The Stars Fill Infinity Character Playlists (but it’s just classic rock songs)

I finished my first semester of university, and also my Certificate IV in Auslan, which means that, for the first time all year, I actually have some spare time! I’m hoping this will mean a few blog posts for all you lovely people, before I go back to uni in July! I’ve got some great plans coming up, including the first instalment in my Disability in Fiction critique posts and also the ever faithful mid year freakout book tag, but today I wanted to ease back in with something a little bit quirky and fun.

I grew up listening to classic 80s and 90s rock and not much else. My mum loved the Christian rock bands, like Petra and Whiteheart, and rock operas like The War of the Worlds and Jesus Christ Superstar. My dad liked more mainstream rock, Bryan Adams, Midnight Oil and Bon Jovi.

Anyway, all this to say that recently I’ve been enjoying listening to all those 80s and 90s classics. And as I’ve been listening to them, I’ve been comparing them to some of my characters. So today, I’m here to present you with character playlists for my SFI characters but it’s all 80s and 90s music (and not all rock, contrary to the title).

(A few years ago I did a normal character playlist, which you can check out herehttps://anordinarypen.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/character-playlists/)

Let’s get into it!

Chessy

Chessy is the main point of view character of The Stars Fill Infinity and the two sequels. She’s a fiery tempered young woman, with a bubbly extroverted personality. She bounces through life, never put down for very long. She’s also determined and passionately loves her family…and she’s hopelessly in love with Justice as well.

“Living on A Prayer”, Bon Jovi: I guess this song could really just be the theme song of the whole story. It’s about lower class living and the constant struggle of trying to survive in a world that is deadset against you. Since many of the background characters in SFI are dock workers and waitresses, like the characters in the song are, it fits the general aesthetic of SFI.

“When You Believe”, Whitney Houston: This song was originally written for the animated DreamWorks movie The Prince of Egypt but Whitney Houston has such a lovely version of it which I just had to put on Chessy’s list. Chessy is, by nature, a very optimistic young lady. This is what draws her to the revolution in the first place—the chance to change the world and improve it for the better is irresistible to her. She is a bright spark in her group of friends, and is the one always encouraging them and egging them on.

“My Heart Will Go On”, Celine Dion: Everyone knows and loves this Titanic classic. While Chessy doesn’t lose any romantic prospects over the course of the series, she does lose a number of people she loves, and I see this song as her little dedication to the people she lost and still loves, despite the separation of death.

A pink and white rose

Sapphire

Sapphire is my beautiful girl, a young mother with a two year old son and abandoned by her boyfriend. She is kind, compassionate, honest, and encouraging, but she’s also tough and resilient. While she presents as a strong, serious eldest child, at heart she’s fun-loving and a little bit mischievous.

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, Whitney Houston: Sapphire, before the events of the first few chapters in SFI, is a bit of a party girl and a social butterfly. She would definitely be dancing to this song at some bizarre futuristic 80s themed club.

“Total Eclipse of the Heart”, Bonnie Tyler: Sapphire is also a true romantic and she’s a fan of all the classics, like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. She would definitely like this song, which was actually written to be a song for a vampire, and was later used in the German vampire musical, Tanz Der Vampire.

“Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)”, Billy Joel: As the name suggests, this song is a lullaby for Joel’s daughter, and I can imagine Sapphire singing this to her little son, Malakai. Basically, it’s a song about Joel explaining to his daughter what he believes happens to people when they die, which is…uh, very relevant to these two particular characters.

Justice

Look, I’ll be honest with you all, Justice is my favourite SFI character. I know that’s a pretty unpopular opinion in the Stars fandom, but I wrote the book, so you’ll all just have to live with it. Justice is also the character who seems most likely to listen to rock music, so he’s the easiest to make a playlist for. He’s a grave-faced, sharp-tongued young revolutionary who idolises the leader of the revolutionary movement and longs to bring down the current status quo.

“Wanted Dead or Alive”, Bon Jovi: I’m pretty sure the great Bon Jovi meant this more metaphorically, but in Justice’s case it’s literal. In the first book he’s wanted, mostly alive, in the second book, he’s definitely wanted alive but preferably dead. What’s worse is that it’s his father is the one putting out those wanted posted.

“Eye of the Tiger”, Survivor: This song definitely plays whenever Justice walks into the room. I mean the ”last lone survivor” bit. Need more be said? I can imagine Justice rocking it out to this song in his wild child days.

“Sound the Bugle”, Bryan Adams: Technically this is cheating because this song is from the very early 2000s, but since Bryan Adam’s is such a staple of the 80s and 90s i’m putting it in. Its such a sweet and sad song about going on even after you’ve been beaten, and perfectly encapsulates Justice’s general mood after the first book.

A lilac rose

Quillon

Quillon is a softly spoken and yet rather fierce young man of Irish Catholic descent. He is pale-faced with quite a lot of long, floppy black curls. He is a revolutionary, though he hopes to change the world through words and philosophies and emotions, and not through blood and fire. He’s in love with Sapphire, and has taken her son Malakai under his wing.

“Wicked Game”, Chris Isaak: I’m not really one for brooding romantic songs, but being a poet Quillon definitely is. I think he and Isaak would get along splendidly, and Quillon is definitely moping about in his house listening to Wicked Game, much to the chagrin of Justice and basically everyone else.

“Everything I Do”, Bryan Adams: While its not fair to say that Quillon does everything for Sapphire, because he also does a lot for the revolution and for his friends, his motivation stems from wanting to create a better life for Sapphire and Malakai, and he sacrifices a lot for that goal.

“Africa”, Toto: I don’t know why, but this song just has a Quillon vibe to it. I can just imagine him listening wistfully to this through his headphones.

Zac

Zac is the fan favourite. He’s a rogueish scoundrel, a charming rake you know. He is a paralegal, but also the heir of his uncle’s criminal empire. He is Justice’s cousin, but there’s a lot of suspicion surrounding his true parentage. Basically, everyone loves him, in and out of universe.

“Danger Zone”, Kenny Loggins: I’m pretty sure this is the song that would be playing whenever Zac arrives on the scene, preferably on a very large and very noisy motorbike. There’s no deeper meaning to the inclusion of this song, its just the vibe.

“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”, Eurythmics: Ok, so maybe Zac would show up to this song playing, like that iconic X-Men scene where Quicksilver arrives at the school for gifted children. Again, no deep meanings, just vibes.

An orange and yellow rose

“Billie Jean”, Michael Jackson: This is literally Zac’s father (or maybe father??? we don’t know…), his whole gig is, “I don’t know who’s kid this is but it’s definitely not mine.” Spoiler alert, sir, he probably is. Probably.

“Blaze of Glory”, Bon Jovi: I literally don’t think a more perfect song for Zac has ever been written. This is also, incidentally, probably my favourite Bon Jovi song. It’s kind of tragic, but also heroic. “Lord I’ve gotta ask a favour, and I hope you understand, cause I’ve lived life to the fullest, let this boy die like a man”, makes me think of Zac EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Anyway, that was just a bit of fun! I hope you enjoyed it, and now I really need to know what classics you’d assign to your characters?

Hopefully, I’ll be back soon with another post! This month is Disability Pride Month and I’m hoping to get a few Disability related posts written up.