04 Linear Notes

I’m still not 100% happy with this chapter. I wanted to include it for the world-building, but I think there’s a lot of exposition going on that’s clumsily introduced. I do plan to eventually publish this story and I’m sure I’ll revisit this chapter then to do extensive edits.

The playlist originally had a lot of other songs, such as:

“What You Waiting For?” – Gwen Stefani

“Goodbye” – Spice Girls

“Goodbye Sumner” – f(x)

“Goodbye” – 2NE1

“Second Hand News” – Fleetwood Mac

“I’ll be yours” – Girl’s Day

“Popstar” – K/DA

“Mamushi” – Megan Thee Stallion ft Twice

“Welcome to My World” – aespa

“Queendom” – Red Velvet

Most, if not all, of these songs will make it onto future chapter playlists. In this particular chapter, I was looking for songs by some prominent girl groups, especially groups that had experienced some rocky developments over the course of their lifespan. That’s why the Spice Girls and Fleetwood Mac were in consideration (even if Fleetwood Mac isn’t a girl group – they did however have a famous behind-the-scenes breakup story).

The final playlist goes through a mini emotional arc starting with the anticipation and excitement of the Pussycat Dolls’ “When I Grow Up” and Wonder Girls’ “Tell Me” and moving on to the more somber “Downpour” from I.O.I and finally to the reflection and wistfulness of Nine Muses’ “Remember” and The Supremes’ “Someday We’ll Be Together.” Nine Muses and The Supremes were also chosen for their behind-the-scenes drama, with Nine Muses having an infamous documentary about the treatment of the group during their formation and The Supremes having a well-documented breakup story (that’s also been fictionalized in the musical Dreamgirls). Even if you know about the messiness of the music industry, I think as a fan there’s still a part of you that hopes that the members of these girl (and boy) groups can look back on their time together with some kind of fondness. I wanted to allude to these fan feelings with my characters, who obviously still care about these groups even after they’re gone.

I debated over making Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” the title song of the chapter. On the one hand, it was probably too on-the-nose and it was the only male-fronted song on the playlist of a chapter dedicated to girl groups. On the other hand (and what ultimately convinced me), the chapter is about a group of dudes gossiping, so the song definitely fit.