Murakami and Instrumental Music

https://youtu.be/9zfxmhDCqk4 

I found this video when looking for more information on Murakami and his relationship to music in his writing. It covers a lot of general ideas: things we've covered in class or through presentations. The part that really stuck out to me was the idea of Resonance with jazz and classical music. 

While 60s/70s pop is definitely a dominant category when thinking of Murakami, that genre is very lyrically focused. Emotions and settings are presented and expressed through words. They make for great quotes and karaoke tunes but when thinking about the background to storytelling, they can also dominate the space. One might get caught up in the lyrical content of a song and try to push their meaning onto a scene rather than examine the scene itself first. One could also argue that this enhances a scene and is precisely what an author like Murakami wants the reader to do. 

On the other hand, jazz and classical music are largely instrumental. Evoking feelings and emotions without lyrics. A perfect foundation for a novelist. Like the video, the essayist says they both serve to convey an experience without infringing on storytelling. This is especially interesting when thinking about the essayist points on memory and our discussion of A Wild Sheep Chase. Murakami is using music both as a tool for characterization and as a means to log memory. All of his characters have a specific genre of music they prefer but what they share are incredibly significant memories tied to that music. 

Jade