Mostly Hornby seems addicted to dour and pompous singer-songwriters who approach their work without humour or self awareness or self deprecation. I mean, Van Morrison. When I go to Hell they'll be playing Astral Weeks in the elevator down. And Patti Smith. I was about 14 when I first heard Horses and I thought it was embarrassing pretentious rubbish even then. I still do.

I'll admit I could feel this way because he's missed out - or passed by in a second - some of my favourite music (One line on The Smiths! One line!) and that he criticises the sublime Sparks (who wore glitter like proper pop stars instead of torturing us with the acoustic guitar).

My overall impression though was that there was quite a lot of snobbery in what he was saying: 'If you loved music as much as I do then you would agree with me'. He rails against people who look down on his choice of music as unintellectual or undeveloped but seems to have very much that attitude himself. He reminds me of one of those awful 70s blues buffs who told you that one day you'd grow out of punk. I'm sorry, I still haven't.
He also seems to have a regard for Elvis Costello - a man who hasn't recorded a decent song since 1979.


Singin' Him His Song...   January 22, 2004
 53 out of 56 found this review helpful

“Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I don’t listen to classical music or jazz very often, and when people ask me what music I like, I find it very difficult to reply, because they usually want names of people, and I can only give them song titles”.
So began the illustrious gathering of 31 songs – most of them loved, some of them once loved and all of them significant to Nick Hornby. They begin with Teenage Fanclub’s ‘Your Love Is In The Place Where I Come From’, ending with Patti Smith’s ‘Pissing In A River’, and encompassing singers as varied as Van Morrison and Nelly Furtado, songs as different as ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’ (reggae style). He discusses, among other things, guitar solos and singers whose teeth whistle, and the sort of music you hear in ‘The Body Shop’.
The mind of a musician is a difficult one to fathom, that of a music fan is even more so. Hornby lists his favourite songs and albums, by way of anecdotal explanation, and describes just what it is about music that stirs the blood in his trademark succinct and sparse fashion. He reveals intimate details about his family with touching references to his autistic son and his hope and fears for his future.
We might not agree with Hornby’s eclectic song choices, but will be more likely to side with his topography of the musical mind. He is unashamed in his adulation of songwriters, and admits that he writes books because he cannot write music: “Maybe it’s only songwriters who have ever had any inkling of what Jesus felt like on a bad day”. Hornby loves the relationship that anyone has with music: “because there’s something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out”. This is as good an attempt as you’re likely to get. It is at best interesting and informative, as well as entertaining, and will have you humming by the final page. I have to admit I knew only of half the musical material written about. Maybe, and if it ever goes into reprint, a complimentary CD will be supplied. Apparently, some National Sunday newspapers are doing this already…


What music means to Nick Hornby...   January 15, 2004
 34 out of 37 found this review helpful

We already know Hornby's a music obsessive - it would've been impossible to write High Fidelity otherwise - but rather than Rob's obsessive cataloguing, this book presents Hornby's own reactions to some of his favourite songs.

It's not really a music book, as such - although he says a fair bit about the artists and the songs, what Hornby's really exploring in this book is how particular songs have influenced, evoked and helped him remember particular parts of his life - it's about the assocations music makes with his memories and emotions, and as such is actually more of an autobiography.

The style is light and readable, as you'd expect from Hornby, and the choice of tracks just surprising enough to keep you reading.

There are few shocking insights here, quite a few laughs and a few poignant moments, and a good slice of pop-cultural memories. It's fun, nostalgic, entertaining, and you'll have lots of fun arguing over which tracks you would've put into your own version!

Solid entertainment from a writer who understands just how music can take you back to a particular time, place and mood.


What Does Music Mean To You?   January 7, 2004
 32 out of 32 found this review helpful

What a great book. I cant explain how much it means to read honest, insightful and funny thoughts about music. But if music is your bread & butter (& jam) then you'll read it and just get it.
The chapters are song titles, but Hornby’s book is less like 31 song reviews, and more like a collection of essays about what music means and has meant to him, and how he has evolved musically. This is a passionate man who makes a lot of sense. As well as exploring a big bag of beautiful, personal, classic tunes that have shaped his musical development & generally made life more enjoyable, he talks about the value of a good pop song, puts musical intellectuals in their place, and admits to all kinds of uncool favourites. Cant really say more except, read it. If you're a happy music addict, you look back fondly at all the stuff you used to like, the stuff you didn’t used to like but now do, and now look forward to all the great stuff you’ve yet to hear and love - this book is for you. Thank you NH.


A kinder, gentler Fever Pitch   December 5, 2003
 22 out of 23 found this review helpful

I read Songbook (the US version of 31 Songs) before a trip to the UK, and Fever Pitch (that I picked up at Harrod's) on the flight home. It's a similarly personal, almost autobiographical, book, but 31 Songs is obviously a more mature work, at least in tone. He's now ten years on from the man he was when he wrote Fever Pitch, and the depth of feeling about the songs, his experiences (particularly when writing about his son, and his friend the record store owner) is far more profound than his description of his football mania. But no less hilarious, frequently. Another fine work from one of my favorite contemporary writers.