Charlie has a difficult time expressing his feelings to the people he cares about the most. However, music and Charlie’s ability to express himself become intimately linked throughout the novel. Charlie is introduced to his favorite band, the Smiths, after his sister lets him have a mixtape that a boy made for her. Charlie falls in love with one of the Smith’s songs, “Asleep,” and he ends up putting this song on a mixtape for Patrick as a way to express how much he values their friendship. He also gives Sam a Beatles record that his aunt gave him as a way to say how much he loves her.

Music also marks some of the most important moments in Charlie’s life. When he is sitting in between Sam and Patrick in her truck, a song comes on and he feels “infinite” (33). This idea of feeling infinite is repeated at the end of the novel, when Charlie begins to feel okay with himself, and it’s intimately linked to the moment in the truck with the music. Again, when Sam is standing in the back of the truck and Charlie notices how beautiful she looks, “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac is playing.