Everything Has Changed

Playlist

When I started this story I made an outline and each chapter title was a part of that outline. This entire story has a playlist that goes with it, sort of, the song "The Stairs" by Reba McEntire was the inspiration for the entire thing. And if you included that one as the first song on the playlist you will understand why, having read the story.

After that there were a number of songs that I thought over for the title before I decided on Everything Has Changed. The Taylor Swift-Ed Sheeran song says , "All I know is we said hello, and your eyes looked like coming home, all I know is a simple name, and Everything Has Changed." Which was the entire concept for the story.

The first chapter "At The Beginning" is from the movie "Anastasia". It starts out exactly the same way as my story, it says: "We were strangers starting out on a journey, never dreaming what we'd have to go through. Now here we are, and I'm suddenly standing, at the beginning with you." It's a duet that foreshadows the entire story.

The second chapter is "Bruises", inspired by the Train duet with Ashley Monroe. I took this literally instead of figuratively like the song suggest, but they say, "Everybody looses, we've all got bruises." And that is exactly how Regina feels.

Chapter three is "Two Sparrows In A Hurricane" by Tanya Tucker. It says "It's just a matter of time, they'll spread their wings, and fly. Like two sparrows in a hurricane, trying to find their way. With a head full of dreams and faith that move anything." This is a love song, but for me it showed how strong both Snow and Regina were in their current situation.

Chapter four was "Everything That Glitters" by Dan Seals. This is a rodeo story, about a woman that leaves her husband and daughter behind, but I see Zelena and Regina in it too, and that's how I used it. It talks about her rhinestones and her sequins and then it says, "And oh the crowd will always love you, but as for me I've come to know, everything that glitters, is not gold." I think that's how Regina sees Zelena in this chapter.

Chapter five, "Cold Like That" is by Garth Brooks and boy is it all about Cora. "The high roads a little too high to take, I wanna walk a mile each way. Wanna take a page from your guiltless book, wanna let myself off the hook today. Let my conscience have a break. I wish I could be cold like that, then it wouldn't hurt so bad."

Chapter six is "I Heard Her Cryin'" another great old one by Reba McEntire. It directly inspired the ending of that chapter. "Then a sound rose above the slamming door, and broken dishes all around the floor. So loud it made us stop, it was the sound of a tear drop." The song plays out pretty much the same way my chapter does.

Chapter seven was "Lessons Learned" by the great Carrie Underwood. Regina has a lot of the same regrets that Carrie does in the song, "There's some things that I regret, some words I wish had gone unsaid...some pages turned, some bridges burned, but there were lessons learned."

Chapter eight was "Believing", a duet featuring Charles Esten and Lennon and Maisy Stella from the ABC show Nashville. Their message is perfect for Regina and those she loves. "When I get the feeling that my prayers have hit the ceiling and those darker days when my faith has lost all meaning. You keep me believing."

Chapter nine was a little more fun. There is an Aladdin reference in there that I particularly like, and the son is "Don't Let Me Be Lonely" by The Band Perry. It works with what Robin tells Lacey, to make sure that Regina isn't by herself through all of this. "I need a saving grace, a hiding place. I don't have forever or time to waste, so don't let me be lonely, no don't let me be lonely."

Chapter ten, "She's Everything" is a love song by Brad Paisley, that I truly think would be perfect for modern day Regina and Robin. "She's a fighter when she's mad and she's a lover when she's loving. And she's everything I ever wanted, and everything I need. I talk about her I go on and on and on cause she's everything to me."

Chapter Eleven is a power ballad that fits the chapter like a glove. "Brave" by Idina Menzel, has Regina written all over it. "This is the moment, I stand here on my own. If this is my rite of passage that somehow leads me home, I might be afraid, but it's my turn to be brave."

Chapter twelve is Regina's comeback song. "Don't Put Dirt On My Grave Just Yet" by Hayden Panettiere is perfect, she says, "Well I'm not going no where, I can live all my prayers, 'cause I'm done playing nice, I'm done running from life, 'cause think that you got me scared...I get stronger with every step. I've got a whole lot more than a little bit left." It's a perfect fit for where the young queen is in the story.

Chapter thirteen "Demons" is the Imagine Dragons song. Everybody faces their inner demons in the chapter and it's kind of laying out what each one feels. "But with the beast inside there's no where we can hide...when you feel my heat, look into my eyes, it's where my demons hide."

Chapter fourteen "Not Ready To Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks is Regina's message to her mother and to Leopold. "I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down. I'm still mad as hell, and I don't have time to go round and round and round. It's too late to make it right. Probably wouldn't if I could, cause I'm mad as hell cant bring myself to do what it is you think I should."

Chapter fifteen is "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" by Cher and that is the warning that Cora gives Regina. "I'll be back, back on my feet. This is far from over, you haven't seen the last of me."

Chapter sixteen is the second song on the list from Carrie Underwood. This one was called "Little Toy Guns". "But it ain't a pretty picture tonight. Mom and Daddy just won't stop it, fighting at the drop of the faucet. Cuts through the walls catastrophic and she's caught in the crossfire...I wish words were like little toy guns, no pain, no hurt, no one just a bang bang rolling off your tongue."

Chapter seventeen "Safe and Sound" is the Megan Hilty version of the Taylor Swift song from "The Hunger Games". From it I pulled two direst lines, "I'll never let you go." And "Don't leave me here alone." From the first verse. I think that from Robin to Regina it is perfect for what had just happened.

Chapter eighteen is the George Strait classic from the movie "Pure Country", called "I Cross My Heart." That is the type of love that they share in my story. "Our love is unconditional, we knew it from the start...I cross my heart, and promised too, give all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true. In all the world, you'll never find, a love as true, as mine."

Chapter nineteen is the Celine Dion classic "Because You Loved Me." Their wedding deserved a classic love song! "You were strength when I was weak, you were my voice when I couldn't speak, you were my eyes when I couldn't see, you saw the best there was in me. Lifted me up when I couldn't reach, you gave me faith cause you believed. I'm everything I am, because you loved me."

The epilogue is Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance". To celebrate their life together, the birth of their daughter and everything they want for her future, I chose this song. "Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance, and when you get the choice, to sit it out or dance. I hope you dance, I hope you dance."