Music in A Wild Sheep Chase

     After today's class about music in Murakami's works, I realized I haven't been paying enough attention to what music he includes in his different works. However, one mention of music that I do remember is in A Wild Sheep Chase. In the chapter "She Leaves the Mountain; Hunger Strikes," the song "Perfidia" by the Percy Faith Orchestra plays while Boku eats dinner. Without ever hearing this song before, the name of the song seems to fit the situation Boku is in. His girlfriend has left him without saying anything and Boku could barely accept the fact that she was gone. Perfidia means perfidy in English which means faithless, treachery, or betrayal. The song is sung from the perspective of a man whose lover has left him, exactly like Boku. I read the scene of Boku eating dinner and listening to Perfidia as a way to cope with his girlfriend leaving him and a way for him to embrace the sadness of what happened. Yet something didn't sit right with me.

    Boku instinctively knew his girlfriend was gone when he woke up on the sofa. It was certain to him and it was a feeling he has already experienced when his wife left him. He looked for her around the house and goes through stages of emotion. He first is unable to accept her disappearance, but then allows things to take their course. And I thought that would mean let his emotions run, but instead he becomes hungry and makes dinner for himself. Usually when I think of a loved one leaving or a breakup, people usually lose their appetite and stay soaked in their sad emotions. It is not the case for Boku as he drinks wine, eats bread, an apples, and the stew. As he eats dinner, he listens to Perfidia, which I thought would be a sentimental and sad song. After hearing it in class for the first time today, I want to say the song doesn't fit the scene at all, but I do think the song choice works. The song is upbeat and positive in my ears. It wouldn't be something I would want to listen to when I am sad or going through a breakup. But the song set the tone for what Boku truly feels about his girlfriend leaving him. Of course, he is probably sad about it, but he is not surprised about it. He felt it that she left and he has experienced this before. It is nothing new and he probably thought that letting things take their course meant letting life move on without her. I was not surprised about the song choice after thinking about how Boku could be feeling. The lyrics fit well, but the instrumental part demonstrates Boku's ability to move on quickly so he can continue his journey.

    Shortly after the dinner with the song playing, Boku seems to have completely moved on as he is more interested in the game he was playing and if the Rat would be back. The song seemed to have set a good tone for Boku to move on and not let anything get in his way. It was a clever choice of Murakami to choose this song for this scene as it lets the audience who never heard the song to think one way and for the people who have heard this song to think another way.

Sonia