This is what I imagine the character Mia from the book If I stay would have on her IPod.
Mia's IPod Playlist
Mia would have this song because her brother sang this when he learned that they didn't have school on the day of the car crash.
She would have this one because Jonathan Richman was considered by Mia to be her parents' "musical patron saint". I chose this song specifically because I thought it was fun and characterized how the author describes him; rockin', sweet, tender, edgy, and goofy.
Besides this just being a fun song to listen to, it does have an importance to Mia. This was the song that her brother, Teddy, picked on their last car ride together, and this was one of his favorites.
To me, this is one of the most important songs in this book. This is the song that was playing right before the car crash. It was also the song that Mia was supposed to be practicing that day. Therefore, this was also the last song they heard as a family. I chose a rendition of the piece by Yo-Yo Ma, her favorite cello player.
Mia would definitely have this on her IPod. It was the song she played at her first recital when she was 8.
This is the Icelandic art band that Adam plays for Mia on the way to their first date. I chose this song specifically because I feel like it personifies both of them. The voices are soft and light like Mia, but the instrumentation leans more toward rock like Adam.
This is yet another cover of a piece from her favorite cello player. This was one of the songs in the concert that Adam takes Mia to on their first date. The author chose this song because she felt that it would be something that Adam would also like since it is more contemporary than some of his other pieces/covers.
This was the song that was playing during Mia's surgery. This song would not only be on her IPod because of this, but also because it symbolizes the battle that she was having for her life during the surgery.
Played by Rostropovich live.
Played by Yo-Yo Ma
Played by Yo-Yo Ma
The three songs above mean a lot to Mia. These are three of the five songs she had to play in her Julliard audition. Being a girl from a small town in Oregon, she didn't think that she had a shot until she auditioned. Mia says in the book that it was the best she had ever played, and that it was almost like she was possessed while she was playing.
Mia's best friend, Kim, played this for her when she was thinking about quitting the cello. It showed Mia that even cellists can play in a rock band and become famous outside of an orchestra.
Mia would get the irony in this song since she was in a coma for 99 percent of the book. It would also remind her of when the superstar Brooke Vega sang it in the hospital she was in. Brooke did this to create a distraction so Mia's boyfriend Adam could get in to see her.
This was one of the groups that Mia's mom was listening to when she was in labor with Teddy. This may not be Mia's favorite type of music, but she would have it since she watched her brother being born and cut his umbilical cord.
This is a 9 minute section from the beginning of this piece. The whole thing is almost an hour long.
This is the song that Mia said she wanted to be played at her funeral. The song is haunting, intense, and beautiful so it fits Mia perfectly.
In the book, her dad is the one who wrote this song. Mia would sing it when she was trying to put Teddy down for a nap. She and her dad also had a bonding moment in the book while this song was playing. Therefore this song would mean a lot to Mia.