Music From The Women by Kristin Hannah

If you loved all of the musical references in The Women by Kristin Hannah, then you’re in luck because we’ve created a complete playlist!

♫ LISTEN TO OUR SPOTIFY PLAYLIST FOR THE WOMEN ♫

Table of Contents

• Spotify Playlist Inspired by Kristin Hannah’s The Women
• List of Songs Mentioned in The Women
• Music-Inspired Games for Your Book Club Meeting
• More Resources Related to The Women and Kristin Hannah

Full Table of ContentsShow Less

Spotify Playlist Inspired by Kristin Hannah’s The Women

From the parties at the McGrath estate on Coronado Island to the O Club in Vietnam, we noted all of the songs mentioned in The Women and created a Spotify playlist featuring 39 songs (2 hours and 21 minutes). All you need is a free Spotify account to listen to our full playlist inspired by The Women.

List of Songs Mentioned in The Women

Below is a complete list of the musical references in The Women. There are many interesting connections to be made between the music Frankie is listening to and what is happening in her life at that point in the story. However, we didn’t want to include any book spoilers, so we’ve instead listed the page numbers in case you want to look back on your own to connect the songs to the events of the story. Page numbers are from the US hardcover edition, so many vary if you have a different copy.

• Walk Like a Man – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – page 9
• Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan – page 39
• California Girls – The Beach Boys – page 40
• These Boots are Made for Walkin‘ – Nancy Sinatra – page 42
• Monday, Monday – The Mamas & The Papas – page 43
• I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles – page 50
• Light My Fire – The Doors – pages 78, 243, and 272
• When a Man Loves a Woman – Percy Sledge – page 79
• Van Morrison – page 84
  • No specific song was mentioned, but we included “Brown Eyed Girl” on the playlist because it was released in mid-1967 coinciding with the time frame of the reference in the book
• Happy Together – The Turtles – page 97
• Puff the Magic Dragon – Peter, Paul and Mary – page 101
• Leaving On a Jet Plane – page 103
  • John Denver wrote and originally recorded “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” It then became a big hit for Peter, Paul and Mary. While the book does not specify which version of the song Frankie hears, John Denver is mentioned several times in the story.
• Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix – page 108
• Good Lovin’ – The Rascals – page 108
• We Gotta Get Out of This Place – The Animals – page 121 and 262
• Ain’t That a Shame – Fats Domino – page 139
• White Christmas – Bing Crosby – page 165
• I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye – page 208
• Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf – page 209
• Cream – page 236
  • Frankie lists Cream as one of the bands that define “the music of Vietnam,” but she doesn’t mention a specific song. We included “Sunshine of Your Love” on the playlist because it was released in 1967 – the year Frankie left for Vietnam – and because it was Cream’s most popular song.
• Country Joe & The Fish – page 236
  • This is another band Frankie mentions without specifying a specific song. We added “I Feel Like I’m Fixin to Die” (also known as the “Vietnam Song”) to the playlist because it’s such a recognizable protest song against the war, which also became an iconic moment at Woodstock.
• Creedence Clearwater Revival – pages 292 and 443
  • While no specific Creedence song is specified in the book, we chose “Fortunate Son” for the playlist because of its political message about class and war.

• Little Deuce Coupe – The Beach Boys – page 329
• American Pie – Don McLean – page 331
• Nights in White Satin – The Moody Blues – page 337
• Blue Christmas – Elvis – page 343
• Hey Jude – The Beatles – page 367
• Piece of My Heart – Janis Joplin – page 379
• Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree – Tony Orlando and Dawn – page 380
• Time in a Bottle – Jim Croce – page 398
• Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye – page 400
• I Am Woman – Helen Reddy – page 406
• John Denver – page 430
  • Frankie mentions that like the world, music has changed by 1974. She mentions John Denver, but doesn’t specify a song. We added “Sunshine On My Shoulders” to the playlist because it was released in 1974.
• Linda Ronstadt – page 430
  • Frankie mentions Linda Ronstadt as another artist reflective of 1974, so we selected Ronstadt’s hit “When Will I Be Loved” from her ’74 Heart Like a Wheel album.
• Elton John – page 430
  • Since no specific Elton John song is specified, we added the first single from his 1974 Caribou album, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”
• Hooked on a Feeling – Blue Swede – page 442
• Vanilla Fudge – page 443
  • In her final reference to the “music of Vietnam,” Frankie mentions the band Vanilla Fudge. We chose “You Keep Me Hanging On” for the playlist because it is their most famous song, which was released the year Frankie arrived in Vietnam.
• America the Beautiful – page 457
  • We chose the version recorded by Ray Charles in 1972 for the Spotify playlist.
• God Bless America – page 458
  • For our playlist, we selected the iconic version recorded by Kate Smith.

Did you catch a song that we missed? If so, let us know in the comments below and we’ll add it to the Spotify playlist.