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Music and The Catcher in the Rye

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“Solitude is Bliss” – Tame Impala This song relates to Holden’s emotional state at the beginning of the novel, isolated. Holden was depicted as an independent thinker. And so, he’s alone quite often. The writer of this song similar is similar to Holden in that he’s also a loner. “All the kicks that I can't compare to making friends like they're all supposed to” These lines show the alienation that Holden feels during the start. One instance is Holden sitting at the football game looking down at his school mates and judging them. “Space around me where my soul can breathe / I've got body that my mind can leave.” This part demonstrates the need for personal space so that Holden’s can have his own expressions and life style without being influenced by others. Holden is conscious of his personality; and he’s capable of making friends at school. But instead he has his own thinking, which is to seek for authenticity. Therefore, most people do not meet his standards and are classified as phonies. “Crying in the Rain” – Everly Brothers Holden’s personality is altered after the death of his brother. “Crying in the Rain” is about losing a love one, and Holden can relate to that sorrow. Allie died at eleven years old when Holden was only thirteen. Holden brings back Allie into mind once in a while. He stills keep Allie baseball glove with him; he uses it for inspiration when writing Stradlater’s composition. “I know he’s dead, don’t you think I know that? I can still like him, thought, can’t I? Just because somebody’s dead you just stop liking them” (Salinger 171) parallels with the lines in the song “You won't know the rain from the tears in my eyes / You'll never know that I still love you so/ Though the heartaches remain / I'll do my cryin' in the rain”. Throughout Holden’s journey, the innocent and pure things in life make him happy, such as the nuns and the boy from the record store. This goes to show Allie’s death took a place in his heart. “Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons” – The Pixies This tune is short and simple. It is written in the first person and tells the journey of something traveling from the pine to the Olympus Mons. “Speed leaving without warning” (Bird) connects the call for Holden to get out in the real world. This starts by Holden flunking his classes and having to leave Pencey. While Holden couldn’t relate his school mate much, outside, he’s has no one and nowhere to go to. The change was drastic for him to adapt to, and from a psychologic

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