Jeremy B. Jones’s Book Notes music playlist for his memoir Cipher

Later in his life, he began to rate these trysts: “good,” “middling.” Is there a more yearning song—desperate but somehow not needy—than Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On?” I could imagine my ancestor uttering a version of this argument to some woman after he set down his fiddle at a dance: “giving yourself to me can never be wrong if the love is true.” But in my book, I mine his life (pun alert) “for a heart of gold.” Despite all his missteps and the terribleness of the 19th century, I found myself desperate to find some indication that he was a good man deep down. I love this song (sweet and sad core) especially because it’s exploring the same ideas that I explore in much of my work: family history and inheritance and the time-warping way we are connected to people long gone and still to come.

Author: largeheartedboy

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