Music doesn't let you forget

So I just finished reading this book. Here's my Good Reads review. If you're a book nerd, feel free to find me there. I occasionally remember to update it:

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Klosterman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Our mutual hatred for Eric Clapton, the Doors and Los Angeles allows me to overlook the fact that Chuck Klosterman likes KISS, Rod Stewart and Radiohead.


The part of the book that really surprised me was Klosterman's claim/explanation that Thom Yorke accidentally predicted the events of September 11 with Kid A. Not because I also feel this way about Kid A. I don't even like that record. But he is also the only other person I know of who has a "9/11 record" besides myself.

Mine is Richard Buckner's Impasse. I don't make any claims that Impasse predicted the horror of that day - I could not make this claim since I don't think the record even came out until October 2002. But some of the songs have an eerie "soundtrack for that day" quality to them and I just I cannot unlink that record from those horrors. Particularly the song "I Know What I Knew," a chilling acoustic number that sums up not only everything I love about Richard Buckner, but spills out like the thoughts of a 9/11 survivor/victim/responder/perpetrator:

I know what I knew/But there's some things that you take home with you/Ask me if it's alright/ I can('t) fake it out until I'm fine/Later than I hope I should/I understand it's where I stood

I still feel my stomach sink every time I hear this song.

I used to listen to this record on repeat while pouring over information about 9/11 - from legitimate news reports to total conspiracy theory stuff - until I couldn't tell the difference anymore. It was both overwhelming and comforting and probably much more helpful than anything I would've gotten out of laying on a therapist's couch. Or the exact reason why I should've been spending some time on a therapist's couch. It's a toss up, really.

Klosterman also hates Los Angeles. The line "I'm shocked by anyone who doesn't consider Los Angeles to be anything less than a bozo-saturated hellhole" made me incredibly happy. Apologies to my sister Christine who currently lives there. Though Christine, I do recommend you read pages 77 - 82 of Killing Yourself To Live.