Some friends recently started a radio show in which they try to unravel that latent music in the books; a different idea that delves into the styles, singers and songs that, at some point, inspired certain writers, leading them to include them in their works as a way to complement the reading experience and immerse ourselves in their atmosphere.
In fact, platforms like Spotify abound in literary lists that include both songs inspired by Macondo, Lolita or Tolkien's geography, even those other writers who have playlists own heaps of jazz, rock and blues songs that define an era, some tastes, a sensation.
This second point serves as the basis for this review by those songs locked in our favorite books whose discovery will turn that journey through the letters into something much more sensory and, above all, different.
From Cindy Lauper to The Beatles, we begin our journey through the best rhythms of the XNUMXth century.
Norwegian Wood by The Beatles
The first pages of Tokyo Blues. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami make reference to a certain song that its protagonist, Toru Watanabe, hears during a landing in which the hits of The Beatles sounds like the musical thread of the plane, transporting him to an autumn of 1969 in which he loved, suffered and his life changed forever. The most famous example of the music hidden in the bibliography of the Japanese author can be found not only in his books, but also in various playlists on the Internet that include other classics mentioned in his works such as Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan, included in The end of the world and a ruthless wonderland: Little Red Corvette from recently deceased Prince at Kafka on the Shore.
Lover Man by Billie Holiday
In the book On the Way, by Jack Kerouac, the most famous author of the beat generation claimed that he could not get this song from the blues lady whose voice ruled in those years out of his head. The nomadic odyssey that the book represents through the roads of the United States becomes, in turn, the "station" of many other hits of the time such as Tomorrow, by Peggy Lee, or the exotic Mambo de Chatanooga, by Perez Meadow.
It's Bad for Me by Cole Porter
A lover of Cuban music, Edith Piaf and the popular songs he sang during his years in World War I, Ernest Hemingwy made the occasional reference to his favorite songs in many of his books. In fact, one of the songs by Cole Porter, a mythical American composer of the 20s, was quoted at the beginning of The Snows of Kilimanjaro, published in 1952, as a metaphor for a love that would go crazy over time.
Body and Soul by Coleman Hawkins
During his years in Paris, the protagonist of the Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar He spent many nights in the company of La Maga and some friends addicted to jazz, that heavenly music that accompanied the gatherings between cigarettes, alcohol and bohemia in the French capital. The compilation of many of those songs includes jazz classics ranging from Louis Armstrong to Bessie Smith, through this newly discovered Body and Soul on the net.
Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cindy Lauper
"Art consists in the persistence of memory," said Annie Wilkes. And who said that? Thomas Sasz? William Faulkner? Cindy Lauper? » And from there the terror magician spun the tensions between the protagonists of the novel misery through the lyrics of Lauper's most famous song, the one that made half the world dance in 1984. Another example of the music contained in King's books and in which we find other gems such as Glory Day, by Bruce Springteen, in It, or Instant Karma, by John Lennon, in Animal Cemetery.
These 5 songs locked in our favorite books they represent an approach to that curious relationship between lyrics and music. Sounds that serve to introduce us into the atmosphere of certain books and learn about the tastes of a certain author or of those characters involved in jazz nights, nomadic journeys and yes, even kidnappings.
What other songs mentioned in books do you remember?
I read the novel Días de novenario by the Venezuelan author Inés Muñoz Aguirre, a wonderful novel full of emotions and memories through the story of a child. Among the great attractions is the musical richness that the protagonist acquires in the relationship with his father, who made him listen from The Beatles or the Fifth Dimension, to go through singers such as Sandro, Los Ángeles Negros or famous Spanish groups of the time. Some of the song lyrics contribute to the development of the plot. The novel has a Fan Page on Facebook, in which some of the songs are posted.