Like The Prince of Tides , Conroy's earlier novel, Beach Music deals with "picking away at life's wounds with a sharp wit".
Some other (potentially controversial) themes in the novel include:
- Suicide, as Jack deals with Shyla's suicidal leap from the South Carolina bridge by escaping to Rome in order to avoid traumatic family drama
- War, from the terrors of the Holocaust discussed by Jewish characters and the Vietnam War's effects on those left behind
- Mental illness, as Jack's youngest brother, John Hardin, suffers with bouts of schizophrenia
- Loss of innocence
- Self-awareness and acceptance of self and of personal heritage
- Finding forgiveness from others and from ourselves
- Abuse of power
- Death
- Grief
- Southern United States
- Southern Aristocracy
- Story-telling
