"Good evening, I'm Haruki Murakami." Haruki Murakami, who has always been low-key, opened a program called "Murakami FM" on Tokyo Radio, and at seven o'clock in the evening on the last Sunday of the month, he would say hello to his listeners on time.
If you ask me where I learned to write
The answer is music
"I mixed cocktails, I made sandwiches, I didn't want to be a writer, and that's what happened." Haruki Murakami, who never wanted to write as a profession, has long since become a world-class novelist. His fans know that Haruki Murakami has three loves: running, music and cats, and these three hobbies have made Haruki Murakami's writing career.
For Murakami, if he hadn't been fascinated by music, he might not have become a novelist. In 1964, after the 15-year-old Haruki Murakami first heard the tape of Arte Breckie's concert with the Jazz Messenger Orchestra, he decided to save his lunch money to buy jazz records, Murakami said: "I was suddenly fascinated by the so-called jazz music, and since then, I have spent most of my life with this music."
In 1971, Haruki Murakami and her college classmate Yoko Takahashi registered their marriage, and in order to earn a living, the two went to the record store during the day and worked in cafes at night. In 1974, Haruki Murakami and Yoko opened a jazz bar called "Peter Cat", which was taken from the name of a cat that Murakami once owned. The "Peter Cat" jazz bar sells coffee during the day and serves as a bar at night, half of the funds for opening the shop are the deposits of the couple, and the rest is supported by the bank and the father-in-law.
Murakami ran a bar and translated novels and English works, and gradually Haruki Murakami became famous as a well-known novelist. On August 5, 2018, the day of the premiere of "Murakami FM", Haruki Murakami said that he did not want to be a writer, but was interested in music, and even used it as a job, "Such a person suddenly wrote a novel, and instead of asking me who I studied the technique of writing novels with, I said that I studied music." The most important element of music is rhythm. If the article is less rhythmic, no one wants to read it. Rhythm, harmony, improvisation, etc., I realized while writing, if someone says that what I write is easy to read, then maybe I and these people are musically connected. ”
Specifically, Haruki Murakami believes that articles are like music, and can also create a sense of rhythm through the combination of words, sentences, paragraphs, soft and heavy, balanced and unbalanced, punctuation and intonation. "The music is not good enough, and these are not good enough." If the article has a rhythm and the story has a rhythm, then naturally there will be a fountain of thought. When I write, I automatically convert the text into a sound in my head, using that sound to construct a rhythm. Improvising one theme segment in a jazz style naturally produces the next theme segment. ”
Among the jazz masters murakami is Often mentioned, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Theronis Munch, all of whom had a profound influence on his writing. Theronis Munch, a famous pianist and one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, was once asked how he could make the piano make a special sound, and Munch pointed to the keys and said, "There will be no new notes here." All the notes are pre-existing there when you look at the keyboard. But if you give a note a truly meaningful definition, its timbre will be different. You have to pick the notes that you really want to express. ”
Haruki Murakami thinks the same sentence applies to writing: "He's right. All the words I have to do here are to give the most ordinary words the newest, most special meaning. ”
Even though his writing career has been more than 40 years, Murakami says he is still learning writing skills from good music. "My writing style was heavily influenced by Charlie Parker, whose repetitive, uninhibited improvisational melodies were influenced by the elegant prose poetic rhymes of Fitzgerald's novels. In addition, I still use the continuous self-renewal in Miles Davis's music as a literary model of the self. ”
Musical elements appear highly in Haruki Murakami's works, and according to his book fans, the compositions and names of musicians appear in Haruki Murakami's works more than 800 times, of which jazz accounts for half. Novels such as "Norwegian Forest", "Dance, Dance", and "South of the Border to the West of the Sun" are directly taken from the titles of musical works.
I always listen to such beautiful music alone
Would feel a little sorry for the world
Why would Haruki Murakami want to be a radio DJ? He said, "I've always felt that I should be thankful to the world, because I'm just enjoying such beautiful music alone."
Haruki Murakami has a deep relationship with radio, and he once published a collection of essays under the name "Murakami Radio", in which he wrote that he often listened to the radio after getting up at five o'clock in the morning, and would turn on NHK programs between making coffee and toast in the kitchen.
At the age of 11, Murakami was struck in the heart by Alma Cogan's "Pocket Transistor," which sang, "He comes to see me every night because I have a small transistor radio and he wants to listen to songs on the best-selling charts." Murakami said that he also had a crystal radio at the time and was keen to listen to the hot charts. In "Murakami Radio", Haruki Murakami wrote: "Although the sound quality is not ideal, because it is a small radio that can be held in the palm of the hand, it can be taken anywhere and listened to music intimately by one person." As long as there is music, you can even ask for nothing. That's so happy. Since then, I have always loved music until now, and that little 'pocket-sized transistor radio' is like the original starting point of my musical life. ”
Radio programs are also a frequent factor in Haruki Murakami's work, and in Murakami's 1979 debut novel, Listen to the Wind, "I," who was returning from a summer vacation in Tokyo, suddenly received a call from a local radio station DJ. "I" heard a song that a girl of the same grade ordered for "me" in high school, so "I" began to look for a place for the girl to live.
At the beginning of the trilogy novel "Strange Bird Journey", the protagonist is listening to the overture of "Thief Magpie" played on the radio while cooking pasta and eating, and the music introduces the reader from daily life to a labyrinthine metaphorical world. In Dance! dance! dance! and 1Q84, there is a fictional radio program called "Baroque Music for You".
Haruki Murakami said that collecting records was an interest he had since he was a child, and now there are about 15,000 records in his home. However, I often think: I listen to such beautiful music alone, spend a comfortable time, and always feel a little sorry for this world. It would be nice to be able to share this relaxing time with everyone chatting and holding a glass of wine or a coffee cup in one hand. I wanted to be a radio DJ out of this idea. So bring my favorite records from home, play them for everyone according to your preferences, and talk about your favorite things. ”
Murakami said he wanted to do a very "private" show. "First of all, put on some music that other programs don't hear very well. However, the scope should also be as wide as possible. Things that are too difficult are basically ruled out, and you can also talk a little bit. Before the show began, he also joked, "Imagine, like David Cronenberg's movie, Murakami suddenly turned into a radio, it's terrible!"
The first episode of "Murakami FM" was broadcast on August 5, 2018, starting with an even number of months, with several live broadcasts and New Year's Eve live broadcasts in between, and officially changed to monthly broadcasting from April this year. On the day he came to the radio recording, Murakami came alone, carrying a shopping bag full of records, many of which he had picked up from second-hand stores.
The first episode is about "Running and Music"
Murakami's "What Do I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is the great love of his book fans, and Murakami, who loves running, has driven many people to like the sport of running, and therefore, in his DJ debut, Murakami talked about the theme of "running and music".
Speaking of running he loves, Murakami is very excited, "I think running is fantastic, no props, a person, you can do it whenever you want." Running will make the body soft, so that you can focus on writing for a long time. He recalled that he attended Kobe's school in high school, and every year the school would organize a lap on Mount Rokko (located in the northeast of Kobe City, at an altitude of 931 meters), "Every year I would participate, and the girls in the class would cheer us up along the road, and what they shouted to me was, Murakami Jun, don't force it!" That's too much (laughs). ”
When Murakami started running, the trend had not yet formed, "other writers had not yet joined in, so at that time, I was laughed at by everyone." Now the world has changed, and many writers are running. The most interesting thing is that when I went to the United States in 1984, I was asked who I would most like to interview, and I said John Evan (novelist, Oscar winner for best screenplay), and then one morning I interviewed him while running in Central Park. ”
As for what kind of music is suitable for listening to when running, Murakami thinks that it is too difficult to do, and it is not good to change the melody in the middle, "Or simple, consistent music is easy to make people insist on running." I always take my iPod with me to listen to music when I run. I have about 7 iPods, each with 1,000 to 2,000 pieces of music in it. ”
In this episode, Murakami recommended a number of specific playlists, including Brian Wilson's Disney-related music album, including the theme song "YO-HO" of Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean", and "Heigh-Ho" and "Whistle While You Work" in "Snow White" released in 1937.
In addition, there is the 1968 hit song "Sky Pilot". Murakami explained that it was the time of the Vietnam War, and hearing this song on the radio, it was as if even the air was hot and spicy, and there was a unique skin touch. It was an anti-war song that lasted 7 minutes and 23 seconds and could not be included on the side of the single at the time. Therefore, separate from the middle and include them on the A and B sides, respectively. And because it was manually turned over by the DJ during the recording, there will be a blank time in the middle. However, this gap is also very good. This song is suitable for listening to when running, and I also enjoy listening to it while driving. I love driving a convertible, opening the roof when the weather is nice, and driving while listening to the song. The guitar portamento sounds handsome, like the engine of a jet. ”
When tired of running and slowing down, Murakami recommends listening to Knock on Heaven's Door, written by Bob Dylan for the 1973 film Pat Garrett. Murakami met ben Sidden at a jazz bar in Copenhagen and became a great friend. "It's a really cool song and the adaptation is great."
Toward the end of the show, Murakami quoted Sly Stone, the lead singer of the Sly & Stone Orchestra, as saying, "I want to create a kind of music for everyone, a music that everyone can understand." In that case, no one would be a fool. ”
Launch of a two-hour special program "Beautiful Music for Tomorrow" during the pandemic
Murakami is very free to work as a DJ, for example, after reading a biography of Ray Charles, the "father of soul music", he did a special edition of Ray Charles's music; In the summer he named it "Summer, beach, surf!" Theme, play beach music and surf music; In the autumn he produced the "Autumn Jazz Ginkō", and he also produced classical music that could be listened to in five minutes, special editions of music that appeared in his novels, special editions of Russian composers, and so on. Among them, on May 22, 2020, Murakami "worked" at home and launched a two-hour special program with the theme of "Beautiful Music for Tomorrow", hoping to use the power of music to dispel the haze caused by the new crown virus.
In this episode, Murakami recommended nine pieces of music, including the modern folk quartet "In Search of a Glimmer of Hope", Bruce Springsteen's "Waiting on a Sunny Day", Carol King's "You Have a Friend", Louis Armstrong's "What a Beautiful World", murakami said: "There is a saying in the English proverb that 'there is always a glimmer of light in the darkness', no matter how difficult the situation is, it always has a good side, so please believe in tomorrow."
"Waiting on a Sunny Day" is one of the songs from Bruce Springsteen's 2001 album Rise, released after the events of 9/11. One of Murakami's New York friends was inspired by the album, and Murakami emphasized on the show that "music has such power."
"The Sun Is Out" is a piece of music that Murakami loves very much, and he recalls running 10 kilometers as a companion of the visually impaired. "I was looking for an opportunity to volunteer, so I applied to run with a blind man, and I needed to tie a rope to the other person's hand. If you are not used to it, it is difficult to run with a blind person. I want to adjust the speed according to the situation of the opponent and pass on the road information accurately and quickly. I was running at the U.S. Army airfield, but the ground at the airport was unexpectedly rough, so it was very dangerous, and I had to be careful not to trip. We now have no choice but to plan and accomplish what you can do at our own pace. Let's do our best without giving up on each other. ”
Of the nine pieces, Murakami also chose Kate Taylor's "Happy Birthday Dear," which he said was chosen because many people may have a hard time because of the coronavirus. "Especially people who have birthdays at this time, or who have birthdays in the near future." For those of you, I'll give you a birthday song. Happy birthday. You're a little older now – you're just a little old. Yes, there will definitely be a lot of good things going on this time next year. ”
I enjoyed this time unexpectedly myself
Haruki Murakami once said that he was a person who did not like to talk, "Although depending on the situation, sometimes it will become a mouthful, but usually I am a stuffy gourd, and I am afraid to explain in detail, and try not to do this kind of thing." Answering the phone is a chore, talking to people at a party is a weakness, and answering interviews is also exhausting, and even the return of emails feels exhausted. I was asked to do conversations and correspondence with people, and I refused to do anything like that. ”
However, as a DJ, Murakami was quite happy, and the words became more and more, and at the end of the first episode, he said: "I don't know how everyone feels about this Murakami broadcast?" I myself was unexpectedly happy to enjoy this time. ”
When doing the program, Murakami would sigh to the listeners: "The music is really good, there are always stories that are beyond logic and reason, and there are deep and warm personal scenes that are inseparable from the stories." "Of the three Wilson brothers, only Brian is still passionate about the show, which I find very incredible. He's a genius with a keen sense of smell, but he's also the kind of guy who can't compromise with the real world, so it's incredible that such a person persists until the end. Life is full of variables, really. ”
He also answers questions from listeners, such as a world without music or a world without cats, which one does he choose? Murakami replied, "This question is really too difficult." I myself generally do not answer this kind of binary choice question. Because you chose one of them, if it comes true, you should regret it later, so you generally don't answer this hypothetical question. ”
Someone else asked him what song he was going to play at his funeral. Murakami laughed and said why many people asked him this question, "Aretha Franklin's My Way is good, but when you die, you still want to die quietly." Because when I was alive, I listened to a lot of music, and it didn't matter what I put when I was dead. ”
Today, Murakami DJ has been working for three years, but his interest has not diminished, he said: "Before, I felt that I was not good at words, so I never did a job other than writing. But in the process of giving speeches abroad, I gradually got used to expression, and after trying to be a DJ, I found that I could chat, so I felt that I should still do it. ”
As for the reason why he likes radio, Murakami thinks it is because it has an atmosphere that brings together everyone who listens to the show alone. "The atmosphere is completely different from television and the internet. In the past, listeners sat in front of the radio at the same time to listen to a program. Now the feeling of listening to the show at the same time has faded, but there is still the feeling of being face-to-face with one person. You can also listen to the show while you are working or cooking. The feeling of being intimate and personally oriented makes it comfortable. ”
Reporter: Zhang Jia
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