It's been far too long since we've run our favorite blog feature around here: If I Only Had an Ipod. Thankfully, author Gayle Brandeis was kind enough to stop by and shake us out of our musical doldrums with some amazing and eclectic song selections. Brandeis is the author of Self Storage a book that we cannot wait to dive into—also the title we'll be recommending to our book club this month. We couldn't be more pleased that Gayle was kind enough to stop by.
From Guest DJ Gayle Brandeis:
I am the only member of my family without an iPod. Every once in a while, one of my kids will ask me to listen to a song (most recently,"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part I" by the Flaming Lips), and we'll each put a bud in one ear and lean our heads together, the iPod between us. By the time the song is over, my ear is always burning. My daughter tells me ears get used to the buds eventually, but I'm not sure. So I don't know if an iPod is in my future. But I'm pretty sure Flan Parker, the main character of my novel Self Storage, would love an iPod, especially when she's sitting on the floor of her second - bedroom-turned-storage room, going through the boxes she won at self storage auctions. Here are a few songs that would probably be on her playlist:
--Fred Hersch, "Song of Myself Parts I-XI"
"Song of Myself" is Flan's touchstone, her guide, the poem she keeps returning to for solace. I'm not sure she'd be completely wild about Hersch's jazzy interpretation, but I know she'd love hearing Whitman's words in any form.
--Bucksworth,"thingsfoundwalkinwithyourheaddown"
Okay, my husband is playing pedal steel guitar on this track, but that's not why I'm choosing the song. I think Flan would resonate with the lyrics about finding random stuff, unexpected treasure, on the ground, since that's so similar to her storage auction experience. She loves that process of discovery, of surprise.
--Yes, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (most recently covered by Brooklyn-based indie rock band Grizzly Bear )
At one auction, Flan bids on a box that turns out to be empty inside except for the word "YES" on a slip of paper. That word becomes very meaningful for Flan; I can picture her seeing a Yes album at a thrift store or yard sale, and feeling she had to get it for the name of the band alone. I think she'd especially rock out to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" --a sentiment she can relate to at times.
--The Cure, "Hey You!!!"
Flan finds herself wanting to kiss just about everyone she sees. I know she'd appreciate the "come over here and kiss me" vibe of this song.
--Mr. Rogers, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
As the mom of little kids, Flan probably hears way too much Mr. Rogers. As she gets more and more intrigued by her neighbor from Afghanistan, though, I can imagine her starting to listen to this song in a whole new way. "Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?" would do it for her, too.
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