Welcome to the first edition of Music Monday, where I will highlight a song that helped inspire my book The Mixtape to My Life. As I’ve mentioned before (at least I hope I have), each song is a chapter title within the book. They are meant to capture the spirit of the chapter, and connect the emotions being felt by the characters. I don’t plan to give too much away, since I still want you to buy the book, however a little background is always helpful.
As you can see from the GIF above, the first song is the 80s Guns N’ Roses class Welcome to the Jungle, from their debut album Appetite for Destruction. Released in 1987, this was the song that skyrocketed the band to fame and cemented their place in metal/rock history. Some people may get mad at me for bunching them in with hair metal bands, but in my defense, they do play this on almost all hair metal channels.
When I hear this song, I think of a truly scary place or situation that you are trying to navigate through. In the case of my main character Justin Ortega, that jungle is high school. He’s scared of the people and situations that he finds himself in, particularly with his other members of the high school band. Just like when lead singer Axl Rose when he visited Seattle in the early 80s, Justin sees high school as a wild land that could eat you up if you aren’t careful. It certainly was how I felt when I was in high school, and I be that a lot of teens still do.
Here’s a look a the video, and if you want to hear more, head over to The Mixtape to My Life playlist on Spotify. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Spotify icon.
And just for fun (and for you 80s and 90s kids), here is a song from the original Jem cartoon also titled Welcome to the Jungle. It has nothing to do with the Guns N’ Roses version; just thought I would share.
Jake Martinez - Author 