Listening to the radio in the car,
there’s almost always one song that bring back memories. For Rob Sheffield, music has enabled him to
do many things in life, like creating memories.
It has also allowed him to form relationships with people that without
music, may not have worked. Sheffield’s
reliance on music is shown with the anecdotes in his book. They capture important moments in life that
tie back to music. Sheffield using these
anecdotes emphasizes the importance of music, and how it impacts lives,
especially his.
Sheffield’s
use of anecdotes describes the background of both him and Renée. His late wife, Renée, held the same passion
that he had for music. He describes
that, “Renée was a real cool hell-raising Appalachian punk-rock girl. Her favorite song was the Rolling Stones’ ‘Let’s
Spend the Night Together,” and “she bought too many shoes and dyed her hair
red. Her voice was full of the frazzle
and crackle of music” (4). In contrast,
he describes himself as “a shy, skinny, Irish Catholic geek from Boston. I’d never met anybody like Renée before,”
additionally, “the first time I saw a possum in my driveway, I shook a bony
fist at the sky and cursed this godforsaken rustic hellhole” (5). These anecdotes detail the complete difference
between him and Renée. These polar
opposites were able to connect with music.
He even says that, “we had nothing in common, except we both loved music”
(6). They depended on it to keep their
relationship together. Sheffield’s use
of his stories help describe his situation, but this contributes to the idea
that music formed his relationships.
Without it, he wouldn’t have formed a five-year long marriage with
Renée. Sheffield’s reliance on music helps
show its importance in daily life. It
helped create relationships that he would not have had otherwise.
