The lovely intersection of literature and listening

This week's Contrast Podcast is such a lovely topic, combining two of my favorite things in this life: music and books. The topic for the podcast this time around was to pick a favorite book and a song to soundtrack that book. I know, cool, right?

Once you start thinking about this topic, you realize that there are endless options if you love to read as much as I do (you know, growing up, if you ever read The Babysitters' Club? I was Mary Ann - total bookworm. Yet somehow also effortlessly cool -- or so my mom told me as she trimmed my hair into a modified feathered mullet).

Anyways, the book & song I finally ended up with is Nick Hornby's Songbook (also called 31 Songs in the UK edition), which you eagle-eyes will recognize from the quote over there ---> on stage right. The song is The Beach Boys' "Add Some Music To Your Day" from their Sunflower album -- an absolutely wonderful gem of a song celebrating all the music in the world and how once you start listening, you hear it everywhere.

There's no way that I could call Songbook my favorite book, but it is one that I greatly enjoy and it lent itself so well to the song choice. If I were to sit myself down by my tall shelves there in the living room and go through all my books, I would surely find about 20 more favorites and with enough thought would greatly enjoy soundtracking them as well.

LISTEN: The easiest way to listen to it is to head over to Tim's Contrast Podcast page and click the little play button to stream it in a seamless burst of loveliness.

You can also download the podcast as one big ole mp3 here, so you can listen to it later on your iPod or whatever.


And if you are in a commenting mood today, I'd love to talk more about what songs complement your favorite book. Comment link at the very bottom of this post.

PLAYLIST

(00:00) The Smiths - William It Was Really Nothing
Book: Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse

Tim from The Face of Today

(02:37) The Buff Medways - Troubled Mind
Book: Notebooks of a Naked Youth by Billy Childish

FiL from Pogoagogo

(06:09) The Beach Boys - Add Some Music To Your Day
Book: 31 Songs/Songbook by Nick Hornby

Heather from I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS

(10:38) Van Halen - I Am The One
Book: Crazy from the Heat by David Lee Roth

Chris from Culturebully

(14:52) d_rradio - Never Slept Better
Book: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Mike from Nothing But Green Lights

(19:27) LN - It Don’t Matter If You Bleed
Book: Vârt behov av tröst by Stig Dagerman

ZB from So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away

(24:40) Spaceman 3 - Revolution
Book: Karl Marx: Selected Writings edited by David McLellan

Colin from Let’s Kiss and Make Up

(31:29) Serge Gainsbourg - Sorry Angel
Book: Les liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos

Marianne Dissard

(35:35) The Cure - Killing an Arab
Book: L’Etranger by Albert Camus

Simon from You Can Call Me Betty

(38:36) Golden Smog - Fear of Falling
Book: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Natalie from Mini-Obs

(42:44) The Decemberists - Los Angeles, I’m Yours
Book: The Replacements “Let It Be” (33 1/3 Series) by Colin Meloy

Bethanne from CTASLS

(47:53) Susan Cagle - Shakespere
Book: Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde

Jamie from Squirrelfood.net

(52:35) Manic Street Preachers - The Intense Humming of Evil
Book: The work of Primo Levi

Jamie from The Run Out Groove

(58:24) Mr Bungle - Squeeze Me Macaroni
Book: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Brian from The Rant

(01:04:15) Leonard Cohen - Came So Far For Beauty
Book: The Favourite Game by Leonard Cohen

Charlie from Nerdlitter

Don't it make you wanna head to the library?