In Tim Cowgill book it tells the story of a middle-aged man who sets off on a journey back to Ireland to attend the funeral of an old friend. On the journey he reads a journal that a younger self wrote recounting his difficult childhood and the pain of growing up. The older reader is taken back to his childhood traumas through the journal which recalls events in the years from 1969 through to the year 1981. The journal is littered with musical references that the middle-aged reader uses to make strong connections between his modern life and the life of the writer. This connection is further reinforced by a trip back to the country of his birth, Ireland. The reader is invited to remember their own youth through regular mentions of significant events and important music of the time; the 60s, the 70s and the 80s.