Ever since my debut novel Lucy in the Sky back in 2006, I’ve loved writing to music. The song that really sums up Lucy for me is ‘When You Were Young’ by The Killers.

 

Sometimes I like listening to a song so much that it makes an appearance in the book. In the case of The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson (the first Jessie book) – I was so into ‘This Modern Glitch’, an album by The Wombats, that the band and their songs got several mentions. And I’m sure you can guess which song inspired the title for the first second book, I Knew You Were Trouble.

 

Read on for the ultimate Jessie Jefferson playlist – and look out for the sneak peeks into the third book – out this summer. It would be cool if you wanted listen to some of these while you’re reading…

 

Check out Paige’s Twitter @PaigeToonAuthor

Reptilia by The Strokes

This song – and others by The White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, The Libertines, The Streets and Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – are played at Jessie’s sixteenth birthday party in Book 3. Jack teases Jessie that her rock star dad chose these songs because they’re all from the decade his band shot to fame. But really it’s because Jessie was born in the 2000s.

 

Greek Tragedy by The Wombats

I couldn’t write a Jessie book and not include a song from The Wombats’ new album, ‘Glitterbug’. Jack plays this to Jessie to cheer her up when she’s upset about her mum. They’ve also just had a big argument because Jessie appears to have unfinished business with her ex boyfriend…

 

Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes

Jessie overhears Jack playing this song on his guitar when she’s at his house hanging out with his sis, Agnes. She asks him to teach her how to play the famous riff, and he confides in her that his dad taught him to play the guitar – that ‘it was the one good thing he did.’ They end up getting pretty hot and steamy…

 

Jump into the Fog and Tokyo by The Wombats

Jessie thinks of ‘Jump into The Fog’ when she flying through the smog cloud into LA to meet her dad in The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson, and she hands Jack the record when he’s DJ-ing at his sister Agnes’s birthday party. In I Knew You Were Trouble, Jessie requests ‘Tokyo’ at Natalie’s crush’s party because it reminds her of Jack.

 

I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You by Black Kids

Jack impresses Jessie with his mixing skills with this song when he first DJs at Agnes’s party in The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson. It also gets a mention in I Knew You Were Trouble because it’s just so incredibly catchy and always on my go-to writing playlist.

 

Running Up That Hill ­– the Placebo version

This dark and sexy song was Jack’s choice of music when he takes Jessie up to his bedroom for the first time in The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson. They make out to it on his bed…

 

I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift

This song was played over the sound system at the Hollywood Hills party that Jessie goes to with Johnny and Meg in The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson. Jessie had just been warned by a bitchy girl that Jack is ‘trouble’, so she’s amused when the song comes on. Needless to say, it also inspired the title for the second book.

Live While We’re Young and Kiss You by One Direction

Jack has a tattoo that is similar to Zayn Malik’s from One Direction. Jessie teases him about it, but he bets her that he got his done first. Later he jokily sings her some lyrics from these songs, but forgets most of the words.

 

All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix

Jessie hears this super cool song blaring out of Jack’s stereo in his bedroom when she goes to visit his sister Agnes in I Knew You Were Trouble. It pretty much sums up his good taste in music.

 

People Are Strange by The Doors

This is played at teen actress Lottie’s Halloween party in I Knew You Were Trouble. The song was on the soundtrack for classic vampire movie The Lost Boys, and when Jack and his band members come dressed to the party as blood-suckers, their mate on the DJ decks whacks on this song.

 

Never Tear Us Apart by INXS

This song was played at Jessie’s mum’s funeral, and when it comes on during a drunken game of SingStar in The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson, Jessie gets very upset. She flees and hottest boy in school Tom comes to find her – it’s the first time they properly talk.

 

A few more for your playlist…

Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids

(Rock) Superstar by Cypress Hill

Live Forever by Oasis (Jack mashes these last two songs together)

I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys

Katy Perry’s California Girls

The Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition