The County Line playlist

Music to read by?

As The County Line was nearing completion, I began thinking about the obligatory “novel playlist” that folks seem to put out with their books.

The playlist for the book as published is much different than the playlist for the book as a work in progress. For writing, I use this playlist, which features quite a few of my favorite artists, but doesn’t really tell the reader a darn thing about the book itself, except that I like to write to music by Hildur Guðnadóttir, David Lynch, Max Richter, and Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Obviously, for the “book-as-published” playlist I included “Just Friends,” as that is sung when the boys are enjoying a night on the town. In the book, the Ben Selvin version, which had hit the charts in 1932, is the one mentioned, but I’ve always been partial to Chet Baker, so there you go.

And, speaking of the boys, how could I not include “The Boys Are Back in Town”?

Along those lines, the Ha Ha Tonka song “Arkansas” had to make the list, as it includes the apt refrain: “We only broke every law in Arkansas.”

Anyway, The County Line playlist is here, so please let me know what I missed.