The Sound of Being Human, Jude Rogers
The Sound of Being Human, Jude Rogers
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

The Sound of Being Human
How Music Shapes Our Lives

Author: Jude Rogers

Narrator: Jude Rogers

Unabridged: 8 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: White Rabbit

Published: 04/28/2022

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

'Too often we treat popular music as wallpaper surrounding us as we live our lives. Jude Rogers shows the emotional and cerebral heft such music can have. It's a personal journey which becomes universal. Fascinating'
Ian Rankin

'Moving and absorbing, The Sound of Being Human mixes memoir, analysis, anecdote and personal chronicle into a mosaic that evokes what music means to the individual and the human tribe. A candid, beautiful read'
Stuart Maconie

The Sound of Being Human explores, in detail, why music plays such a deep-rooted role in so many lives, from before we are born to our last days. At its heart is Jude's own story: how songs helped her wrestle with the grief of losing her father at age five; concoct her own sense of self as a lonely adolescent; sky-rocket her relationships, both real and imagined, in the flushes of early womanhood, propel her own journey into working life, adulthood and parenthood, and look to the future.

Shaped around twelve songs, ranging from ABBA's 'Super Trouper' to Neneh Cherry's 'Buffalo Stance', Kraftwerk's 'Radioactivity' to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas' 'Heat Wave', the book combines memoir and historical, scientific and cultural enquiry to show how music can shape different versions of ourselves; how we rely upon music for comfort, for epiphanies, and for sexual and physical connection; how we grow with songs, and songs grow inside us, helping us come to terms with grief, getting older and powerful memories. It is about music's power to help us tell our own stories, whatever they are, and make them sing.

About Jude Rogers

Since 2003, Jude Rogers has written about arts and culture for the Guardian, Observer, Sunday Times, Times Saturday Review, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Word, MOJO, Q, NME, The Quietus, Wire and The Gentlewoman. She has made acclaimed documentaries for Radio 4, including the 2021 series 'A Life in Music', and presents the White Rabbit music books podcast, Songbook. She has interviewed artists from Paul McCartney to Dolly Parton, Damon Albarn to Billie Eilish, Laurie Anderson to Michael Stipe, Debbie Harry to the Pet Shop Boys.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Peter on December 11, 2022

Jude Rogers is a well-known music journalist in the UK, with her work appearing in the likes of The Guardian and The Times on a regular basis. In this book she looks at the songs that have soundtracked the most important moments in her life, and explore the reason why music plays such an important r......more

Goodreads review by Simon on May 12, 2022

Why does music mean so much to us? What is it that triggers that Proustian rush that certain songs or pieces of music have on us? Why are the songs we hear in our teenage years the ones that usually leave the biggest impression on us? Why do we get so upset when a favourite pop star dies – especiall......more

Goodreads review by David on June 28, 2022

Superbly written. Personal yet relatable. If you love music you’ll love this book.......more

Goodreads review by Tom on May 15, 2022

A great read. It is emotional, thoughtful, and insightful on the magic of music, with some interesting analysis on why music hits us so hard and why it resonates so deeply. A heartfelt story of a life in love with music. As an example, on the Flying Pickets - "Around 1984, Welsh men were not known f......more

Goodreads review by Russell on October 30, 2022

Not only one of the best music books I’ve ever read, but also a touching memoir and a scientific exploration of how music touches our brains and moves our hearts. The choice of songs that make up each chapter are significantly varied to have at least one that anyone who reads the book. The themes how......more


Quotes

Too often we treat popular music as wallpaper surrounding us as we live our lives. Jude Rogers shows the emotional and cerebral heft such music can have. It's a personal journey which becomes universal. Fascinating

A stunning hybrid of memoir and music, soundtracking the indelible nature of sound. Rogers' moving, lyrical sentences sing and stop you in your tracks

I absolutely loved this book. It's a fabulously moving memoir, gorgeous and unique, and beautifully written - tender, funny, nostalgic and insightful, elegantly revealing so much about the power of music. It's given me a completely new take on the songs I have loved in my life and why I love them. What a joy. Ruth Jones

Moving and absorbing, The Sound Of Being Human mixes memoir, analysis, anecdote and personal chronicle into a mosaic that evokes what music means to the individual and the human tribe. A candid, beautiful read

I've not read a warmer, deeper or truer evocation of the intense and unique connection between person and song. In untangling her own life, Jude Rogers helped me understand mine. This book is truly beautiful

A beautifully written memoir of love, loss and the ways in which music can move us in unseen ways. Jude is a rare talent

Jude Rogers is one of our very finest music writers, and The Sound of Being Human shows us exactly why: tender, whip-smart, passionate and meticulous. All music fans will relish this book

There are books that have made me cry and books that have taught me about the psychological effects of music, but Jude's is the only one that has done both. It's a wonderful thing - real food for the heart and head. A book that lots of people will treasure

Jude Rogers is one of my favourite writers and one of my favourite people. Having been interviewed by her many times I'm always bowled over by her constant passion for music, new and old, and the way she can take you to a time and a place in a few words. This is a beautiful memoir about how music can shape your life, sometimes change your life, and I defy anyone not to have a little cry along the way

Both heavy and light, dark and sweet - I very much like this book