Telling your life through songs and lyrics

After reading ‘A long way down’ it was only a matter of time before beginning the next of Nick Hornby’s books. I stumbled upon ’31 songs’ in my local book store and thought the idea behind it (telling a story through songs and lyrics that you like) quite interesting. Even more so as I tend to do the same.

Even as I seldom knew the bands or songs being discussed I can recommend the book. It’s (as typical for Hornby) witty written while being quite sarcastic. You might even learn some new bands through it (I abandomed my long standing disapproval of Bruce Springsteen and bought one of his CDs, while I do hate half of the tracks the other half is better than most contemporay music).

Returning themes are the estrangelment in modern society, Nick Hornby’s problems with his (now) ex-wife and kid and how he dealt with it. After discovering that he already was 54 when writing this book started me thinking about getting older while still being ‘alive’.

And the last chapter (he discusses the billboard top 10 song by song) is just a must read! It’s a rare occation that my thoughts are that good stated, it even brought a smile into my face. And his final conclusion that the punk music he heard while being young had more content then modern pop or rap made me realise that it might not be punk that was thoughtfull but rather current pop music that has great demand for better thought of lyrics.

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