Fight Club author, Chuck Palahniuk appeared on KCRW to curate a playlist of some of his favorite songs for the readio station’s always excellent Guest DJ series. During the conversation, the writer shares stories that really indicate of how much of a 70s child he really is.
Palahniuk’s KCRW playlist
10cc – “I’m Not In Love”
Don McLean – “American Pie”
Gerry Rafferty – “Baker Street”
Dire Straits – “Sultans of Swing”
Gordon Lightfoot – “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
Palahniuk and KCRW’s Eric J. Lawrence talk about each song and how each affected his life. The chat about each song is refreshingly candid and delves deeper into pivotal points in his life. Palahniuk goes on to make a great point about one of the more divisive songs in history, “American Pie.” From there, he discusses music in general, defending its importance at large: “You know, what I love about music is that can repeat the same things, but it never gets boring. And it uses such great devices to keep people engaged on a very intense level, even though it doesn’t necessarily make sense.”
Even the comical”Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty holds special meaning to Palahniuk as a song that soundtracked his path to adulthood. The lyrics of the song and the driving saxophone–which a friend recently pointed out is, oddly enough, the chorus of the song–is definitely a ballad to the harder times life can bring.
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” rounding out the list is just too perfect when you realize these songs, picked by one of the more popular authors of the past few decades, are deeply lyrical stories in their own right.
Check out the whole KCRW interview and make sure to check out Matt Delhauer‘s review of the first issue of Fight Club 2 which, if you haven’t heard, is back in graphic novel form!
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Five songs for a playlist that defines your life. Ready? Set? GO! Let us know in the comments.
