Molly Morris’ official playlist to accompany Rewind to Us

Guest post written by Molly Morris, author of Rewind to Us.

What’s a book without shameless pop culture (especially music) references? If you’re me, very little.

In my last two books, THIS IS NOT THE END and ANNIE LEBLANC IS NOT DEAD YET, the characters talk a lot about music, and I use their music tastes to show who they are (I stand firm that our musical tastes can help define us). But, shock horror – this isn’t really the case in my latest novel, REWIND TO US.

In REWIND TO US, we find Dixie, a girl so broken over the idea that she might’ve missed her chance at love with her best friend Sawyer, that she decides to use her Rewind, a magical ability everyone in her family has to change one moment from the last 365 days. And instead of music, Dixie is perpetually surrounded by movies.

Whether she’s working at her aunt’s indie movie theatre in the California desert, bowling at the local movie theatre-themed alley, or arguing about films with Sawyer (their favourite pastime), cinema plays a huge part in her life. And what plays a huge part in movies? Music!

So yes, this book didn’t escape my love for incorporating music with my writing. Just as films have soundtracks, this book has a playlist to accompany it – whether it’s to capture a particular scene, character, moment, or relationship, these songs each play a very special role in REWIND TO US. Here’s how:

1. Ventura Highway by America – This song means so much to me. I once played it while driving down Ventura Highway in Los Angeles, and while it was so cheesy, it was also so perfect.

The guitar riff is so peaceful and beautiful, so I picture it opening the book as Sawyer and Dixie are reunited after their year apart. It’s technically a song from their favourite movie soundtrack (I don’t actually name the song in the book, but now you know!), and as I say in the novel, it’s perfect for driving down long, dusty highways. I just love imagining them listening to it as they’re so giddy and shy with seeing each other again.

2. Bull Breed by Royel Otis – Royel Otis were a big obsession of mine as I wrote this book (and they still are), so there’s no way they were escaping this playlist. To me, this song is really cute and playful, so in my mind, I’ve paired it as a sort of montage song as Sawyer, Dixie, and her cousin Bunny have their various shenanigans around Cielo Springs, the desert town Dixie visits every summer. The town is where Dixie comes alive again each year (metaphorically speaking, not magically), and I think this is the dream song for it.
3. Steve McQueen by M83 – Have you ever seen Across the Universe? Do you remember that scene where they’re all at the bowling alley, singing and dancing and sliding down the different lanes? Just me?

Okay, so that doesn’t actually happen in this book, but I do have this scene where Dixie walks into the AV Alley—the movie theatre-themed bowling alley Sawyer takes her to—and her having this big stunned look on her face when she first takes in just how epic the place is. Long story short, it needed a suitably epic song. Enter M83 and “Steve McQueen” – just picture at 0:54, Dixie reaching the wrought-iron fence overlooking the alley, and her taking in the black- and white-striped Beetlejuice lane with her mouth dropped open. The song is grandiose and overwhelming and absolutely perfect.

4. Bros by Wolf Alice – I discovered Wolf Alice way too late in life, but now that I’m here, I’m a firm fan. I love how brilliantly “Bros” encapsulates what it means to have a best friend as a young person and to be so close to someone. It’s the song version of how Dixie and Sawyer feel about one another, just that easy friendship in which you feel perfectly comfortable in the other’s presence. It’s upbeat and silly and sweet, just like them.
5. love is embarrassing by Olivia Rodrigo – I feel like if Dixie could get this song title tattooed on her forehead, she would. This song is Dixie Mulligan. To her, love has been an incredibly embarrassing experience, mostly because she just can’t seem to get it right, and in general, I think love and all things associated with it can be really freaking mortifying when you’re a teenager. Imagine how complicated the world’s timelines would be if we all had a Rewind when we were seventeen? Somehow, I think I wouldn’t have still had my first kiss onstage in a bad musical production of Grease.
6. Blue Monday by New Order – I had a very random, very intense love affair with New Order as I started writing this book, so it makes sense that their big hit would embody a scene.

Without giving too much away, there’s a point in the book in which the you-know-what hits the fan, and the moment the penny drops is when I imagine this song starting. That intense thump in the intro kind of mimics a heartbeat, or the drone of your head pounding when you start to panic, so it’s a great embodiment of the exact second when Dixie’s world tips upside down.

7. Amor Fati by Washed Out – There’s something about this song that feels like the clouds parting. Just a breath of fresh air, like when the beat drops, everything is right in the world, or will be soon.

There’s a scene toward the end of this book where I want the reader to just gulp in a big happy breath and feel good about the journey Dixie and Sawyer have been on. It’s messy and complicated and not nearly as straightforward as it should’ve been, but they do it together. And when they reach the end, this song will be playing.

8. Moth’s Wings by Passion Pit – Do you ever just hear a song and picture credits rolling? I love the quiet intensity of the opening bars to “Moth’s Wings,” how jangly and upbeat they are until the sweeping piano rolls in.

Towards the end of the book, there’s a scene in which Dixie and Sawyer are standing on the roof of their beloved movie theatre. This song is what would be in the background as they pause there together, looking out over the night lights of the town they cherish so much, wondering how they got there but grateful they did.

Read more about Molly Morris and REWIND TO US, or pick up a copy here.