In my first novel, Cordell’s Rebellion, one will find the lyrics to three songs from one of the characters. Since I had written the songs anyway, so I could include snippets in the story, it seemed like a nice thing to append. Now I have the question: should the second novel also include song lyrics or poetry at the end?
The thought behind the question is that such a thing could become a normal part of any novel I write, a sort of trademark. I write poetry and lyrics occasionally anyway; it would not be difficult to knock something out that fits the book. If anyone ever recorded a performance of the songs, it would help to promote the books. As long as the lyrics were good, I couldn’t see anyone complaining.
However, as I thought about it, there is no direct tie-in with the story. In the first novel, one of the characters likes to sing when he is under stress. He also fancies himself a song writer. This gives a story-related reason for there to be song lyrics. This character does not appear in the second novel, nor are there any others where a musical bent is important. This means lyrics in the second story would seem forced.
I’ve looked through the story of the second novel and cannot find a place where music would be appropriate. There’s no part where the characters or plot are enhanced that way. I can’t really think of the right kind of music for this story, not anything easy to describe.
In later books, poetry and music may come to play again. In those cases, it would be reasonable to append the verses to the end of the tale. It would be a natural thing. For the second novel, the prose will have to stand on its own. Isn’t that always the case.