A review : 31 Songs by Nick Hornby

"If you love a song, love it enough for it to accompany you throughout the different stages of your life, then any specific memory is rubbed away by use." - Nick Hornby

I first read an excerpt from 31 Songs – George Isaacs: Puff the Magic Dragon – for one of my Life Writing classes. It was about Hornby’s autistic son, Danny, and how he connected to the world around him despite his incompetence. When I bought his book, (something to pass the time back home, I guess) I thought maybe it was a collection of writings on Hornby’s life with songs personally selected as a guide. If that were so, maybe it would be interesting, though self-absorbing. Maybe it would be a memoir of sorts. Predictable, but yet not, because not everyone knows the life of Nick Hornby.

But I did not find this book in the Non-Fiction corner in Borders, sandwiched in between a few of David Beckham’s so-called official biographies. I found the book in the Music Reference section instead, tucked secretly at the lowest shelf with a guy sitting nearby reading a book he chosen blocking me from getting it. I had to get the staff to shoo this guy away. Actually, that was not true; he eventually walked away; I must have been circling the section and glancing at the same spot too often. The point is, wherever I found this book located in the big bookstore, is already saying that it will not be what I expect.

When someone writes a book on a collection of songs, it is only natural to think that he is reminiscing precious moments in his life that made these songs so special. Is that not why we make mixed CDs in the first place? Each track in the CD reminds us of something that happened in one particular point of life. Hornby mentioned somewhere in his book that he was in his mid-40s. 31 songs would probably be too little for someone his age, but maybe he was a careful selector. He did not mention that in his book, but from the looks of it he was a music fan and that would be saying something. And these 31 songs could be the keys to unlock all the crazy times he had in his 40-decade life.

The book is specifically about his life as a music fan. Not just his life in general. But most importantly, the journey of discovering music while growing old. He did not pick the songs because they remind him of certain events in his life. The songs were picked because during certain periods of his life, they happened to play a crucial part.

As I went through the last few chapters, I thought to myself will I – or anyone for that matter – be able to compile a selection of songs like Hornby did, or write a book in regards of why the songs were chosen by like Hornby did. Will Verve Pipe’s The Freshmen be the song I choose when I write about listening to a song again and again because I want to figure out what it is and “solve” the meanings in between the lines (Nelly Furtado: I’m Like a Bird). Will I still remember my favourite CD store shun away from the most popular hangout spots and my very own CD guy who is ever so kind to provide me with CDs I would not find anywhere else in Malaysia (Mark Mulcahy: Hey Self-Defeater). Will it still exist if it chances upon me to write a book alike Hornby’s. Will anyone be ever so kind to write a song inspired by a very book I debuted (Badly Drawn Boys: A Minor Incident). How would I feel when I hear Death Cab’s I Will Follow You Into the Dark in Starbucks just because some guy working behind the counter likes that song. Will I feel glad that someone shares the same thing as I. Or will I feel annoyed, the way I do when I saw Damien Rice’s 9 Crimes music video on Channel V or his new CD flocking the shelves on Tower Records. Or when I hear The Fray’s How to Save a Life way too fucking often on the radio. Or when Howie Day’s Collide seems to be every boyfriend’s ticket to soothe the girlfriend’s heart. Honestly, I worry when my favourite songs are overplayed and exposed to commercialism. I would feel a part of me is lost to mass destruction.

31 Songs is probably one of the few nice books I have read. Mainly because I am a fan of music myself. I am familiar with probably half of the musicians mentioned and I get giddy because I recognise them. As for the other half, I would like to check them out and find out of I could feel the way Hornby felt when he heard Frankie Teardrop’s Suicide. Or Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road. Or Santana’s Samba Pa Ti. Some chapters are written with Hornby’s personal take on the songs. A music review. With a personal touch on his life experiences. Ones that nobody else but Nick Hornby himself can ever write.

I would recommend this book if you were a serious music fan. Hornby knows what he is doing, so you can count on him. He wrote something all music fans are familiar with. Maybe not the same songs he talked about per se, but the similar experiences we go through.

I guess, it is just a matter of whether or not we can compile songs that were triggered by the life changing events, instead of songs that trigger the pettiest moments in life. It is nice to have a soundtrack to your life the way Hornby does. It might as well be one of the few things we should do before we die. Compile life’s soundtrack. Yes.

Photo credit: Amazon.com

Albums for 2006

I bring you a list of the albums I bought in the year 2006. All 27 of them in total. (Mind you, some of them were downloaded). Of course, there are those I cannot get enough of, those I listen to to get by my days, those that totally ripped me off and those that is just there. Accompanied are some album arts and links to Amazon, as well as some sample tracks. ('Tis the season of giving, I guess). Although, some tracks are in m4a format and the links are only valid for seven days.

The loves
O by Damien Rice
I listen to this album when I could not sleep at night. I listen to this album when I needed a good cry in the middle of the day. I listen to this album when I wanted company out in the chilly spring night. This album is orchestrated perfectly as a whole as one tune connects to the next with slender threads of angelic vocals, heartbreaking strings and crying pianos. Although each with a different story to tell, the chapters managed to bind together into a book. It is the story of O. A newfound love. A star-crossed love. A blower’s daughter. No one’s daughter. An Eskimo friend. A darlin’. A storyteller. Read me your favourite line. A flying cannonball. I remember December. All dressed up for Prague.
- The Blower’s Daughter.mp3

9 by Damien Rice
I woke up earlier than usual the day this album was released in Australia. I had a quick shower – because I would do anything for love, but I won’t leave the house without showering first – and before having my breakfast, I hopped on a bus to the city to get myself a copy. It was not as if the album was going to sell out within seconds. It was the wait that made me do it. It rained almost the instant I returned home. I spent the rest of the day drawn into a world unlike O. A long time ago, my Eskimo friend sat me in his car and played me his favourite tracks on O and called Damien Rice a fucking genius in such an enthusiastic tone I would rarely see coming from him. He sent me a B-side, The Professor, and complimented Damien was versatile. I did not know how that word worked with Damien. Until 9.
- The Animals Were Gone.m4a

Declare A New State! by The Submarines
My anthem of the year. The tracks are arranged in the album – consciously or unconsciously – with vocals sang alternatively by the female and male lead. The songs are written at the saddest peak of their lives apart from each other, filled with so much misunderstanding, regret, depression and hopelessness only a long distance relationship would know how. Yet nonetheless, it does not hurt to be optimistic and faithful at the end of the day. Blake and John have voices that blend well together. Perhaps a match made in Heaven. Pronounced husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. The musical arrangements, both lyrical and technical, are simple and sincere. Just the way I like it.
- This Conversation.m4a

Move Along by The All-American Rejects
It was the first and only concert I went to in Australia this year. I was probably the only person who attended the concert by herself. I was too old for the pushing and shoving up front at the stage. I ordered vodka and lime upstairs and stood behind Australians one foot taller than me, peeking at Tyler in between bopping heads and jumping shoulders. But at least I got to stand still with nobody sticking his or her sweaty body up against me. It was a good concert. It would probably have been better if they played Straitjacket Feeling, or if I were a foot taller.
- Dance Inside.mp3

Plans by Death Cab For Cutie
I have never understood what my friends mean when they say, “Stop playing this album, it’s so fucking depressing.” Or when people on the Internet associates Death Cab For Cutie with being emo. “One guitar and a hell lot of complaining”, Summer Roberts said. All I hear is good music – the simplest piano repetitions and guitar riffs. All I hear is the most original words – Ben Gibbard is too fucking wonderful with his pen. Until. One bad day, I listened to What Sarah Said again and I was surprised I did not feel so sad when I first heard it. Maybe it was only lately I figured out what the song was about. What Sarah was really saying. The truth is, I never listen. Well, I do listen. But the problem is, all I hear are babbles and notes. Until it is too late.
- What Sarah Said.mp3

The likes
Trouble is Real by Johnathan Rice
The Last Kiss soundtrack
Eyes Open by Snow Patrol
Trigger by Sandrine

The honourable mentions
We Don’t Need to Whisper by Angels and Airwaves
Dusk and Summer by Dashboard Confessional
Parachutes by Coldplay

The dislikes
Good News for People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse
From Underneath the Cork Tree by The Fall Out Boy

The et ceteras
Grace by Jeff Buckley
More Than You Think You Are by Matchbox Twenty
Blink 182 by Blink 182
I Am Me by Ashlee Simpson
Sketches for My Sweetheart The Drunk by Jeff Buckley
Give Up by The Postal Service
Everything in Transit by Jack’s Mannequin
North by Something Corporate
Continuum by John Mayer
Warnings/Promises by Idlewild
Final Straw by Snow Patrol
In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson
X & Y by Coldplay

* Album arts credit: CDNow.com