Kay Sohini’s graphic memoir This Beautiful, Ridiculous City captures New York City in all its architectural splendor.
Library Journal wrote of the book:
“Sohini’s love of New York and evolving understanding of herself within its powerful context work in concert for a radiant read”
In her own words, here is Kay Sohini’s Book Notes music playlist for her graphic memoir This Beautiful, Ridiculous City:
This Beautiful, Ridiculous City at its core is a book about how popular culture led me to the new world. As you will find out if you do read the book, literature, movies, and music feature quite prominently in it. Also, the great thing about making comics is that, once you are done writing the script and have embarked on the drawing process, you can listen to music pretty much endlessly for about a year straight as you are penciling, inking, lettering, and coloring all the pages. I listened to a lot of music while making this book, and here’s a selection of it for you—
Hey Jude by The Beatles
There’s a scene in the book, where a Beatles cover band plays “Hey Jude” in a midtown subway station. In real life, I had encountered them on my way to work, on a day when it was so cold that the wind hurt my face, and I had crashed fast and hard on the concrete floor of the subway station while trying to catch a train. When I heard the cover band crooning, “Take a sad song, and make it better,” there must have been tears rolling down my face from a very bruised knee and a day gone wrong. It hurt then, but over the years it has become a fond memory of New York being New York in the New Yorkiest way.
Autumn in New York, the Billie Holiday version
I distinctly remember listening to this when I was drawing Page 89. You will see why. And I listen to this song every fall, specifically in Central Park. It makes me believe in magic, I think. “It’s good to live it again.”
My Little Corner of the World by Yo La Tengo
This Beautiful, Ridiculous City ends with a reflection on how impossible it has become for artists of modest means to make it in New York, in no small part due to the rising housing costs. I always wanted to live in Manhattan, but considering I cannot live without an in-unit washer and dryer, this particular desire was impossible in my budget. So when I moved to New York, it was to a wonderfully sun-filled rental in Queens, which is luckily only 25 minutes from Manhattan. This became my little corner of the world. To paraphrase Yo La Tengo, I dream a little dream, I forget there’s any other place.
Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor by Chopin
In the fall of 2018, I was taking a Visual Arts class in NYU, and I used to walk through Washington Square Park to get there. Colin Huggins, aka the Piano Guy, used to play there on most days, and I always stopped to listen for a bit. It was my favorite part of the week that semester, so much so that I tried to replicate that scene in the book. I could be wrong but I think he was playing Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor that day. Please consider a generous tip if you see him. As I said before, New York these days is hard for small artists.
Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift
For the simple reason that it cheers me up on difficult days. It makes me re-realize that every day I get to spend in this city—living here, pursuing my dream of becoming a writer—is a blessing, something I have dreamt about for years, something that sounded too good to be true once. I love the line “Everybody here was someone else before.” It captures the essence of this city and why I adore it perfectly.
New York, New York by Frank Sinatra
This is one of the first New York songs I fell in love with. There’s a line in the book where I write “Everybody writes about New York so tenderly, even when they are sick of it.” I think this is the tenderness I was referring to, the soft, intangible kind. It is one of those songs that is a core part of New York mythology for me. I find myself humming “It’s up to you, New York, New York” often, and especially when life is being a little devious.
I, and Love, and You by The Avett Brothers
I must have been around seventeen when I first heard this song. Probably around the same time I started to subconsciously develop a soft spot for New York, a good few years before I decided to make a life here. I revisit it whenever life gets hard, the city feels just too expensive, a book deal falls through, or years go by without me seeing my family. The lines “Oh, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in / Are you aware the shape I’m in?” does something to me. I have never lived in Brooklyn, although North 5th Street Pier is one of my favorite places in the city to think. In any case, in my head I always substitute Brooklyn for New York and the wistfulness of it all almost makes me cry.
Kal Ho Naa Ho by Sonu Nigam, featuring Shah Rukh Khan
This is a Hindi song from a very popular 2000s Bollywood film called Kal Ho Naa Ho. I write about this in the book. It might not be for everyone, but for those of us who grew up in that rapidly changing decade or two in a postcolonial country, its cultural significance remains indelible.There’s also something about Shah Rukh Khan in New York. When I first watched this movie, I was maybe ten years old, and I wanted the city on the silver screen with all my heart. When I watch it now, my two worlds collide.
New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down by LCD Soundsystem
Similar to the one by the Avett Brothers, it is one of those songs I turn to when I feel defeated by this city. It doesn’t happen often, but I call this place beautiful AND ridiculous for a reason. If you are mad enough to love New York, it will break your heart, while convincing you that no one else can fix it.
Fairytale of New York by The Pogues
Arguably the most fun track on this playlist, Fairytale of New York is one of my favorite holiday songs. I play it when I put up the lights in December, and we dance to it in the kitchen in the dark in the glow of fairy lights. There’s usually a vanilla orange pound cake baking in the oven. It does not appear in the book, but this book is my fairytale of New York.
I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City by Harry Nilsson
This is the song that actually makes me cry. In the book, there’s a scene where my character, after going through “a death and disappearing act,” simply packs a bag to leave. If there was a background score for that chapter, this would have been it. The place I was born and raised in had ceased to be a home and I knew I had to leave and that it had to be New York. As I write in the book, I fully believe that “herein lies joy, herein lies purpose, herein lies everything I could ever need…I invented a life out of nothing only because this city stood witness.”
Kay Sohini is a South Asian researcher, writer, and graphic novelist based in New York. She holds a PhD in English from Stony Brook University and her essays and comics have been featured in The Washington Post, The Nib, and more. Her work focuses on utilizing comics in the scholarly examination of healthcare justice, environmental humanities, resisting disinformation, and creating an equitable future for all. This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is her first book.