As part of the celebration of the May 8 release of City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare, the book’s playlist debuted over on the Mundie Moms site.

See a few of Clare’s selections below.

“Hem Of Your Garment” by Cake

This is a great Sebastian song because it’s not just about being a bad person, it’s about being a bad person but knowing someone much better than you and really wanting to be like them. It’s about wanting to be good and not knowing how to be. About feeling unworthy and that just making you angrier than ever.

I have no love but only goals
How very empty is my soul
It is a soul that feels no thrill
A soul that could easily kill
And I’m not fit to touch
The hem of your garment

“Love Me Like the World is Ending” by Ben Lee

A lovely love song, but one about mortality and finite-ness and endings. This was a Magnus and Alec song since mortality is much on their minds. “The sky is what makes the ocean blue” = mortality is what makes life worth experiencing.

This is the last day of existence.
And all i want is you.
There’s a certain sadness.
But i know, i know, i know, the sky is what makes the ocean blue.

“From Some Dying Star” by Future Bible Heroes

A Sebastian song. More about how other people see him. There’s something about very beautiful people who are also very scary and this song gets at that.

Your hair is gold on gold
You’re seventeen years old
You make my blood run cold cause you’re not human.

“Fresh Blood” by The Eels

This was a fun song to listen to again when writing some of the creepier scenes in the books. The refrain about needing fresh blood was — well, there’s some vampire action in City of Lost Souls. Some of it is Simon, but some of it … isn’t.

The moon shines in the autumn sky
Growing cold, the leaves all die
I’m more alone than I’ve ever been
Help me out of the shape I’m in
After the fires, before the flood
My sweet baby, I need fresh blood

“First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes

A Jace and Clary song. It reminded me of what Izzy tells Clary in City of Glass, that Jace basically was half-asleep before he met her, that she’s the first person he ever really “saw.”

Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you

“Poison and Wine” by the Civil Wars

(Courtesy of the really awesome SnapCracklyPop, who is one of my fave concert-going friends)

About Sebastian’s messed up feelings for his sister. You can interpret it . . . however you want!

You only know what I want you to
I know everything you don’t want me to
Oh your mouth is poison, your mouth is wine
Oh you think your dreams are the same as mine
Oh I don’t love you but I always will

“Honey and the Moon” by Joseph Arthur

This one is also for Jace and Clary. They are once again in an impossible situation in this book; they love each other, but as Lilith said, some love can burn the world down. I feel like this song is also about what it’s okay to do for love, and whether love is a moral force or outside morals.

We’re made out of blood and rust
looking for someone to trust
without
a fight
But right now
everything you want is wrong,
and right now
all your dreams are waking up,
and right now
I wish that I could follow you
to the shores
of freedom
where no one lives

“White Blank Page” by Mumford and Sons

Who doesn’t love this song? The lyrics could work for Maia and Jordan, Magnus and Alec, Jace and Clary . . .what if love’s not enough?

Oh tell me now, where was my fault
In loving you with my whole heart?
Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life
Oh, lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life

“Fistful of Love” by Antony and the Johnsons

This is a creepy song. It’s not a love song, even if it is. A Jocelyn and Valentine song — I think after CoLS it will make sense that they get a song, even if Valentine’s dead.

And I feel your fists
And I know it’s out of love
And I feel the whip
And I know it’s out of love
And I feel your burning eyes burning holes
Straight through my heart
It’s out of love

“Lead Me Into the Night” by the Cardigans

Magnus and Alec. Mainly Magnus – there is something about the lyrics that makes me think of Magnus, who is pretty worn out and tired of life by the time he meets Alec, who wears his heart on his sleeve , and wakes Magnus up out of his disillusionment and boredom with the world.

And lead me into the night
Please drive away the light
Cause I’ve been blinded by glitter and gold
My eyes need to rest from this light
And sleep well at night
I traveled east and I traveled west
And I found a boy with a heart on his chest

The songs are an eclectic mixture of alternative, indie, pop and rock, and should resonate well while reading the book. My faves on there by far are “Falling Slowly,” “Poison and Wine,” “Sweet Talk” and “White Blank Page.” What are your faves? Will you pick up any of these tunes in preparation for the book release? What do you picture will happen to the characters when you read the lyrics? Share your thoughts below!

See the whole playlist over here.