The Festering Blurb

SONGBOOK by Nick Hornby (2003)

From “Born for Me” (Paul Westerberg)

…just a man who thinks and feels and loves and speaks in music.

How magical to be a musician. To look at some dots on paper

     And hear

           What is yet unheard.

How mesmerizing to be a writer. To look at some words on paper

     And envisage someone’s spirit.

How sublime to be a painter. To look at some brush strokes on canvas

     And witness

           The conscience of a community.

Without the creative urge, however it manifests itself, we are no different from telephones. Its importance cannot be overstated. A real writer “thinks and feels and loves and speaks” in prose or poetry. I would be happy for my students to do any two of those.

From “Frankie Teardrop”, “Ain’t That Enough” (Suicide, Teenage Fanclub) 

It’s a peculiarly modern phenomenon, this obsession with danger. And, in the end, it’s impossible not to conclude that it has been born out of peacetime and prosperity and overeducation.

Man, I am so down with this! Obsession with danger makes my job hell. It makes living where I live hell. It offers nothing, repairs nothing, solves nothing. It makes slaves of us all.

From a writer’s standpoint, these statements express so much, yet without bombast or melodrama.  Hornby shoots from the hip. Simple english simply stated. No wasted words.  Even “peculiarly”, while I don’t think it’s necessary, adds a uniquely English quality to his writing, so that it’s not just a writer expressing his opinion, it’s an English writer.  However, he does use one of Orwell’s traits of bad writing: what Orwell calls a “verbal false limb” -- “impossible not to conclude that”.  In straight English, I think it means “the only conclusion that makes the most sense”.  This blip does not make him a bad writer.  Orwell himself has offered an out: “Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.”

From “Smoke” (Ben Folds Five)

...songwriting is an art distinct from poetry.

I can see that. One of the differences is execution.

...and you don’t have to be whoever writes the songs for Celine Dion...

That would be Aldo Nova – yeah, that one. I wish I WAS kidding!

...you can, if you’re brave, have a go at being Cole Porter, and aim for texture, detail, wit, and truth.

The same idea could apply to writing. Fortune and Venus favor the brave, after all.  Anyone can write pop pulp.  Barnes & Noble and Borders are full of it.  What they’re NOT full of, and neither is the New York Times Bestseller list, is books that contain that alchemical combination of “texture, detail, wit and truth”.  And you know why? Because that’s not what appeals to the masses.  We would be a very different country if Alexander Pope, Aristophanes, and Voltaire were on the bestseller lists regularly.

From “A Minor Incident” (Badly Drawn Boy)

My advice to young writers: Never begin a title with a preposition, because you will find that it is impossible to utter or to write any sentence pertaining to your creation without sounding as if you have an especially pitiable stutter.  “He wanted to talk to me about About a Boy.”  “What about About a Boy?”

I think this is hilarious!  Reading it looks funny.  Sounding it out in my head, it sounds funny.  Good advice.  But feel free to break this rule, if you think you can make it work.

*A nod to Stevie Wonder for the title.

**All of the songs and this book are available through major retailers.

SONGBOOK:

I was reading a comment by a random person on the inter-web that stated that Nick Hornby has, essentially, terrible taste in music. On top of that, Clay Aiken has apologized for having an opinion about a singer, and a beauty queen got in trouble for having an opinion about same-sex marriage. Am I the only one who sees a pattern of media-centric fascism becoming more and more entrenched with every generation?  It looks like we won’t have to worry about politicians taking away our rights – the media is doing a grand job of it themselves.  The institution that harps on freedom of speech is the first to publicly flog people for it.  And c’mon, they don’t really care what the beauty queen’s opinion is.  They just want to market it.  And the fast, lazy way to do it is to make it sound like she’s done something wrong.  The American public is stupid enough to fall right in.

     But this is not about all that insanity.  My beef is with people who work so hard to make the banal and witless sound important.  I agree with random person about the bad taste, but what I’m annoyed about is that the person completely missed the point of SONGBOOK.  Missed it, even though Hornby mentions a few times what the book is and isn’t.  Random person probably thought the book was like one of those sad, asinine VH1 clip shows that they churn out so often.

     SONGBOOK is “Songs of Experience”.  You can’t tell someone that their experience is wrong. Unless you are someone who has a poor vocabulary.  I can’t stand Nelly Furtado, but reading about what her song does for him is what’s interesting. It’s what matters.  I haven’t heard most of the songs he writes about, but I’ve enjoyed reading how the songs, some against his will, have woven their melodies and guitar solos into his consciousness and created a personal tapestry.  (If he were to read this, he might have a groan or a giggle at how thickly I’m laying on this metaphor.)

     So, in a nutshell, if you give up on this book because you don’t like the songs, you’re lazy or ignorant or this was never your cup of tea to begin with.

     As a writer and a writing teacher/consultant, I like so many things about this book!  Is there another author who can be charming when they are swearing?  NH can get right salty, yet it never sounds gratuitous -- no shock value at all.  But it is a charming surprise when it happens.  It’s like he grows impatient with polite English and just throws down an “F” bomb or some scat-related expression.  On him, it’s cute and funny.  I think he’s seen Blackadder.

     What follows are “bits and bobs” of prose writing that I like in the book .

From “Thunder Road” (Bruce Springsteen)

...admiration is a very different thing from the kind of transference I’m talking about.  I’m talking about understanding – or at least feeling like I understand, the soul of both the work and its creator.  “This is me,” I wanted to say when I  read Tyler’s rich, sad, lovely novel.

When I first read this bit, I read it as a reader – taking in the words, the basic comprehension, then moving on.  The further I got through the book, my mind kept coming back to this.  With every chapter, it became truer and truer for me.  I started this blog based on my admiration of NH’s style and author persona.  His prose collections do for me what the songs in SONGBOOK did for him.

They lived in towns for losers, I told myself, and I, like Bruce, was pulling out of there to win.

I live in a town for losers.  Even the successful people are losers.  Soulless, sightless, simple, subsisting on arrogance and exploitation.  I got out for a while, then got pulled back in by the fickle finger of fate.

From “I’m Like A Bird” (Nelly Furtado)

Do you really deny yourselves the pleasure of mastering a tune...because you are afraid it might make you look as if you don’t know who Harold Bloom is?  Wow.  I’ll bet you’re fun at parties.

Ha!  He said the magic words – “Harold Bloom”.  This – the sentiment, is me.  ME.  The sarcasm – Classic ME. This is something I would say.  That’s practically an impression of ME. How does he do it!

From “Heartbreaker” (Led Zeppelin)

...I have less time, less tolerance for bullshit, more interest in good taste, more confidence in my own judgment.

This Led Zeppelin song is the first one in the book that I actually like. Heartbreaker been a part of my life for so long, I don’t question its presence.  Heee!  In this section, Hornby muses on the development of his musical taste.  From young and noise-oriented to mature and skill-oriented, he did not throw the baby out with the bath water.  His tastes became finer and even sophisticated, but unashamedly admits that sometimes...sometimes, only Zeppelin will do. 

I’m excited to read this bit because the same thing happened to me.  As a child, I was moderately interested in jazz and classical.  Starting in about high school, and especially from college on, I dined on classical music. (Classical cassettes were 3 for $10 back in the late 80s!)  I started listening to more jazz when I worked at H&B Recordings Direct.  One of the perks was getting free sample/promotional CDs and tapes of jazz artists!  I was in heaven!  As I listened to more, I began to have more confidence in my choices. I could argue my choices for and against and people would listen. Now, it’s become a habit to listen for pleasure and analysis at the same time – a skill I apply when listening to music AND reading.  That’s what this post is – pleasure and analysis (left brain and right brain activation).

From “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window”, “Rain” (Bob Dylan, The Beatles)

“...the best music connects to the soul, not the brain...

As a teacher, we get some training in how the brain works.  The human brain likes patterns.  It likes repetition.  But we don’t talk about souls in teacher workshops.  Talking about engaging the soul of a student is verboten.  Education should connect to the soul as well as the brain. More sticking power.

This bit also reminds of a line from Much Ado About Nothing where Benedict has just listened to Don Pedro’s musicians sing a song out in the garden.  He says, “is it not strange that sheeps’ guts should hail the souls from men’s bodies...”.  (That’s about 98% accurate.)  Similar wisdom unifying two men, centuries and philosophies apart.

It’s two different sensations when music engages your brain and your soul.  When it engages your soul, it’s possible to feel physical pain!  In 1986, after I got back from England, any song I would hear on the radio that had been on the radio in London would immediately transport me back to the Tube or my dorm room.  “Holding Back The Years”, “Lady in Red”, “Human” – they would leave me catatonic with misery as I felt my spirit being yanked out of me and back to Blighty.  When “Lady in Red” came on, I swear I could smell the Tube train again.  They’re not songs to be proud of liking.  Too schmaltzy.  Too pop-drek.  The only saving grace for “Holding Back The Years” is its heavy blues influence.  But they encapsulate my experience to such an extent that any other association is impossible and that’s why I love those songs.

From “You Had Time”, “I’ve Had It” (Ani DiFranco, Aimee Mann)

Aimee Mann’s lyrics: “Everyone I know is acting weird or way too cool / They hang out by the pool / So I just read a lot and ride my bike around the school.”  (“Ghost World”)

Ahhh, the song of the fringe dweller...so bittersweet, so torn, so enlightened.  The best thing about truly skilled songwriters is that they know how to make a powerful impact with a few well-chosen words.  This handful of lyrics represents the same kind of autobiographical endeavor Wordsworth cobbled in four volumes.  Songwriters would probably make great therapists. 

Wait...there’s more...

I’m not going to link all the song titles and artists since their work is readily available from any major retailer

(I love the mandala concept!)

Some Harold Bloom posts – just so you can see what the fuss is about.

• BACK IN BLOOM: SIFTING THRU THE WEEDY UNDERGROWTH OF POETRY READING

• ROOTING OUT BLOOM'S WRITING ROOTS
• ROOTING OUT BLOOM 2: The Western Canon
• ROOTING OUT BLOOM 3: Where Shall Wisdom be Found?

Your mind is like Ice & Snow. You like your life to be simple and try to have view over every corner before deciding your direction. You try to play it safe, but somehow adventures frequently sneak up on you. You are a good friend, but don't like to be around too many people. You have great respect for nature and dream about faraway places, but prefer travelling alone or in a small group of your closest ones.

I took this quiz on Facebook.

Gail Faulkner site

The stories are available through Ellora's Cave.

1. FULL RIDE (Gray Winston & Princess Lilah Turner) "Prin" -- Ugh.
2. SLIPKNOT (Remington Morgan & Katherine Saunders)
3. WANNA PLAY (Blaster & Jas)  interracial
4. BLIND FIRE (Charlie) -- unreleased

And the $64,000 question: Tami and Miguel's story? C'mon!  You're breaking the sequel rules!  Tami hates his guts, but he's so determined to protect her and be her keeper, so you know that they have to get hot and heavy.  It's like, romance novel law, or something.  Plus GF could join the bandwagon and make them have  "strop sex".

I don't even know why I like these stories.  Could be the military special forces angle.  The team always ends up on a mission, and the planning and strategizing is the best part of the story -- better than the love scenes, even.  There's whispers of the paranormal in FULL RIDE and SLIPKNOT.  That's interesting, too.  WANNA PLAY is a fun story because the heroine is an action movie actress who does her own stunts.  Brilliant!  All the women are strong women.  Well done, GF.  Very cool.  Okay, on second thought, I do know why I like these stories.  The characters are strong, vivid and unapologetic.  They're doers.  The women have brains and the men love them for it.  The "Pride and Prejudice" effect, if you need to call it something.  The men are very "alpha" but they are not in a strop for 99% of the book.  There's exciting moments, angry moments, peaceful moments: there's VARIETY.  They have an emotional range -- not much of one, but definitely there.  Thank you very much.

Some things I don't like because I'm just sort of opinionated that way:

The men are towers of strength and muscle, but the women would fit into one of their pant legs. ICK!

Someone is always blonde. WTF?

Not only are they short and skinny, "Katherine" is "tiny" with a couple of flotation devices that could have saved the Titanic -- a "hunchfront", if you will.

Nudity between siblings.  The less said, the better.  (Jude Deveraux had moment like this in one of her books and it just ruined the story for me completely, in addition to some other unrealistic, painful scenes.)

Out of the 3 stories so far, I would have to say WANNA PLAY, while not my fav, was the best-written.  It had the least plot gaps and logic gaps.  The hero and heroine were the best drawn of all the couples, both as individuals and as a couple.

I haven't read her non-Ghost Unit stories.  I don't want to gamble the money.

How can you tell if there will be a sequel.

What women want.