Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke

By Rob Sheffield

Once upon a time I was falling apart. Now I'm always falling in love.

Pick up the microphone.

When Rob Sheffield moved to New York City in the summer of 2001, he was a young widower trying to start a new life in a new town. Behind, in the past, was his life as a happily married rock critic, with a wife he adored, and a massive collection of mix tapes that captured their life together. And then, in a flash, all he had left were the tapes.

Beyoncé , Bowie, Bon Jovi, Benatar . . .

One night, some friends dragged him to a karaoke bar in the West Village. A night out was a rare occasion for Rob back then.

Turn around

Somehow, that night in a karaoke bar turned into many nights, in many karaoke bars. Karaoke became a way out, a way to escape the past, a way to be someone else if only for the span of a three-minute song. Discovering the sublime ridiculousness of karaoke, despite the fact that he couldn't carry a tune, he began to find his voice.

Turn around

And then the unexpected happened. A voice on the radio got Rob's attention. The voice came attached to a woman who was unlike anyone he'd ever met before. A woman who could name every constellation in the sky, and every Depeche Mode B side. A woman who could belt out a mean Bonnie Tyler.

Bright Eyes

Turn Around Bright Eyes is an emotional journey of hilarity and heartbreak with a karaoke soundtrack. It's a story about finding the courage to move on, clearing your throat, and letting it rip. It's a story about navi- gating your way through adult romance. And it's a story about how songs get tangled up in our deepest emotions, evoking memories of the past while inspiring hope for the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Aug 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062207647

Rob Sheffield

Rob Sheffield is a columnist for Rolling Stone, where he has been writing about music, TV, and pop culture since 1997. He is the author of the national bestsellers Love Is a Mix Tape: Love and Loss, One Song at a Time; Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut; Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love & Karaoke: On Bowie; and Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews for Turn Around Bright Eyes

[patiencefortitude · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fun collection of essays, about music, about life, but mostly about a love of karaoke, which I share.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Turn Around Bright Eyes, Rob Sheffield, a writer for Rolling Stone, shares his enjoyment and appreciation of Karaoke, and its meaning in his life and in his relationship with his current wife, in a series of autobiographical essays.This is the third book by Rob Sheffield, his first Love is a Mix Tape chronicled his relationship with his first wife who died unexpectedly. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut focused primarily on the connection of music to his memories of youth.I have sung Karaoke only once. I was very drunk and surrounded by my (thirty something) girlfriends as we belted out Bananarama's 'Venus' waving our arms about while trying to stay upright on a tiny stage meant for one, maybe two people, not eight. (We placed third and won a round of drinks!)For Rob, and his wife, an astrophysicist, Karaoke is a passion, though Rob confesses he is tone deaf. It is one of the ways the pair connect, something they can share despite their disparate professional lives, and an activity they indulge in with some frequency either at their local club which offers private rooms, or any place they encounter during their travels.The essays in Turn Around Bright Eyes, each headed by or referencing a song title, range from Sheffield's musings on how music is inextricably linked to his life's experience, to his opinions on the genius of artists like Bon Jovi and Rod Stewart. This isn't a treatise on the Karaoke phenomenon but rather Sheffield's relationship with it and music in general.Given I am about the same age as Sheffield, the majority of his music references were familiar to me and I spent much of the book singing the various pop hits mentioned, like Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer', to myself (the house was thankfully empty). Younger readers who have never heard of Nena's '99 Luft Balloons' might feel a little lost in parts.Turn Around Bright Eyes is both a homage to Karaoke, to love and to life. Funny, sharp and occasionally heartbreaking, it is book sure to entertain and make you want to sing.

[voracious_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have loved Rob Sheffield's other books and this one was also entertaining. In this autobiographical series of essays, Rob explores the world of karaoke and how the love of music is all that is necessary to unleash your inner rock star. Rob fully discloses his lack of musical ability, which he claims has no bearing on the magical experience one can have when put in the vulnerable position of performing in front of a warm, supportive karaoke audience. This book bridges the time span from his first wife's death to his current marriage. As usual, Rob is in touch with his emotions and reactions and tells his story with passion and sensitivity. At first, I was concerned that the entire book was about karaoke and I started to get a little bored with the topic part-way through. Fortunately, Rob also included some awesome stories about his experience at a Rock star camp and other fun experiences, which broke up the pace and made the book more enjoyable. A fun read from Rob Sheffield and I look forward to his next!

[indygo88 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read Rob Sheffield's Talking to Girls About Duran Duran a few years ago, but I honestly don't really remember a single thing about that book. I suspect it will be the same for this one. This wasn't really what I was expecting. There was talk of music, some talk of karaoke, and the ways in which the two have helped make Rob into the person he is, as well as how it helped him heal after the death of his wife and how it led him to his new wife. But it felt really scattered and after a fairly decent start, it kind of went downhill from there. Rob reads his own audiobook, and this is one of those times where I think it would've been done better by another reader. Rob's voice is too monotone. I probably would've enjoyed this better had I read the print version.

[bravenewbks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Over the course of my reading it, this book slipped from four stars to three stars, and finally fell to two.

It's a got a cute, if slightly gimmicky, hook: he's basically telling the story of how he fell in love with his second wife after being widowed, using the conceit of the progression of songs you sing in a night of karaoke. Each chapter is titled something like "8:04 pm : Total Eclipse of the Heart" or "8:59 pm: Livin' on a Prayer".

The problem, I think, is that this reads like a series of essays, some of which (especially in the beginning) are pretty good. But he runs out of steam and the gimmick starts to take over -- and it gets old. It got real old for me around the time he said being a husband was like being Rod Stewart (it was awful; there was a lot of nattering about plodding on and worrying about Losing It and being confused by his own existence). When everything becomes a forced song or singer metaphor, you end up saying some really dumb-sounding things about music: "Something in Neil Diamond speaks to the boy in you and commands you to answer as a man."

I wish he hadn't tried to make this into a book. If he'd taken the handful of truly good essays and made them a New Yorker-length column, I would have loved it.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This author is one of the most readable, believe able winters, writing today.This story shows that Rob at times acts like the music expert (which he is)/snob (which most certainly is not), liking obscure songs and bands yet can quote music and movies by Brittany Spears. In all his books he nails perfectly how music shapes all of our lives especially with girlfriends, boyfriends, or spouses. At time his total geekiness seems cringe worry, and at other times you see he doesn't care, he is who he is, and we are all better for it. Another excellent book.

[jillian_kay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was about karaoke, soft of, but it was really about love, loss, friendship, music, and trying to hide your Boston accent when you're in a Southern bar.

[christineellei · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Music has always been an important part of Mr. Sheffield’s life. As a writer for Rolling Stone magazine he had transformed that into a profession as well. In 2001 Mr. Sheffield was a young widower, had recently moved to New York City and by his own admission was still in the depths of mourning the sudden death of his wife. On a rare night out with friends he was introduced to karaoke and a new love story began … not only with karaoke but with the woman who would, due in large part to her own love of music, not only rescue him from the depths of his self-imposed solitude but also become his second wife.

This book is a little bit love story, a little bit the history of karaoke and a whole lot about the importance of music in our lives. The memories of certain occasions in Mr. Sheffield’s life are emphasized with songs … whether he is quoting lyrics or amusing his reader with anecdotes about his poorly performed (by his own admission) karaoke versions of those songs. Every so often he cleverly worked the lyrics of a song into the flow of his writing and I found myself immediately starting to hum the song in my head. This is the second book I have read recently that made me wish it came with an accompanying CD. He pays homage to most of the popular artists over the last several decades, as well as some lesser-known (to me) ones paying special attention to Rod Stewart, The Beatles and Rush. He moves smoothly from pop music – does anyone besides me even remember “Love Grows Where Rosemary Goes” – through Indie, Country and Heavy Metal. I don’t think he ignored any music genre. All of that “plays” softly in the background as he shares about his parents, his life, living close to the World Trade Center on 9/11, personal grief and falling in love again.

Being of a “certain age” this book included many songs that could be included in the soundtrack of my own life and, although loath to admit it, I have enjoyed one or two Corona fueled karaoke performances myself, so this was a fun read.

[kalyhi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has a shelf life because if you are older or younger than the author you probably will not know the musicians of his generation. However, this was well written and funny! I really took something away from it in that we probably all reach an age when it doesn't matter what music is 'cool', as I'm finding- in addition to some of my more 'out there' tastes, that I like some of the songs from what I considered the 'Disco Sucks' era. Even more, he shows that it's ALL Pop Culture, not just the Pop Rock I've always despised; as I have 'Country' which has now gone so much more mainstream. Music, like other forms of media, is mashing up the genres, so one needs to have an open mind or risk missing some good stuff. Another thing he clarified is how we come to hate hate hate just about anything that is overplayed. Too, too true. Good author.

[menshevixen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's never too late to let a song ruin your life.