In the late 1980’s, Lounge Music was making a revival that only really came into full swing in the 1990’s, when the novel was first being written. This was largely a global phenomenon, but there was a large constituent of the movement taking place in the United Kingdom, where Ishiguro lived. Lounge movement is described as having a very tranquil feeling, like you’re meant to be in the place that you’re in, which describes the ultimate fate of the characters very succinctly. They try to escape their situation, but fail, and don’t try to struggle any longer. They accept their place in the world, the cards they are dealt, and in a way, Lounge. This philosophy ythat the novel embeds within itself was prevalent from the very beginning, as well, because the novel started out as a piece centering around people who were Lounge Singers in the 1950’s, before being revised and reformed into the novel we know today.
Freeman, John. “Never Let Me Go: A Profile of Kazuo Ishiguro.” Poets & Writers, 23 Feb. 2018, www.pw.org/content/never_let_me_go_a_profile_of_kazuo_ishiguro.
“Lounge Music.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Feb. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lounge_music.