What song are you listening to right now?

hard to say. at the beginning of the novel there are just a few song references playing a part in contributing to the evocation of the historical backdrop, later on they suddenly mushroom everywhere and, i can only speculate here, maybe his publisher's reader told him that they work well and that he should consider adding even more, and so he did, probably also doing his research on this subject matter, not to the disfavor of the story. the songs' function is widened later on in the story, inasmuch as they do not only evoke the backdrop of the 60s west coast but also shed more light on the characters, and even serve as slapstick stunts of knee-slapping quality. sometimes they are used ironically when the narrator, doc, during short phases of relative clear-headedness, is observing from a short distance his surrounding moronic culture and the oddball behaviour of his fellow dope contemporaries, these scenes are among the best in the novel

I feel like he'd have to have some knowledge to use them in the way you're suggesting I.e shedding light on the characters. I never really payed them much mind when I read it in part due to my unfamiliarity with most of them but I did think it amusing that doc could be so spacey at times with other subjects but detailed about music and songs. I feel like if he were gonna just add whatever songs to make a point about the story he would t have taken the time to find stuff so obscure. Makes me think it's a hobby. Sure some of them characterized people but I can't say if there's any real meaning g to them. I always thought the way the book could shift tones was the best part of it the smooth flow of the language aside like when he's investigating coy at the surf house and it kinda turns into a bad acid trip when they're escaping
 
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