FUN. « Nerdy Chicks Rule

Earlier this week, we posted about things to tell the tweens in your life. That post was very well received, and we got lots of messages from readers who told us what things resonated with them. One of the most common comments had to do with the theme song suggestion. Said one Facebook commenter, “I love the theme song thing! I need a theme song!”

In light of this, we thought it would be nice to look at the theme songs of some Nerdy Chicks. Maybe that will help you on your own theme song quest?

Kathy Erskine belts out Sister Sledge’s “We are Family.” Her favorite line:

“Here’s what we call our golden rule: have faith in you and the things you do!”

I can totally see how that empowers Kathy.

When Mary Zisk was 24 and a coworker died suddenly, she vowed to see and do everything she wanted and to never wait for “some day.” Her selection is Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life. She says the line

“I just want to live while I’m alive”

has been her attitude ever since, and is fueling her current drive to write. “Also,” says Mary, “the lyric ‘Like Frankie said I did it my way’ cracks me up — so Jersey!”

I’m a Jersey girl, too, and that line cracks me up as well!

Tameka Fryer Brown’s theme song is Michael Jackson’s “Man In the Mirror.” What a great song. Tameka is touched by these lyrics:

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways”

“if you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change”

Great, great choice.

Kami Kinard’s theme song is “Some Nights” by Fun. “I somehow feel empowered by all of their music,” she says, “because it makes me feel like we’re all in this together.”

Kami’s favorite lyric is:

“What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don’t know. Anymore.”

I love this song as well.

In my last post, I used Saving Jane’s Supergirl as an example of a theme song. And, yes, that has totally been a song that I have identified with many times in my life. But now I have to make a confession — I don’t just have one theme song. I have many, each one fitting a different aspect of my life. But the song that I sing to myself in the quiet moments of doubt that never fails at empowering me to go back to work at my goals is probably Pink’s “Perfect.” The whole song works for me. It was very hard just to choose a snippet of the lyrics. But in the end, here’s what I want to share with you:

“It’s enough, I’ve done all I could think of, chased down all my demons — I’d see you do the same”

Pink fans will notice that I’ve changed the last few words from “I’ve seen you do the same” to my own version, asking the other person to change as I have. That might seem like cheating, but, to me, that’s the beauty of music — that it is a deeply personal experience and we each take away what we need from it. Those lines from the song make me let go of my frustrations toward other people, toward the things in life that are out of my control. They remind me that I’ve done all I could, and that that is all we can do in this life.

What are your favorite songs? Share them in the comments below! And scroll down for links to the videos of these theme songs!

When I go to a Book Festival, I always go see the headliner, even if they write in genres other than my own (and they always do). So at the 2012 SC Book Festival, I sat in on Zane’s talk. If you don’t know her, Zane is the best-selling author of erotica, which is hugely different from the books I write, where terms like “making out” and “hot” are considered a little too racy!

Another best-selling author I’ve made a point to see is David Baldacci, who writes crime fiction, and whose books have been made into blockbuster movies like Absolute Power. I’ve stood against a wall in a standing-room-only crowd to see poet Nikki Giovanni, even though I’ll never publish a book of poems like hers, and it was an amazing experience. I’ve sat dry-eyed in a room of teary women listening to Richard Paul Evans discuss his bestselling book, The Christmas Box.

Bottom line: I will go see the keynoters, the authors who have catapulted above the rest of us, even if they are speaking at the same time as someone else I really want to hear, whose work is more relevant to my own.

For this same reason, I went to see This is It, the movie documenting what would have been Michael Jackson’s last tour. Believe it or not, I also watched Justice Bieber’s Never Say Never, which tracked his rise to stardom.

When Duck Dynasty became a household name, I watched my first episode. I read Twilight when I couldn’t go two steps without hearing the word.

Why?

I think it is because I want the answer to that very question. Why? What quality do these authors and artists (or their works) have that sets them apart from others — often others who seem to have equal talent? I’ve made a hobby of trying to put my finger on that quality with each artist, and my finger rarely points to the word luck.

My most recent fascination is with the Grammy-winning band FUN., whose hit singles include Carry On, We Are Young, and Some Nights. There is something about all three of those songs… I wasn’t sure what, but a definite something that makes us want to listen to them again and again. It took me a day or two of thinking about it to put my finger on it, but I finally managed.

In a word: Solidarity.

We work to make ourselves stand out from the crowd. We strive to be unique individuals. But we still want to know we’re not alone. We want to know we’re in this together. And Carry On, allows us to sing along and feel like we are. This is what FUN. offers the masses: the feeling of solidarity.

Creative types, and others with products to sell, need to ask themselves: WHO is my audience and WHAT am I offering them? It doesn’t have to be solidarity. But you have to offer something – and if it’s just the right thing, you might find yourself on the best seller list (or the American Top Forty) too.

Here’s Carry On. Go ahead, sing along!