The movie has been called a modern-day version of The Catcher in the Rye. The songs that director Burr Steers chose to accompany his film perfectly capture that sense of alienation and frustration so familiar to fans of Holden Caulfield.
Green Day's song is a shout-out in honor of our favorite literary character who is just on the edge of flunking out of life. If only we could remember who wrote about that guy…
We are fans of anyone who turns to literature to name their band, which we hope was the case with New York band, Seymour Glass. Come to think of it, Holden Caulfield would also make a great name for a band. (Never mind, someone has already done it: http://www.myspace.com/holdencaulfield.)
Guns N' Roses released their long-awaited album Chinese Democracy in 2008. The album contained the single "The Catcher in the Rye." And honestly, who better to sing about Holden Caulfield's pain and alienation than Axl Rose?
When Holden hams it up for Stradlater in The Catcher in the Rye, he does an impression of an amateur tap dancer who fills in at the Zeigfield Follies. Holden, Stradlater, and everybody else at Pencey would definitely have known about the Follies, a famous variety act that ran from 1907 to 1931.
An A-list roster of composers, including Leonard Bernstein and Richard Rodgers, wrote the music for this 1936 jazz ballet. No wonder Stradlater couldn't whistle it to save his life.