The Song Is You
Let鈥檚 say you鈥檙e a middle-aged man. You see a lovely 22-year-old girl singing in a bar. Do you (A) realize that the almost 30 years between you make you a sad clich茅 and allow her to get on with her life; (B) figure that hey, you鈥檙e still young at heart and woo her with Prada and expensive restaurants; or (C) spend hours outside her home, taking photos that you then mail to her.
If the answer is C and this is real life, you鈥檙e going to get slapped with a restraining order faster than she can say 鈥渟talker.鈥� If it鈥檚 fiction, you鈥檙e the main character of Arthur Phillips鈥檚 lyrical yet befuddling new novel, The Song Is You.
Julian Donahue, a director of ads who made a living hawking shampoo (and enjoying the 鈥減erquisite struggling actresses and relaxing models his work delivered him鈥�), has been upended by grief at the death of his young son. He鈥檚 separated from his wife, Rachel, who went through a string of her own affairs in a futile effort to cauterize her grief.
One night, he hears 鈥淚rish pop-enomenon it-girl of the instant鈥� Cait O鈥橠wyer perform at a club, and her voice inspires in him the first feeling of hope since his son died. Intrigued and grateful, Julian leaves behind advice on beer coasters explaining how she can improve her stage presence.
Cait turns one of the bits of advice into a song and comes to look at the elusive Julian as a muse.
Phillips, whose first novel, 鈥�Prague,鈥� catapulted him into the upper echelons of literary fiction, creates a tricky two-step between the characters. Julian鈥檚 obsession with Cait deepens, but the two never meet. Instead, he listens to her demo tape on his iPod as they have a series of narrow misses in New York and Europe.
On the sidelines, watching with disapproval, are: Cait鈥檚 long-suffering guitarist, Ian; Rachel, who鈥檚 quietly suicidal; and Aidan, Julian鈥檚 older brother, a聽 鈥�Jeopardy!鈥� contestant. (Phillips was once both a jazz musician and a five-time 鈥淛eopardy鈥� champ.)
Phillips takes amazing risks with the plot 鈥� Julian鈥檚 wooing comes straight from the Serial Killer Handbook. (Step 4: Break into target鈥檚 home and go through her belongings. Check.) It doesn鈥檛 reassure a reader that his previous novel, 鈥淎ngelica,鈥� was a Victorian ghost story whose narrative pivoted around the testimony of unreliable narrators.
But anyone who was ever a member of a garage band or who has memorized swaths of 鈥淗igh Fidelity鈥� will probably love 鈥淭he Song Is You.鈥� Phillips talks in detail about everybody from Billie Holiday to The Pogues. He鈥檚 even hidden dozens of song titles in the novel鈥檚 text.
Those with college-age daughters, however, may be less charmed when Julian interprets the lyrics of a new song, 鈥淭he Key Is Under the Mat,鈥� to be an invitation and then stands 鈥渟waying in her living room, horrified that some maniac could do this....鈥� As for Cait, she鈥檚 blithely unconcerned at having a man she鈥檚 never met wandering her bedroom.
Phillips can be a writer of great power, but it鈥檚 hard to suspend that much disbelief. The other problem is Cait. Since we can鈥檛 hear her sing, all we鈥檙e left with is her ambition and self-absorption 鈥� not terribly attractive qualities.
To balance that, 鈥淭he Song Is You鈥� offers a brilliant take on the music scene and a melancholy meditation on song. Julian鈥檚 story is bookended by powerful memories of the import of Billie Holiday鈥檚 music in his father鈥檚 life.
The novel is at its best when Julian muses on the power of music. 鈥淭he songs now offered him, in exchange for all he had lost, the sensation that there was something still to long for, still, something still approaching....鈥�
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.
