We listen to music while we walk to class, from personal playlists streaming through headphones or the bells of Baker Tower. We listen to the oldies while we wait in line at Home Plate and Collis Cafe. We can't avoid music in the library, where the pounding bass from neighboring laptops bleeds out and reverberates through the stacks.
But how often do we wonder who is behind the songs -- not just the band members and producers, but the former lovers and dear friends that provided inspiration for each work?
Read Arthur Phillips' latest work and you're sure to listen to even your most-played tracks differently. His novel, "The Song is You" (2009), tells the story of two damaged people who use lyrics as clues, hints and messages to communicate.
Cait is a 22-year-old Irish import who has just signed with an American record label when lonely, middle-aged Julian chances upon her performance at a bar in New York City.
Rather than approach her after the show, the awe-struck Julian scribbles advice on a few coasters and leaves silently. Once Cait finds Julian's scribbled notes, a game of hide and seek begins.
Julian goes to imaginative and risky extremes to get closer to Cait, while the singer encourages him through equally clever and cryptic messages in her comments to journalists and notes on her fan blog.
Through it all, Phillips' mixture of humor and insight is pitch perfect. One of the indie bands he invents is the group Repulsion, which plays the song "'Violate Me Right Now."
Phillips delivers a hit with "The Song is You," reminding us of the stories behind the songs.
