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.

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