Nick Hornby: 31 Songs

Some of you might remember Nick Hornby as the man who wrote high profile books like Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy. Quite a number of his works have made the jump from page to screen, so he's definitely no small fry; strangely, I realise that I had read a book of his years ago, but I have absolutely no recollection of what transpired in that book, and I'm talking about How to be Good. After searching for some excerpts online, I decided that I did read that book, and the quirky dialogues in it definitely made me laugh when I was reading it, but I just don't remember much detail about it. Might as well write about this book of his that I'm currently reading - 31 Songs.

31 Songs is exactly what it is: a book about 31 songs. Something that strikes me about Nick Hornby is that he doesn't seem to have too many mind-boggling titles; everything seems to be presented just as it is, no false advertising, no unnecessary hype whatsoever. But then, I've only had two books of his behind me, and I don't even really remember that first book by him that I read, so this, along with other general "observations", could be absolutely false.

The first thing that struck me was the non-fictional nature of the book, coz I've come to associate N.H. with fiction. But I suppose, Fever Pitch can be seen as belonging to the same genre as this, being a memoir of some sort for the purpose of putting his obsessions to paper. The second and more important thing that struck me was the way in which he decided on the 31 songs. N.H. rightly points out that "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." Loving a song because of the feelings it evokes, or the memories it brings back is quite different from loving a song simply because of what it is. Enjoying a song out of context keeps us to the basics: the sheer enjoyment of music as it is. Hey, children enjoy their kiddy little songs coz of the way they sound and ... just simply coz of what they are, isn't it? Linking songs to events and memories would have made this book an autobiography (with a tad too many lamentations, perhaps), but that's not what this book was meant to be.

Here's just a couple of things that I remember from his list:

N.H. decides that Van Morrison's Caravan will be a must-play at his funeral. But of course, being the classical-averse popster, he's wary of the string section that might cast him in a bad light as making concession to classical music. LOL. The lengths that a person goes to to preserve his honourz.

N.H. doesn't say it but he probably puts his vote down for Rod Stewart as being among the best interpretive artistes around. "He was the first singer to teach me that there was an art to interpretation." Rod Stewart's innumerable songs such as "Bring it on Home to Me" and "Mama You Been on My Mind" were covers that supposedly improved on the original versions.

I've got to put this down, coz it's like the only real pop song by today's standards recorded in the book. This is Nelly Furtado's I'm Like a Bird". Personally, I find it pretty cool too! Addictive tune + lyrics = formula for pop-ish succuess! Plus, the last dynamic scene (from the music video) with people - regardless of race, language or religion - supporting her with outstretched arms and the unpretentiousness it carries make it stand out a little more from the airheadedness of the sex-sells approach inundating the mainstream. Keep it simple man, why complicate things when you don't need to?