This song was playing on the car radio the other day as I was driving out to a camp where my school was holding a beginning of the year retreat. The scenery on this drive is beautiful and is really just the perfect sort to “prime the imagination pumps”. Well, my brain was thinking Jane Austen thoughts (as it often does 😉 ) as this song began to play. Immediately, I thought the lyrics fit Darcy quite nicely, especially this phrase
“and my heart won’t tell my mind to tell my mouth what it should say”
I also thought of the 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I love how the role of Darcy is played in this version because the portrayal, in my opinion, shows the struggle that Darcy has in trying to overcome his feelings for Miss Elizabeth. So, I thought I would share a clip of the movie below the song. This clip is one of my favourites and features Lizzy walking away from a Darcy who looks as if he wants to say something. (And yes, I know this scene is not in the book. 🙂 )
“Zac Brown Band – As She’s Walking Away.” YouTube. Uploaded to YouTube by Zac Brown Band September 13, 2010.
“Pride and Prejudice – Encourage Affection.” YouTube. Uploaded to YouTube by Christa McKinney on August 5, 2008.
“Period Drama: A Thousand Years.” YouTube. Video created and uploaded by TheDeathlyNight on May 5, 2012.
This is a song that I simply adore. It is on my Music to Write By in an instrumental version (no words are allowed on that list 😉 ). But, I also love this video of it.
I have begun working on my next book, and this song is one that I keep playing as I write it. (In fact, I think it could be an unofficial theme song for the story.)
In this variation, Elizabeth and Darcy are forced into a marriage by … nope, not telling yet. 🙂 But know that at the beginning neither are completely sure of their feelings for the other; though Darcy does suspect he is indeed in love with Elizabeth.
This little bit of the story is in its “Head to Page” version, and I hope it survives to the final draft because it is sweet. Darcy and Elizabeth are in the process of learning a bit more about the other. Elizabeth has just asked why Georgiana has not accompanied Darcy to Hertfordshire.
From Her Father’s Choice
“She is with her aunt and taking lessons from the masters. I did not wish to interrupt her education.” He smiled slightly and there was a twinkle in his eye. “And she did not wish to spend time with Miss Bingley.”
Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide. “But, Miss Bingley led me to believe she and Miss Darcy were close.”
“She knows how dear my sister is to me, so I believe she says it so that I will think she would make a good sister for Georgiana and, therefore, a good wife for me.” He stood and extended a hand to Elizabeth to assist her in rising from her seat on the stile. “She is mistaken if she thinks I would ever consider her for a wife.”
“Because she is from trade?”
Darcy laughed. “No, because she is annoying and rather dull.” He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and kept it covered with his own. “I have always wished for a companion in a wife. Someone with whom I can have discussions. Someone who has read extensively and has a quick wit. I wish for my sister to have a sister who is compassionate and caring as well as intelligent and strong.” His steps faltered slightly at the realization that dawned on him. “I believe…” He paused. “I believe I have been looking for you.”
Tomorrow is the first day of school for me and my sons for the 2015-2016 school year. I will be teaching one of my poor sons this year while the other starts his first year in college. So, in honour of the beginning of the new year, I decided to share a school-related music video. This one is a throwback to the old days when I was a kid — I remember seeing Schoolhouse Rock commercials every Saturday morning during cartoons, and I loved them! I chose a grammar song since this is a blog about writing. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
“Schoolhouse Rock: Grammar – Conjunction Junction Music Video.” YouTube. Posted by Disney Educational Productions on December 8, 2011.
A friend had this video posted on Facebook last week, and I thought it was just so beautiful that I had to share it here.
I love this phrase in the song,
“People fall in love in mysterious ways,”
or as Mr. Darcy says it in Pride and Prejudice,
“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
which also made me think of Anne in Listen to Your Heart
“I know I have loved you all my life, but it was not until…well…I am not sure where it changed from the love one has for a cousin to the love one has for a man.”
The truth of the phrase is not confined to lyrics and stories. If I think of my husband and ask myself the following questions
Why do I love you?
How do I love you?
When did I begin loving you?
There would be no simple answer because
“People fall in love in mysterious ways.”
A truth which makes writing about characters falling in love and fighting for that love so much fun!
“Thinking Out Loud / I’m Not The Only One MASHUP (Sam Tsui & Casey Breves).” YouTube. Posted by TheSamTsui on January 19, 2015.