A Playlist of Tracks Heard in Murakami Novels
Music is an indispensable component in the works of Haruki Murakami, and now you can hear the tracks he features.
As a hypothesis it could be accepted that the relationship between music and literature, which is already close, has become even closer in modern times with the invention of devices that allow music to be taken to practically any moment of daily life, from the phonograph to the wide range of personal music players that we now have at our disposal. Writing, in this sense, is not the exception, but neither are other common activities such as going for a run, cooking or bathing. Anything can be done nowadays while listening to music at the same time.
Among contemporary authors, Japan’s Haruki Murakami is the writer who perhaps best brings to literature that characteristic of our reality. Or perhaps it would be better to say his reality, as in his novels music is not simply an incidental element but a narrative component that the author translates across from his own vitality. Murakami is a melomaniac in the etymological sense of the word, in which love and music are mixed to produce not only the desire to listen as a result but also the desire to seek, surprise oneself, share and make the sounds and melodies a constant companion.
How many songs, musicians, albums, concerts or other music formats has Murakami mentioned in his work? The list is a long one, although the genres covered are few, with a certain preference for jazz and classical music.
On Spotify there is a list of 56 tracks compiled by Scott Meslow as a kind of ‘musical guide’ to Murakami’s narrative and, in some cases, with the reference to where that track is mentioned in his work.
If you are a Murakami fan then without a doubt this playlist will excite you. And if the Japanese writer’s literary style is not to your taste, you can at least have the chance to get to know his musical taste – after all, only in this age can we enjoy the fact that we can allow a music lover like Murakami to provide us with a playlist to accompany our daily activities.
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