"Never Let Me Go" and Music

Description: 

In Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, music is very important to the main character, Kathy. However, she only feels comforted by one song she discovered during her time at the boarding school "Hailsham." This fictional song was called "Never Let Me Go" by Judy Bridgewaters, and Kathy treasured this tape during her time at Hailsham. For a while, she often misinterpreted the lyrics, thinking this was a song about a mother rocking her baby, not wanting to be apart from the child. Because of this misinterpretation, she has danced with a pillow in her room like a mother holding a child, and this caused one of the staff members, Madame, to cry. Of course, this is all before Kathy knows about her fate. Still, this song serves as a comfort to Kathy, even when she reuintes with the song in Norfolk when she and Tommy look for the CD together. This book has to do with the unavoidable death of the characters, as they are clones that are meant to donate away their organs. Despite the unavoidable death, one way in which Kathy tries to enjoy her time on earth is by listening to the song "Never Let Me Go" on her tape. That is, until she loses the tape. 

Sources:

Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Faber and Faber, 2010. 

Moura, Andre. Vinyl Records, Discs, and Three Cassette Tapes. 2019. Pexels, https://www.pexels.com/photo/vinyl-records-discs-and-three-cassette-tape....

Associated Place(s)

Layers

Timeline of Events Associated with "Never Let Me Go" and Music

Kazuo Ishiguro Moves to England

Apr 1960

Free Night View Nagasaki photo and picture

Kazuo Ishiguro was initially born in Nagasaki Japan, and he attended Kindergarten to learn hiragana; the most simplest form of the Japanese alphabet. However, his father had been invited to work in England, which initiated the move. Because Ishiguro's father's work was continuously supported by the British government, the family never moved back to Japan. As Kazuo Ishiguro grew older, he was fascinated by song writing and writing as a subject, as he studied literature and began to practice his own writing. As an example, he started an unfinished novel in 1977. 

In 2005, his novel Never Let Me Go was published. This book seemingly follows Kathy and her friends at a boarding school as they form connections and attend classes to learn about art. However, Kathy and her classmates are told that their sole purpose in life is to donate their organs once they reach a certain age, and so these students do not have much time on earth. This novel deals with feelings of humanity, which include making connections, learning lessons through school, and trying to enjoy life despite the fact that these students will die at a young age from donating organs away. Mortality is an aspect of humanity, and one way in which we can cope with this is to do our best to enjoy our lives despite the fact that our time on earth is limited. 

Sources:

Ag2016. Night View Nagasaki Japan Three. 2016. Pixabay, pixabay.com/photos/night-view-….

Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go. Faber & Faber, 2010.

"Kazuo Ishiguro – Biographical." The Nobel Prize, Accessed 1 May, 2025, <www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lite…;.

Kazuo Ishiguro Moves to England

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Part of Group:

Artist: 

  • Andre Moura

Image Date: 

26 Jun 2019