were so very appropos!
Author
I find that almost every sad song could be applied to Marianne!
How funny. I am sure there are more tunes out there….but my brain’s hard drive isn’t booting this morning. Made for a happy morning though.
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Hi Maggie. Jump in whenever you want.
These are so funny and many are from my own youth so bring back the angst of some of my own early crushes. Thank you so much for the uplift. Now I have to find some of them and play them on iTunes or from my old 33 1/3’s (Yes, I still own many plus cassettes).
Author
You own cassettes! So do I! When I mentioned on FB that I was listening to Let the Circle Be Unbroken on a cassette, I received so many comments asking where I had found a cassette player. 😉 Of course, I had one. It was a boom box as big as a baby.
From something I posted on the Goodreads Jane Austen discussion page. I got just a bit carried away. I’m stuck in the (mostly) 70s/Singer Songwriter Era:
Sir Walter Eliot to himself: James Blunt “You’re Beautiful”
The Kellynch Hall mirrors to Sir Walter: Carly Simon “You’re So Vain”
Anne Eliot to Captain Wentworth: Dan Fogelberg’s “Seeing You Again”
Lady Catherine to everyone: Frank Sinatra “My Way”
Emma to Mr K: Orleans “Dance with Me”
Mr K to Emma: Orleans “Love Takes Time”
Darcy to Lizzy: Orleans “Still the One”
Fanny to Edmund: Yvonne Elliman “If I Can’t Have You”
Mary Crawford to Edmund: Pink Floyd “Money”
Mary Crawford to Edmund, yet again: Dido “I’m No Angel”
Anne Eliot to Captain Wentworth: Yvonne Elliman “Hello Stranger”
Captain Wentworth to Anne Eliot: Joe Cocker “The Letter”
Catherine to Mr. Tilney: Fontella Bass “Rescue Me”
Marianne to Willoughby: All versions “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
Elinor to Edward: ELO “Strange Magic”
Col Brandon to Marianne: Cat Stevens “Oh Very Young”
Lizzy to Darcy: Olivia Newton-John “Have You Never Been Mellow”
Mrs. Croft to Admiral Croft: The Moody Blues “Sitting At The Wheel”
Lizzy to Bingley: The Beatles “She Loves You”
Edward to Elinor: Mary MacGregor “Torn Between Two Lovers”
Elinor/Marianne/Margaret/Mrs Dashwood to Fanny and John Dashwood: Foreigner “Cold as Ice”
Elinor to Lucy Steele and Mrs. Ferrars: Foreigner “Cold as Ice”
Edmund to Mary: Joe Cocker “Unchain My Heart”
Marianne to Col Brandon: Lulu “To Sir With Love” (yes, the Col. isn’t a Sir, but he should be)
Me to Jane Austen: Sugababies “Too Lost in You”
Emma to herself: 10cc “I’m Not in Love”
Jane Bennet to Bingley: Beatles “8 Days a Week”
Caroline to Lizzy: ELO “Turn to Stone”
Anne and Capt Wentworth: duet “Reunited”
Willoughby to Marianne:Elvin Bishop “Fooled around and fell in love”
Bingley to Darcy:Bee Gees “You Should Be Dancing”
Adm Croft to the Musgrove Sisters: Lynyrd Skynyrd “What’s Your Name”
Aunt Norris to Fanny: Nick Lowe “Cruel to be Kind”
Eliza Williams to Willoughby Three Degrees “When will I see you again”
Marianne to Willoughby: James Taylor “Fire and Rain”
Robert Ferras to himself: ZZ Top “Sharp Dressed Man”
Lady Susan and Catherine Vernon duet: ELO “Evil Woman”
Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax duet: Atlantic Starr “Secret Lovers”
Mrs Bennet to her daughters:The 5th Dimension “Wedding Bell Blues”
Lizzy to Mr Collins: Police: “Don’t stand so close to me”
Charlotte Lucus to Mr Collins:Tina Turner “What’s Love Got to Do With It”
Neighbor Network of Spies to Catherine : Police “Every Breath You Take”
Fanny to Edmund:Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr “You don’t have to be a star”
Lucy Steele to Ferrars money: James Taylor: “How Sweet It is”
Anyone who’s read all of this to me: Simon and Garfunkel “The Sounds of Silence”
P.S. For the Captains, Admirals, and Liet. “In the Navy”: The Village People
Author
Wow! I’m impressed. The 70’s are a bit of a blur for me b/c I was always into Classic Rock. Thanks for filling in the blanks.
OH, My, Goodness – this list is overwhelming. I can’t help but wonder how long it took to come up with this? I
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Kirk shared this with JASNA Vermont, and then shared it with us.
Wonderful! Some of these brought back some good memories (it was the decade of my 20’s heh heh).
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I don’t think Kirk missed any. Do you? 🙂
Afternoon Delight, Witchy Woman, Sweet Home Alabama (remember these because I was living in South Korea at the time — USAF).
Know that songs but to whom are you assigning them?
I’m going to go with ‘And He Kissed Me’ for Marianne, ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ for Elinor, ‘Everything I Do I Do it For You’ Darcy, ‘You’re My Soul and Inspiration’ for Wentworth…for some reason I associate Kid Rock with Col. Fitz. LOL, I know. ‘Crying in the Rain’ for Willoughby. ‘Californian Dreamin’ (insert Wentworth for CA) for Anne. I need to stop there. Fun post, Mary!
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I’m melting at the thought of “You’re My Soul…” Doesn’t every girl want to hear that son?
I hadn’t had a chance to respond yesterday but thought of ‘Everything I Do, I Do It For You’ but you beat me to it, Sophia Rose. I will say that Greensleeves (Old Tudor lyrics) fit both Darcy and Wentworth. Verses 1,3, & 4 fit Wentworth at Anne’s change of mind at their engagement. Verses 1, 3, 4, & 5 fit Darcy at Elizabeth’s rejection during his first proposal.
I use modern music all the time for my writing to capture the emotional aspect of a scene.
I always like to listen to Daniel Bedingfield “If You’re Not the One” to feel Darcy’s pain after the rejected proposal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YRDtpizeS0
Elizabeth, I always think that BonJovi’s Always is a good one for that emotion. 🙂
Wow, I just listened to that song – powerful and he presents a strong image – no funny stuff with dancers and confetti, etc. I like that.
This is so perfect for Darcy after Hunsford. Great song!!
And, of course, Material Girl for Charlotte,
Mrs Bennet, Lucy, Mrs Elton and Mary Crawford
and …
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Especially Mrs. Elton and Mary Crawford!
These are always so much fun! I totally agree with “He’s So Fine” by Caroline Bingley! Perfect!
Author
From Kirk’s list, it’s obvious that I’m not the only one who gets a kick out of doing this. 🙂
How about “I Don’t Dance” by Lee Brice for Darcy (Meryton Assembly or Netherfield Ball)?
I actually thought about this a while back when listening to some much older music from the 50’s. Since you may not be at all familiar with them, I am including links to youtube so you can listen to them.
Bingley to Jane – All the things you are – Ella Fitzgerald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97p6gQnlO5Y
Elizabeth to Darcy after she has told him about Lydia and Wickham eloping and he leaves –
I wish you love – Keely Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPJ-J3NUUyk
Darcy to himself about Elizabeth – You go to my head – Keely Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCnEtKyTWic&index=9&list=PL61DDBB1C9CC5353A
There are some key lines in each one that made me think of P&P.
Good choices, Mary. I’m not a fan of songs unless they are catchy as I lean more towards the film and television scores. Nevertheless I’ll check it some of the suggestions.