Rainy Days and Music

I love getting emails from my readers through this website. I get questions and comments like "It blew my mind when I realized this book was about your life", or "I hope you finally found happiness" or "I love the 60s and 70s music you wove within your story, but why didn't you quote lyrics?" Yes, Just Another Sunday: A Novel has over 65 songs interwoven in the storyline, and the original title for my book was to be "Rainy Days and Music." At the last minute I decided against it and went with Just Another Sunday for some very important reasons (which I will get into in a future blog post) Music was (and still is) a very profound part of my younger years. And so it was with Lia Benedict, the protagonist. (Are you getting the picture?) Anyway . . . as most of you know, song lyrics are heavily protected by copyright. Some songs are owned by two different entities. One may own the music, and another may own the lyrics. I had written in the lyrical content of 7 songs and had secured permission by the owners of each, with the exception of two. However, the songs' owners placed a permissions limit on the number of book sales, which would force me to re-apply for reprint permission and pay additional fees upon reaching that ceiling. My publisher wouldn't go for it and asked (told) me to remove the lyrics prior to publishing. Of course, I had no choice but to comply, and re-wrote those scenes without them. The lyrics that were eliminated were from Over You (Gary Puckett), Happy Together (The Turtles), My Girl (The Temptations), One Less Bell To Answer (Fifth Dimension), Touch Me (The Doors), Whole Lotta Love and Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin). Interesting fact: The remaining members of Led Zeppelin are directly involved in granting or denying permission for lyrical reprint of songs from their catalog. They emphatically denied permission! I don't believe the omission of the lyrics took away from the story, but some may disagree. One email stated that I merely "listed the songs" in my book. I am stumped. If you can find a "list" please tell me what page it's on! Every song mentioned in my book carries great significance for me (to this day). One Less Bell To Answer is especially important, and when and if you read my story you will understand why. I love music, especially classic rock from that era, and I am so grateful for YouTube. Songs and nostalgic video clips of any artist are instantly available simply by typing your desire in the search bar. How great is that! Happy reading to all, Liz Good