Weekly Geeks – Music

02Aug09

This week we have a guest post by Ashley of Complete and Unabridged.

Music is a pretty amazing thing. It can take us back to the past, make us want to dance, put us in a romantic mood, or simply lift our spirits. But sometimes, music does something a little different for me: it reminds me of a book.

Yes, there is nothing more geeky than to be riding down the road listening to the radio and suddenly thinking “That song matches [book title] perfectly!”. But that is exactly what happens to me sometimes. For example, whenever I hear Phil Collins’ song ‘Can’t Stop Loving You,’ I immediately think of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel North and South. To me, it is exactly the kind of song that describes the two main characters’ relationship.

So, my fellow Weekly Geeks, your challenge this week is to come up with at least one song-book match. It could remind you of a theme from the book, a specific part of the plot, or even one of the characters (a sort of theme song, if you will). Be sure to include samples of the lyrics and the reason why that song reminds you of that book. If you can provide a link to a recording of the song so that other geeks can hear it that would be great as well. (One good place to look for links is last.fm, there are others, too).

Rock n’ Roll!!

Music and reading have always gone hand-in-hand for me, since the time I was given my first Walkman. I used to curl up in bed, crank up the volume on my Walkman to ensure I was oblivious to my mum calling me for anything, and lose myself in a fantastic book. There were times when I did hear her, but kept reading, knowing I had a fully legitimate excuse! (Shh… don’t tell her!)

Based on that, you would think I’d be able to answer this week’s Weekly Geeks pronto, but, no! Not me! Believe it or not, I can’t make a single book-song connexion at the moment. I’ve been staring at my bookshelf for the longest time, with no joy!

However, if I replace ‘book’ with ‘poem’, this suddenly becomes very easy for me, as every time I hear The Doors’ Riders On The Storm, I can’t help but think of Alfred Noyes’ The Highwayman. The ‘stories’ both recite are quite different, but the essence is pretty similar. If The Highwayman was a song, I can easily imagine it having exactly the same music as well.

I’ll deliberate a bit more on the book-poem link, and see if I come up with something.

Happy Weekly Geeks!

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