Welcome to the Book Angel Booktopia stop on the Butter Blog Tour, Erin has written a fabulous Musical Moments post for us ENJOY
Image Received from Publisher
Music plays a huge role in Butter, so people often assume I am a musician myself. Sadly, the only thing Butter and I have in common when it comes to music is that it is an emotional go-to for both of us. I have songs I play on repeat when I’m angry, songs I play over and over when I’m sad, songs that get me pumped up, etc… But I have none of Butter’s talent. I am the daughter of a gifted musician and a singer, so you would think I’d have the DNA for music, but all I got was the love. I struggle to read notes and harmonize, and I’ll never be better than mediocre at the guitar – the one instrument I still own.
I deeply admire people with a natural talent and ear for playing music, and I gave this trait to Butter. Specifically, I made him a jazz whiz, because this is a genre of music I love but have always struggled to understand. I took a course in college called Jazz, Pop & Rock – the most popular lecture on campus but also one of the most difficult. The tests required us to listen to short selections of music and be able to identify the song. To this day, I have a hard time recognizing jazz tunes I’ve listened to a hundred times.
It was in that Jazz, Pop & Rock class that I first heard some of the songs in Butter, like Parker’s Mood – Butter’s favorite calming tune – and the entire set list he plays with The Professor: Night in Tunisia, Cubano-be Cubano-bop, Koko, Things to Come. Even Anna’s Song, which Butter writes himself, I imagine sounds like Charlie Parker’s Lover Man. These are the tunes that lift Butter up and get his adrenaline going.
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.
In more melancholy moments, Butter turns from jazz to blues. He plays songs like Cry Me a River and Stop the Bus (by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals). Personally, I’ve always thought blues tunes are too sexy to be sad, but while writing Butter, I started to hear the music in a different way – through my character’s ears instead of my own.
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.
There is also some made-up music in the book. The band RatsKill and its songs, Shift and Sunshine Flight are entirely fictional, but I imagine they sound like punk rock, which – despite all the jazz in the book – is primarily what I listened to while writing!
The final important musical element in the story is Butter’s ability to hear music even when there is none.
Warning! These quotes may be semi-spoilery!
…the soda machine hums, the crackle of a bag of chips opening, the peel of laughter from kids who had returned to their personal conversations. Every sound was a new instrument joining the swell of a symphony. I let them all crash over me until I reached the doors and escaped into the blissfully silent hallway…
I never meant for my threat to truly be a swan song – just a loud note to catch some attention. But the whole mess had taken on a rhythm of its own, and it seemed like I was the only one who couldn’t keep the beat. I was playing along with no idea how this tune was supposed to end.
Those quotes are from two of Butter’s darkest moments. In those times, he retreats into his comfort zone of musical terms, to make sense of what he can’t understand or can’t face. I think that is the magic of music, and I hope the music in Butter added a little magic to his story.
Image from Publisher Website
Title: Butter
Author: Erin Lange
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Publication Date: 7 March 2013
Synopsis from Amazon
You think I eat a lot now? That’s nothing. Tune in December 31st, when I will stream a live webcast of my last meal. Death row inmates get one. Why shouldn’t I? I can’t take another year in this fat suit, but I can end this year with a bang. If you can stomach it, you’re invited to watch . . . as I eat myself to death.
-Butter
So starts Butter, the story of a lonely 423-pound boy everyone calls ‘Butter’. Worse than being ridiculed for his size at high school, he is simply ignored. Desperate, he pledges to eat himself to death live on the Internet – and everyone will watch. When he makes this announcement online, he expects pity, insults, or possibly sheer indifference. Instead, his classmates become morbid cheerleaders for his deadly plan.
Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline?
Readers will be surprised to find themselves identifying with both the bullied . . . and the bullies.
Review HERE
