If 6 Was 9 and Other Assorted Number Songs: Vol. 1: The No. 1 Song in Heaven to Peng! 33

by David Klein

In this endearingly obsessive, unendingly fun romp—from the loneliest number through “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Strawberry Letter #23,” and beyond—author David Klein does for numbers what the Beach Boys did for surfing and Bruce Springsteen did for the New Jersey Turnpike. Each of these essays focuses on the songs and song types associated with a number from 1 through 33, culminating in the selection of the “definitive” song for that number. Of course, readers might prefer “Eight Miles High” to “Eight Days a Week,” but that’s part of the fun.

Why number songs? The numerals between 1 and 99 are the ones we experience most often in our daily existence—the elemental numbers that have worked their way into the rhythms of our lives, our figures of speech, our culture and our songs. Alone, the chapters are a quick, satisfying snack. Taken together they tell the story of a few decades’ worth of pop music, bouncing off each other in weird sideways coincidence. It’s like finding a corner café where Edwin Starr, Patti Smith, and Johnny Cash all happen to be hunkered down in separate corner booths. And then going to the Laundromat next door to see Iggy Pop, Chuck Berry, and Neil Young minding their own business, counting out quarters for the dryer.

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2012