Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading 2 (Authors)

If the first session of USSR was about the act of reading, this one is about the names on the spine. I still remember those hours in school where we all had to be quiet and at least pretend to read while the teachers took a breather. I still try to knock out at least one book a week, though the reading glasses make it a chore these days. This run gets heavy fast, moving from the Americana of Kerouac and Whitman into a dark basement with Sylvia Plath followed by a double-shot of Hemingway. That Blue Clocks Green track is the real jolt—it’s got a happy synth-pop rhythm, but the lyrics are essentially a suicide note. This Pick is for the next time you feel like digging through the library instead of the crates.

Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading 2 (Authors)

24 The Rolling Stones - Victor Hugo

25 10,000 Maniacs - Hey Jack Kerouac

26 Billy Bragg & Wilco - Walt Whitman's Niece

27 Graham Parker - Just Like Hermann Hesse

28 The Smiths - Shakespeare's Sister

29 The Pogues - Lorca's Novena

30 The Mountain Goats - Lovecraft In Brooklyn

31 Lou Reed - Edgar Allan Poe

32 Modest Mouse - Bukowski

33 Ryan Adams - Sylvia Plath

34 Kenny Chesney - Hemingway's Whiskey

35 Blue Clocks Green - Hemingway (12 Version)

36 Serge Gainsbourg - Baudelaire

37 James Brown - Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf

38 Blood, Sweat & Tears - The Modern Adventure Of Plato

39 Life In Exile - Ayn Rand

40 Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers - Hey Kafka

41 Steve Hackett - Jane Austen's Door

42 Golden Earring - Orwell's Year

43 Elton John - Oscar Wilde Gets Out

Novel Approach

This pick takes off from yesterday's Reading and Books connection. These are all songs inspired by or about famous books. Most you'll know. Two about Camus' Le'tranger. The rest are each about one book. Although you could say that Cream might be about two books (from Homer to James Joyce). My pop always had a joke about the books For Whom The Bells Toll and The Rains Came (making fun of an uncle of mine). Elton is about Heinlein. Blue Oyster Cult is pretty well known to use scifi author Michael Moorcock as an inspiration for several songs. Led Zeppelin, the same with Tolkien. U2 with a chapter from Lord Of The Flies. We also have Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carrol, CS Lewis, Orwell, Twain, Huxley and even a novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Just a fun literary approach to making a playlist. Obviously I have more, based on the limited choices I made here.

Novel Approach

01 The Cure - Killing An Arab

02 Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet

03 Rush - Tom Sawyer

04 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Yertle the Turtle

05 Tuxedomoon - The Stranger

06 Steve Miller Band - Brave New World

07 Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit

08 U2 - Shadows And Tall Trees

09 Cream - Tales Of Brave Ulysses

10 Frank Tovey - For Whom the Bell Tolls

11 David Bowie - 1984

12 Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

13 Sir Douglas Quintet - The Rains Came

14 Steve Hackett - Narnia

15 Elton John - Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)

16 Madness - Animal Farm

17 Velvet Underground - Venus In Furs

18 Led Zeppelin - The Battle Of Evermore

19 Blue Oyster Cult - Black Blade