Some have coined music as a universal language. Perhaps, the complexity of the notes, the consistency of the beat, the array of instruments, or the flow of lyricism offers this universal appeal. Nevertheless, the unique composition of each song enables it to sustain its own magnetic aura, much like the musical implication in Lewis Nordans Music of the Swamp. Though, many argue Nordans piece suggests merely a collection of short stories rather than a novel, Nordan uses his singsong methodology- a novel-in-stories- to incorporate an anthology of his transformative memory- an autobiography of the way it was. By examining the structure of Music of the Swamp, it can be broken into a series of short stories, though it is described by some as a novel-in-stories (Dupuy 1). Although the novel is divided into three parts and an epilogue, each chapter within each part relates a different episode throughout the childhood of Nordans main character Sugar Mecklin. The first part begins in third person, while Nordan presents the rest of the sections in first person. Critic Edward Dupuy believes that considering the