Nick Hornby's High Fidelity
In Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, the main character, Rob, relates music to every aspect of his life. He utilizes music as an escape from his anxieties regarding his failing record store, relationship, and sense of self. Music provides Rob with the inspiration that keeps him going:
Records have helped me to fall in love, no question. I hear something new, with a chord change that melts my guts, and before I know it I'm looking for someone. (169)
Music prompts Rob to isolate himself, hold an unrealistic view of people and sabotage his relationships. Rob allows himself to get overcome with a feeling when listening to a song pertaining to that feeling. Many of the songs he mentions as his favorites or with significant meaning, relate to Rob?s life in that they have a lot to do with loneliness. One song in particular that Rob wants to serve as his eulogy, ?Many Rivers to Cross,? by Jimmy Cliff touches upon aspects of his life, such as loneliness, abandonment and anger.
The title, which is repeated throughout the song, relates strongly to Rob due to the fact that it contains the word ?cross? in it. Having just broken up with his girlfriend, coming to grips with his fear of commitment and finding unhappiness with his occupation, Rob has just crossed many boundaries in his life. He has taken on a sense of depression, which leads him to resort to anger all the time. The word ?cross? in the title can also relate to Rob?s anger. He is constantly ?cross? with his coworkers:
If I have to listen to one more word of his useless, pathetic, meaningless babble in my entire life I will kill him. When I let him go I am shaking with anger. (56)
When on the topic of Ian, the man Laura left him for...
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...living in for the past few days has vanished? (60). At this point Rob acknowledges his defeat and realizes he cannot go on without Laura in his life because she was the one person he could rely on and talk to. With Laura gone, Rob resorts to a false comfort, his music.
Rob is so passionate about music because it is the one stable thing in his life. No one can take music away from him and it keeps him going. Music is what he uses to start conversations, make a living, fill up his apartment and to motivate him. The lyrics, ?It?s only my wind that keeps me alive? can be related to Rob?s music. The only thing that keeps him going during rough times is his music, his ?wind.? Music is a secure commitment, which will never walk out on him or die on him? music is his High Fidelity.
Works Cited:
Hornby, Nick (1995). High Fidelity. New York: Riverhead Books.
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Rob says, “It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you feel) at the center of your being, then you can’t afford to sort out your love life, start to think of it as the finished product. You’ve got to pick at it, keep it alive and in turmoil, you’ve got to pick at it and unravel it until it all comes apart and you’re compelled to start all over again” (169). When music was at Rob’s center, when he was using it to define himself, it was a destructive force. The definition was an illusion, and this strained his relationships. But when he realized he was the one who needed to define himself, music became a symbol of understanding of himself and of his relationship with Laura.
Music is an essential part of life because of the expression it allows people to have, its entertainment, and its therapeutic ways for the world.
Through music we are able to comprehend someone’s personality, their views, their culture, and who they are as an overall person. The music you listen to is a reflection of who you are and your own personal thoughts. As I reflect on the music I listen to I came to the conclusion that I gravitate towards songs that depict the emotions we feel through lyrics while being able to relate it to my own personal experiences.