Annie On My Mind (Soundtrack)

It's a bit surprising that in nearly 30 years, Annie On My Mind has never been committed to film, to my knowledge. I mean, its place as an all-time classic LGBT novel is virtually unanimous. How cool would it be if they made a movie version of it soon? I would flail so crazy.

I concede that, should a real film version of Annie be crafted, the proper way to bring it to life would be to stay true to Nancy Garden's original. Have them listening to Baroque and Classical, have Annie singing latin opera. It has a timeless dignity to it, befitting such a truly timeless love story.

But I don't know... it could be really great imbued with modern sensibilities, too. Timelessness is admirable, but there's nothing wrong with living in the immediate present, either.

So here's my imaginary soundtrack for the hypothetical film. I'm decently proud of it, to be honest.

Annie On My Mind (Soundtrack, 2011)


1. Candlelight -- Imogen Heap
2. Super Bass -- Nicki Minaj
3. Again & Again -- The Bird & The Bee
4. The Best Day -- Taylor Swift
5. On The Radio -- Regina Spektor
6. In McDonalds -- Burial
7. We Are Broken -- Paramore
8. Fearless -- Pink Floyd
9. Thrasher -- Juniper Tar
10. Endorphin -- Burial
11. Brick By Boring Brick -- Paramore
12. All The Way to Heaven -- Melissa Etheridge
13. Misguided Ghosts -- Paramore
14. Fearless -- Taylor Swift


I can see pretty much the whole film in my head, but I won't bore you with extensive detail. Tried to make the music fun and sentimental, true to the original.

(Warning: spoilers in this paragraph) I imagine the quirky, happy-go-luck tracks (Again & Again, On The Radio, Pink Floyd) accompanying Liza & Annie's various sessions of whimsical make-believe. Candlelight is perfect for their romantic dinner at the french restaurant, and their ferry ride amidst the lights. Burial's atmospheric IDM music is ripe for scenes where the emotion is so powerful that it overcomes words, 'In McDonalds' for good times and 'Endorphin' for the ill-fated run in with Ms. Baxter. 'We Are Broken' seems to fit the heartbreak when they first are forced to understand that some people see their love as deplorable, while 'Misguided Ghosts' fits perfectly for when they're sort of coming to terms with the fact that it's sad but the hate doesn't have to impede their lives. I see Taylor Swift's Fearless as the song that plays at the resolution, when Annie and Liza are reunited, and into the credits.

I want my non-existent imaginary movie to show that Annie On My Mind is a classic, endearing love story for anyone with a romantic soul. Up there with The Notebook and Titanic. I filled the soundtrack up with the music I know and love the best, but I was cautious to emphasize the sentimentality and romance instead of leaning on melancholic ballads, since the whole point of Annie was to show a happy, pure-hearted alternative to the grim perspective of The Well of Loneliness and its ilk. I wanted the soundtrack to hit on all of the classic love-story themes, but to do it in a manner that had character and was fitting for such a unique and genuine novel. I didn't want to reuse any of the songs you've heard in a thousand movies, but to still epitomize the quintessential romance themes.

^^ Threw this up here again because it's just such a perfect cover. It's like they're huddled together in their own little world, lost in pure happiness but also with a bit of foreboding, because of what the world might think of them. I want the imaginary soundtrack cover to be an exact recreation of this, but with the imaginary actors from the imaginary film.

Dream Remix Album

Lord help me, I've slipped into whimsical reverie again. Too much reading! Reading is bad for you, it enhances the imagination...

I'm really into dance remixes right now. Starting to get a grasp on the different types of remixes and my favorite remix artists, so I compiled my ultimate collection of dream remixes. Special emphasis on songs and artists that don't get the great remixes they deserve. Oooh how I wish this album existed!

The Perfect Remix Album

1. Super Bass (Passion Pit Remix) -- Nicki Minajs
2. Whiplash (Skrillex Club Remix) -- Selena Gomez & The Scene
3. Face of Love (Freddie Le Grand Extended Club Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
4. Dancing Crazy (Zedd Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
5. Bam (Afrojack Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
6. Sayonara (Noisia Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
7. Shake It Up (Chew Fu Remix) -- Selena Gomez & The Scene
8. Dancing Crazy (Richard Vission Extended Club Remix) -- Miranda Cosgrove
9. Love You Like a Love Song (Dave Aude' Extended Dub) -- Selena Gomez & The Scene
10. If I Die Young (Armand Van Helden Remix) -- The Band Perry
11. Beautiful Mess (Burial Fix) -- Miranda Cosgrove

I doubt voguing tripped out 2-step/dubstep/garage underground hero Burial would remix a Nickelodeon track (does he even do remixes at all?) but if there's just one track I'd like to hear, it'd be that one. Miri's vocal run that opens Beautiful Mess would be absolutely perfect fodder for a heady Burial track.

Annie On My Mind

Simply the finest romance I have ever encountered. Just finished rereading it and it was yet imbued with as much unspeakable magic as ever prior. No, I'm not much of a literati. But I can without question count this as my favorite book, behind the last few Harry Potter novels.

I probably cried the first time I read it, I think I vaguely remember that. And yet this time... it seemed so much darker than before, somehow. Even though I knew what to expect. I think ignorance was easier to swallow then. Today I've lost touch... with how anyone could be so blind... how an otherwise decent person could be so cruel, so truly evil as to hate love. Sounds freaking naive, doesn't it? Stupid even, for me to say something so childish? Well... I suppose this is "Zenlike Immaturity," after all. ;)

To describe the beauty of "Annie..." would be difficult with words, for its strength exists on the spiritual, or at least the romantic, level. It aptly captures the indescribable wonder of youth, and the purity of love. On the technical front, it's an impressive and inarguably important piece of Young Adult literature. It is unflinching and unafraid, yet never falters from its message that samesex love is not invariably a walkway into sorrow. It remains true to life without resorting to ugliness. Alcohol and cigarettes and sex, these subjects are presented without the slightest negative connotation. Surprising and admirable for a book that's often taught in schools, it treads not by the letter of the law but by its spirit, supporting love and morality without preaching vain adherence to the outdated taboos that riddle scholastic materials.

You might wonder, being a relatively heterosexual male as I am, why most of the couples I favor are gay, be they women or men. It's really pretty simple when you think about it, though. Sentimentality is everything to me. In fiction, lesbian couples and male gay couples are most often portrayed as being more sentimental, more romantic, more ethereal in their love. Occasionally I come across heterosexual romances that are not stifled by stock masculine stoicism. But not often.

I emailed Nancy Garden once. If you are a fan of her or the book, you really ought to drop her a line. The response she gave me was beautiful, saying that I would meet an Annie to my Liza someday. I can't say I'm sure it's true, but life has already gifted me so much more than I ever dreamed possible, especially in my youth, that I can't honestly say I'd mind if I never do. If the best life can give me is good friends and happy times, that is so much more than enough. So much more... than I ever thought I'd receive.