My final project for the quarter was to make a soundtrack to the novel
The Cathcher in The Rye.
Title: Help!
Author: The Beatles
"Help! I need someone. Not just anybody. You
know I need somebody" These are the opening
lines to this song. I use this to associate with
the point in the book when Holden is walking
on Fifth Ave. and he Feels he is going to disap-
pear and he calls out Allie. He says, "Allie don’t
let me disappear. Allie doesn’t let me disappear.
Allie don’t let me disappear" Basically Holden
is calling for help
Title: Nowhere Man
Author: The Beatles
Holden Caufield spends more then 30% of
this novel wondering around the city that
never sleeps(New York City). He has no
idea of where he’s going or where he wa-
nts to go. When Holden get’s out of Grand
Central Station he says, "I didn’t know wh-
ere hell to go" I use this line to connect it
with the line from the song, "Knows not
where he’s going to/ Isn’t he a bit like me
and you?" The last part of the lyrics I use
because as Holden points out in the book
everyone is a phony including himself.
Title: Yesterday
Author: The Beatles
Holden Caufield seems to be running
from his problems. This song talks abo-
ut how simple and problem free he tho-
ught his life was. "Yesterday, all my
troubles seemed so far away…There’s
a shadow hanging over me" Two lines
from the song, which can be associated
with Holden, who through most of the
novel is running away with his own
shadow hanging over him.
Title: I Saw Her Standing there.
Author: The Beatles
More then enough times Holden says,
"I ought to call her" Well he does call
one. He calls a Miss Sally Hayes. Him
and Sally used to go around together.
When Holden sees Sally he says, "I
felt like marrying her the minute I saw
her…I didn’t even like her much…I felt
like was in love with her" Not many guys
will just fall in love with a girl that they
don’t even like. A lyric from the song is
"Well my heart went boom/ When I
crossed that room/ And I held her hand
in mine/…And before to long/ I’d fall
in love with her" Holden does get car-
ried away with a few girls in the
novel.
Title: I Wanna Talk About Me
Author: Toby Keith
"I wanna talk about me/ I wanna talk
about I/ Wanna talk about number
one/ Old my me my/ What I think,
What I like, what I know, What I want,
What I see" This is Holden’s wish, thr-
ough out most of the novel. He seeks
out people to talk to like, the Sonny,
Carl Luce, and Sally H ayes. He listens
to everyone like Stradtler and Ackeley,
but no one will listen to him. With
Sunny he says, "Don’t you feel like
talking for a while" Even the whore
won’t talk she just wants to have sex.
Title: Baby I’m Drunk
Author: Reverend Horton Heat
Holden goes to meet Carl Luce at
a bar, but Carl has to run, so Holden
feeling much sympathy for himself
decides to hit the bar and he hits it hard
Holden becomes repetitive saying, "getting
drunk as a bastard" while the chorus to
the song is, "Baby(x20)/ you don’t have to
remind me/ I smell like a skunk/ Excuse me
baby but/ (hicup) I’m drunk" When Holden
gets drunk as a bastard he decides to call up
Sally Hayes at around 1 o’clock in the morning.
Title: Kokomo
Author: The Beach Boys
On Holden’s date with Sally. He goes on
a five minute fantasy world of taken her
away with him upstate and never returning.
He says, "Here’s my idea. How would you
Like to get the hell out of her?…We could
drive Up to Mass. and Vermont and all ar-
ound there" He talked about staying in
cabins and how he Could get a job etc.
Holden is quite imaginative. In this song the
artist talks about taking a girl Away with him
down to "a place called Kokomo/ That’s where
you wanna go to get away from it all …We’ll
be falling in love" Which is some what similar
to Holden’s fantasy except Sally doesn’t
want to go.
Title: One is the Loneliest Number
Author: Three Dog Night
Even though Holden tries to find people
to talk to he still isolates himself a lot from
many people. The starting lyric to this song
is "One is the loneliest number" When Hol-
den leaves Ernie’s he decides to walk back
to the hotel, which isn’t an easy walk. It’s
about forty-six blocks. Which he says is
because he didn’t feel like taking another cab.
Title: Memphis Tennessee
Author: Elvis Presley
In this novel, the one person Holden
actually tries to see is his little sister,
Phoebe. The artist talks about trying to
Get in touch with this girl, Marie. Who
is later revealed as his little six-year-old
sister. Holden wants to call his little sister,
but because he’s afraid his parents will
pick up, he can never call. Eventually he
gets enough courage to call her. Elvis fights
with the operator to get in touch with her. I
associate Holden with Elvis and the operator
with Holden’s parents.
Title: Why Can’t We be Friends
Author: Smashmouth
Holden sends a lot of mixed singles.
he’ll try to find people to talk to one
minute and then the next he’ll be
wondering up and down Fifth avenue
alone. But when you really think about
it all he wants is friends, but no one will
be friends with him, because he just thinks
everyone is a phony. When he’s still at
Princeton he tries to reach out to Ackley,
But Ackley just shuts him down, because
He has to go to church.