What Music Means to Benji

    Music plays a very important role in Sag Harbor. Different songs and artists are constantly brought up throughout the book. It seems that Benji uses music to explore his racial identity, attaches it to a memory, and as a way to socialize. Whether Benji is using music to create a feeling of nostalgia or attending a concert, it's clear that music has a major influence on the development of Benji's identity and his coming of age. 

    As Benji drove to his parents' Sag Harbor home in the beginning of the book, his dad would switch between two main radio stations: one entitled "Easy Listening" and one "Afrocentric Talk Radio". On the latter radio station Benji was exposed to music which encapsulated the black struggle in the city (primarily police brutality). The unfiltered depiction of life displayed in quotes like "these white people think they can kill us in our homes" opened Benji's eyes to a desperate reality, which was reaffirmed by his dad's agreement/approval for the lyrics. This scene showed how, even beyond Sag Harbor, music can be used to influence other peoples' ideology.

    Another important role of music in Sag Harbor is its connection to memory and nostalgia. In the final chapter, Benji hears a song on the radio that brings back memories of previous summers and important moments from his childhood. However, his recollection of these experiences is imperfect and fragmented. Through this scene, Whitehead suggests that music can act as a powerful emotional trigger, preserving feelings associated with the past even when memory itself becomes unreliable. Personally, I have experienced a similar feeling where I have a song associated with a certain emotion or feeling of nostalgia, and it's always shocking how much a certain song can manipulate your emotions. 

    Music is also a pathway for Benji to socialize in Sag Harbor. During the Roxanne UTFO "beef", Benji was enamored by UTFO because they were a group that "represent teenage striving, youthful perseverance against the odds, and goofball personas" (Whitehead 235). This group was performing in Sag Harbor, and Benji became fixated on going to the concert. Benji typically has an issue with speaking fast in public and mumbling over his words, but he was so dedicated to seeing this concert he prepared lines in case the bouncer questioned him. In a way, his love for music forced him to socialize and step out his comfort zone.




Comments

  1. Henry GMay 21, 2026 at 7:58 AM

    WOW kabir! What a FANTASTIC blog to end the school year! This is really a blessing to my eyes! I really liked the incorporation of music and the specific song choices in the novel. Hearing it in class (shout out Mr. Mitchell) was really fun and really allowed me to understand the novel better. My favorite incorporation of music was the discussion our class had on how sampling went from being viewed as stealing to an art form. Overall, great blog and have a GREAT summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. SriMay 21, 2026 at 5:28 PM

    Nice job Kabir! I like your point on the UTFO concert because the fact that music was the thing that actually got Benji to push past his social anxiety says a lot about how much it meant to him. Also the radio scene with his dad is such a good example of how the same car ride can mean completely different things to him and his fathers's generations

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  3. SamuelMay 25, 2026 at 9:32 AM

    Hey Kabir! I really like how you talked about the way Benji connects music to his past, his racial identity or he uses it as a way to connect to other people (Maybe you could say this in the way he connects with the people around him in the concert too), and even connecting with the artists responsible for making the song themselves. I also think music plays a large role in Benji's life as he comes of age, allowing him to discover his racial identity, remember his past and learn from it, and connect with other people. Great blog!

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  4. MitchellMay 27, 2026 at 12:13 PM

    It's true that while music is clearly important to Benji--you don't even mention that he's specifically starting to dress like a fan of the goth/postpunk "white" music he's been getting into, which is a whole nother can of worms--often the examples in the book are ambiguous. There's nothing pleasant about hearing the song "Babe, What Would You Say?" on the radio--I felt bad about even playing this one for you in class, worried it might set you off on kind of a mood all day. He's not even 100% sure he HAS heard the song before, let alone what the actual "moment" when it happened might have been. He describes the confusing experience of feeling nostalgia for a time that never existed, or a thing that never happened. Is this something we can relate to? A song we aren't sure we've heard before, but which can nonetheless trigger a whole range of unreliable emotional responses in us? It seems like the combination of sound and lyrical sense in music has a powerful ability to unlock dubious emotions in us, even as we savor the music that has real meaning to us. The trouble is, it's sometimes hard to tell these apart!

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