December Playlist: The Sound World of Haruki Murakami

Stephanie Zi Yi Yang

“If anyone ever asks me why I like certain styles of music, I would say - perhaps because of Haruki Murakami.”

While I’m not the type of person who enjoys jogging like Haruki Murakami, there is so much music that we love in common. It is always a pleasure to discover musical references in his novels.

Hear the Wind Sing

In Hear the Wind Sing, the narrator enjoys his leisure time of drinking beer and eating snacks at home. But he is interrupted by a radio host call-out; the radio DJ asks the narrator to explain why an unidentified girl called the show to request the song “California Girls” for him.

Reading the novel Hear the Wind Sing again, I realize that the song’s lyrics and light melodies are the keynotes of the book - for youth, summer romance, and nostalgia for something that has disappeared forever.

“On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning”

“The Girl from Ipanema” is mentioned many times in Murakami’s short story “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning”. Even to this day, when I think of the story, this song instantly comes to mind.

“The Girl from Ipanema” is believed to be the second most recorded pop song in history, after “Yesterday” by The Beatles. I listened to the song again quite recently while I was compiling information for this article; the voice of Astrud Gilberto still hits me like a bolt of lightning. There is a sense of distance in her voice that could create a twilight zone of time.

The song itself is a classic more than words could tell:

Pinball, 1973

Pinball, 1973 is a kind of sequel to Hear the Wind Sing. The protagonist is a translator for publishers, which is a reflection of Murakami’s own career as a book translator. 

As the narrator tries to keep up with the progress of his translation work, he listens to a tape of “Symphony Sid”. Whistling along with Getz and the members of his band, the narrator feels so much better.

That’s “Jumpin’ with Symphony Sid” by Stan Getz:

Dance, Dance, Dance

Dance, Dance, Dance describes a man, the unnamed protagonist, who sadly drives to bury his dead cat at the beginning of the novel. After cursing pop artists, he praises the song “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones:

After burying his cat, the narrator drives back home and listens to the radio, which plays “Born to Lose” by Ray Charles. The song hits a powerful note within the narrator, making him cry. This could perhaps be the most emotional moment in all of Murakami’s novels:

The song “On Green Dolphin Street” was the inspiration for the Dolphin Hotel, a seedy establishment from the novel’s prequel A Wild Sheep Chase, where the narrator once stayed with a woman he loved. In Dance, Dance, Dance the property has been acquired by a large corporation and transformed into a sleek Western-style hotel. The musicians who have recorded the song are all Murakami’s personal favorites. 

And of course, I also have trouble choosing, so…

After accompanying a young girl named Snow for dinner, the narrator explains to her how dating works between men and women. Then he drives her home, playing the music of the John Coltrane album “Ballads” in the car:

The narrator and his celebrity film actor friend like the song “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone very much. The lyrics of the song are extraordinary:

South of the Border, West of the Sun

South of the Border, West of the Sun is my personal favorite by Murakami. I still remember how the two main characters became soulmates through their shared taste in music. The novel is incredibly fun, using many borrowed lines and plots from famous movies. 

Nat King Cole’s version of the so-called song “South of the Border” appears many times in the novel. However, the song actually does not exist, since Nat didn’t record the song during his lifetime. Perhaps in Murakami’s imagination, it does exist; maybe that is where the inspiration for the novel came from.

Both the narrator and his childhood sweetheart love listening to a vinyl recording of a Piano Concerto by Liszt. In the novel, the narrator isn't able to remember which performer they listened to - but based on Murakami’s refined and particular musical palette, I think that perhaps he just hadn’t yet found his favorite performer for the piece at the time of writing the novel, as his choice would be stated forever in print.

Here is a Barenboim/Boulez interpretation which I like:

Both the narrator and his childhood sweetheart are touched by the song “Pretend” by Nat King Cole. It is this song that makes a special connection between the two characters:

The narrator eventually owns a bar in the novel. One night, his pianist plays “The Star-Crossed Lovers” as his childhood sweetheart shows up in the bar, just as how “As Time Goes By” plays in the movie Casablanca. 

I found this to be a very romantic moment when I was reading the novel:

Norwegian Wood

It is hard to say that this novel is not inspired by The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”. And really, they both have nothing to do with the woods.

The first Christmas gift the narrator gives his girlfriend in the novel is an album by Henry Mancini, “Dear Heart”:

The night that the two main characters make love for the first time, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Clubs Band” plays in the room:

The moment they decide to make love to each other, the background music is the album “Waltz for Debby”, a great jazz classic by pianist Bill Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian. 

The song "My Foolish Heart" is played a bit nervously and sensitively, and with a little bit of regret. The two songs provide an excellent soundtrack, mirroring the timidness and innocence of first love in the novel.

If anyone ever asks me why I like certain styles of music, I would say - perhaps because of Haruki Murakami.