Stories into Song

A British-Academy-Funded research project on adaptations of short stories and novels into pop and rock songs. This project draws on the research and practice expertise of literary critic-musicians to bring together textual analysis and the co-creation of musical artworks with a range of publics to devise a new approach to literary analysis. It examines the processes involved when adapting one medium of aesthetic production – narrative fiction – to another – the pop/rock song. There have been numerous instances of recording artists and musicians using novels and short stories as
the inspiration or source material for the composition of songs, such as Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, David Bowie’s ‘1984’, Emilie Autumn’s ‘Gothic Lolita’, Rush’s ‘Tom Sawyer’ and Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful'
(based on The Great Gatsby). However, there has been no systematic study of the processes involved in the adaptation of stories into song. This pilot project, funded by a British Academy Small Grant, aims to develop a systematic methodology for analysing such adaptations.
The project also aims to pilot a new method for analysing literary texts whereby analysis of the decisions made in the adaptation process allow new critical insights into aspects of the original source.
The songs on this page have emerged from the project, which will also involve conference presentations and live performances of songs adapted from literary texts, including the ones you can find here.

Stories into Song’s tracks

• Pella's Dream by Stories into Song
• Never Let Me Go by Stories into Song
• Don't Look Now by Stories into Song