I finished this book a few weeks ago, but I was wrestling with which song to pair it with. The National seemed like such an obvious choice for Franzen’s The Corrections that I wanted to come up with something a little more under the radar, but the more I thought about it the more I realized they suit each other. ”Slow Show” in particular makes a fitting soundtrack for the novel. It starts with that static fuzz, like the static that seems to be casting a shadow over all of the characters’ lives. The first time you hear Matt Berninger’s voice it’s too dark, unsettling, nuanced- much like Franzen’s prose. Eventually, it grows on you until it becomes beautiful. So many of the lyrics in “Slow Show” also remind me of characters from the novel. ”Everything I love gets lost in drawers.” ”I want to start over/I want to be winning/Way out of synch from the beginning.” ”So you can put a blue ribbon on my brain.” All anyone really seems to want in the book is approval from loved ones, which I think is something the song captures well. ”You know I dreamed about you/For twenty-nine years/Before I saw you,” reminds me of Enid’s relationship with Alfred. She seems to imagine her relationship with him her whole life, not fully admitting the reality of the situation until the last. And how could “Can I get a minute of not being nervous/ And not thinking of my dick,” not remind you of Chip? The dark, nostalgic, yearning tone of both the novel and the song fit together beautifully, though I must admit I care for The National’s music much more than I do Franzen’s book.
