FORMAL INTRODUCTION + "FEELS SO GOOD" by CHUCK MANGIONE

February 24, 2022

FORMAL INTRODUCTION + "FEELS SO GOOD" by CHUCK MANGIONE

BY TIM P. WALKER

Hello.

My name is Tim. I live in Baltimore with my wife, daughter, and 13-year-old Corgi who doesn’t get around much anymore but still enjoys sitting on the porch and barking at things that pass by all day. I’m a writer whose work has appeared in several publications and anthologies over the years. I’m also an avid reader, a film buff, a beer snob, a lousy saxophonist, and a pitiful excuse for a hipster (to wit: no facial hair or tattoos). But if there’s one thing I seem to enjoy more than anything else, it’s listening to music.

“What kind of music?” you may ask. Well, I’ll listen to anything really. From Baroque period classical to no wave era mutant disco funk, post-bop modal jazz to retro-futurist post-rock, Brazilian Tropicália to Norwegian black metal—honestly, it’d be easier to list what I won’t listen to, and even then I would’ve at least given it a chance. And I’ll listen to it all day, every day, doing anything—working, driving, cooking, eating… I’ll even nod off with the headphones on.

I always listen to music when I’m writing. It doesn’t merely function as background noise either. Generally, it prods me along and sets the tempo for my thoughts. Often, it will either inspire or help shape the pieces I’m working on. When it does that, I’m occasionally up front about it (The Neil Diamond-inspired “Doing Time in the Crunchy Granola Suite,” which appears in issue #1 of Rock and a Hard Place Magazine, and which you can find here: https://www.rockandahardplacemag.com/issueone). Occasionally, I’m very upfront about it (“The Goddamn Chuck Mangione Song,” which you can read here: https://www.baltimoresun.com/citypaper/bcpnews-second-place-in-fiction-the-goddamn-chuck-mangione-song-20150507-story.html). Most of the time though, it’s the feeling or the vibe of a song or musical passage that finds itself seeping into the words I put to page.

When I’m reading, on the other hand, music tends to function primarily as background noise, especially if what if I happen to be reading is particularly riveting. Sometimes though, a novel or story or article I’m checking out will all of a sudden remind me of a certain song, and I find myself having to stop everything so I can dredge up the record and put that song on. Other times, I’ll be listening to something and the rhythm will sync up all too well with what I’m reading. It’s uncanny enough to make me think the author was listening to the same song when they wrote it.

And that’s what I hope to do in this space—share those moments.

So let me serve as your music sommelier and I’ll tell you what music I think pairs best with what literature I’ve read or whichever experience I’ve had in this humdrum existence. Who knows—maybe my pairings will enhance your own experiences or otherwise alter your perspective. Really though, I just want to have fun with this, maybe even start an argument or two. Art is subjective after all, and my opinions trivial. And it’s joyful to argue with people about frivolous things, especially strangers.

Anyway, since this is the inaugural post, I should kick it off with a pairing. How about “The Goddamn Chuck Mangione Song” with the goddamn Chuck Mangione song?