This month we are starting a new series called Music Rec Monday where we share music recommendations similar to other bodies of work. April has just begun and we have lots to share, but this week we are specifically tackling songs you should listen to if you like these books.
Without further ado, meet Music Rec Monday (Book Edition) where if you read this → listen to this!
“Everything I Know About Love” by Dolly Alderton → “I’ve Got A Friend” by Maggie Rogers
“Everything I Know About Love” is a memoir by Dolly Alderton that details her twenty-something adventures with her best friends and roommates. In it, Alderton includes tales of romantic love, platonic love, immature love, lost love and everything in between. She takes us through the struggles of adolescence all the way up into her thirties, making sure to stop along the way to tell readers what she’s learned and unlearned. Alderton reminds us that the best parts of growing up aren’t necessarily the experiences, but the people we share them with.
Like the book, Maggie Rogers’s “I’ve Got A Friend” relishes in the most sacred parts of female friendship. She sings, “I’ve got a friend who’s been there through it all/When I lose my shit, she’s the first person I call/I’ve got a friend who handed me a shot/And taught me to dance when the love inside was not.” Much like Alderton makes us feel like we’re her friend when we indulge in her anecdotes, Rogers achieves the same level of intimacy. Rogers is witty and honest, singing about both the little passing moments of appreciation and the bigger, more monumental occasions when all she needed was a hug from her best friend.
“You Made a Fool Of Death With Your Beauty” by Akwaeke Emezi → “Hunger” by Florence + The Machine
“You Made a Fool Of Death With Your Beauty” is a story about a widowed artist who lost her high school sweetheart in a car accident. With both grief and romance at the forefront of the novel, the protagonist, Feyi, searches for joy amidst the survivor’s guilt over her husband’s death. The novel is an homage to the ways in which art can form relationships.
Unlike any of the other novels on this list, Emezi actually based the novel on a lyric from “Hunger.” “Oh but you in all your vibrant youth/How could anything bad ever happen to you?/You make a fool of death with your beauty,” Florence sings. She wrote those lyrics with the curiosity to understand why she was looking for love in things or people that did not love her back. By sharing that with listeners, loneliness subsides. With Emezi’s sentiment in mind, the song finds community and love in art.
“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller → “I Will Follow You into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie
“The Song of Achilles” offers a fresh take on “The Illiad.” In this greek mythology retelling that covers the fall of Troy, Miller stays true to the original narrative, while also bringing her own style to the characters and plot. It follows the life of Achilles, a prophesized hero from the perspective of his best friend, Patroclus. After Achilles is sent off to war, Patroclus follows him and the two fall in love. Like most greek epics and tragedies, the story is dramatic in the best way, yet Miller takes gods and transforms them into real, flawed characters.
The common thread throughout “The Song of Achilles” is a bond that refuses to break even when the world is crumbling. Like the book, “I Will Follow You into the Dark” captures how love can conquer dark things like death and war and sickness. He sings, “You and me have seen everything to see/From Bangkok to Calgary/and the soles of your shoes are all worn down.” The long-lasting partnership that lives in this song extends beyond boundaries, while also knowing that those inevitable, dark moments aren’t as scary when someone’s holding your hand.
“Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner → “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski
Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast wrote “Crying in H Mart” about losing her mother and struggling to find her identity as a Korean American while growing up. In the memoir, Zauner recollects being in her mid-twenties and feeling so distant from the rich culture her mother raised her on. She feels caught between conforming to American standards and also carrying her heritage. By way of cooking, Zauner uses food as the gateway to once again feel connected to her mother.
“Your Best American Girl” captures a frustrated girl who’s trying to make her relationship work despite coming from different backgrounds. Mitski described that this song is about “wanting so badly to fit into this very American person’s life, and simply not being able to.” Because Japanese values are so different from American values, Mitski uses her eloquent lyricism in an attempt to honor both. Similarly to Zauner, “Your Best American Girl” echoes the feeling of being torn between two versions of yourself.
“People We Meet On Vacation” by Emily Henry → “Malibu” by Miley Cyrus
“People We Meet On Vacation” explores the friends-to-lovers trope during a road trip between two polar opposites. It reads like a Meg Ryan rom-com, following a decade’s worth of summer vacations for Alex and Poppy, who share almost nothing in common. After a mysterious falling out, Poppy enlists Alex to join her on one last trip to mend their friendship.
“Malibu” has become an essential travel song, as Cyrus takes a new approach to summer love. In the song, she preaches the importance of spending time with those that make unfamiliar places feel like home. She sings, “I never sat by the shore under the sun with my feet in the sand/But you brought me here, and I’m happy that you did/‘Cause now I’m as free, as birds catchin’ the wind.” Cyrus communicates the idea that those who teach you to have a wild sense of freedom can also bring you a great dose of comfort.
Thanks for joining us for our first Music Rec Monday! If there are any book and song comparisons we missed, let us know in the comments or on Twitter.
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