Dolly Talk: The Sound of Music

Since I was little, music has played a big role in my life.  Both my parents were musicians, and I am rarely not  singing, playing, or writing music.  It's not just a part of my life, it is my life in many ways.

I have a habit (okay...addiction?) of making themed mixes.  Sometimes they have an overreaching theme...like mori for example.  Other times they are for a particular day, or even a particular activity.  I have a bunch of driving mixes on my iPod for when I go into the city, each one tailored to the event I'm attending.

My dolls do not escape my music obsession either.  Each active* doll has their own mix that connects to their story line and/or their personality.  Uriel has the most extensive mix by far, but he is also the most developed character.  Nowell just recently got his own mix with some songs I've been collecting for him since I got him.

Whenever I get a new doll, I select a song to play when I open them.  I like there to be a special first song for them to "hear."  Uriel oddly enough didn't have one, I hadn't finalized this practice when I got him.  Granted he now has more songs than anyone else.  Nowell 's song was where he got his name, "What Child, Nowell" by Tori Amos.  Arashi's first song was "Hills and Valleys" by The Rocket Summer.  Sometimes the song is influenced by the idea I have for the doll, and sometimes it influences the development of the doll.

I knew what new doll's song would be even before I paid him off: the live version of "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac.  That is a song I actually sing at open mic, but I had never heard this particular live cut before.  I stumbled upon it while poking through Fleetwood Mac's discography on Spotify and there it was.  It's mysterious, and magical, and everything that I wanted for this doll. Oddly enough even as the character may be changing, the music I've picked out for him has stayed the same.

*By "active" I mean dolls I'm currently writing about/working with. Arashi for example is inactive because I don't know what I'm doing with him.  Right now Uriel, Nowell, and this new guy are active.