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Literary criticism, songwriting analysis, and cultural commentary, Words and Music Into the Future is an uncompromising examination of the current state of popular songs and songwriting in the English-speaking world. Devoid of hero worship and celebrity gossip, using mostly well-known songs from recent decades as examples, Michael Koppy presents a compelling case that we listeners have been force-fed a steady diet of industrial illiteracy, and that the timer has come for songwriting and song criticism to riser to greater heights.
Whether you agree or disagree with the challenging, even heretical ideas presented in Words and Music Into the Future, it will forever change how you think about and hear popular music.
Sample chapters:
1. No, Don, the Levee Wasn't Dry--And No One Was Drinking Whiskey and Rye
2. There Goes The Robert E. Lee?
3. To What End?
4. A Personal Remembrance
5. A Later Kick in the Pants
6. Don't Shoot, Dammit I'm Just the Messenger
7. Politics? Religion? How About SONGS? ?
8. Ground Rule Number One
9. I'm Your Fan You're My Hero
10. Herds of Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Veldt
11. Why Peeing Your Pants Beats the Hell Out Of Nostalgia
12. Madonna, Kanye, Coldplay, Bieber, U2, One Direction--Effluvia, Ephemera, Etcetera, Etcetera
13. See You at the Grammys --A Note on Industrial Smarm Festivals
14. Ethics? In Popular Music...? ?
15. Dunno Much 'Bout Art, But I Know What I Like
16. Ever Notice the Worst Writing in an Insightful Pop Music Review--Even a Rave--Usually Shows Up When the Critic Quotes the Band's Lyrics?
17. Those Pesky, Over-Idealized Nineteen-Sixties
18. So Where Are We?
19. "Yeah, But You Really Hafta See 'Em Live "
20. Over the Top? Ya Think?
21. Yes, We Too Are All So Very Sorry You Weren't Born on a Mississippi Cotton Plantation
22. Art School Confidential
23. Dance? Okay, Fine. Dance Now Go Away.
24. It's All Greek--French, Swahili, Latin, Klingon--To Me.
25. Country Music is "Three Chords and the Truth" Computerized Drums, a Catering Truck, and a Smirk
26. Country's Brainier Half-Sibling: Americana
27. Tradition and Illusions of Same
28. The Disarmingly Enabling Inscience of Rap and Hip-Hop
29. Come to the Cabaret, Old Chum
30. Under a Stack of Marshall Amplifiers
31. Ethics? In SONGWRITING ITSELF...? ?
32. The Twentieth Century Ended Two Decades Ago
33. The Insolvency of 'Po-Mo'
34. Song Lyrics vs. Poems
35. "But It's Poetry "--Refuge for the Inarticulate
36. Sincerity Ain't Depth
37. The Kids Are Alright
38. La-Da-Da / Sha-La-Ti-Da
39. Is 'The Folk Process' an Expired Merchanism?
40. Lessons from Browne's "These Days" and Kristofferson's "Bobby McGee"
41. How About That Some Country Music Is...
42. Get Me Rewrite
43. Bob Dylan: Bad Writer, Bad Influence
44. Shallowness, Thy Name is Bob
45. Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard
46. If Ya Wanna Send a Message...
47. McCartney's Song Writing Lesson
48. Steve Sondheim Desperately Wishes He Were Right
49. Didn't I Just Hear That Song in a Commercial for Paper Towels? Insurance? Gum?
50. Should We Use A Number 37-A?
51. On Brightly Wrapped Packages
52. On Gilded Frames
53. Making Sausages
54. Making Music
55. Sure 'Authenticity' is Great--But It Doesn't Guarantee Good Work
56. Form Follows Function
57. Words Seek Music. Object: Matrimony.
58. Rules Were Made to be Broken. However--
59. Swan Song
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Like it was written by George Santos
Received an Advanced Reader Copy from a friend. I am an avid true crime reader and upon completion I question if the author is credible. The timeline does not add up for his age and the times of his alleged involvement in organized crime. Some of the things in the book he is alleged to have said and done I remember almost word for word from movies I had previously watched. He literally stole a scene from the movie the accountant with Ben Affleck and said that he did it. I did a little research after completing the book and learned that this author was also claiming in 2010 that he was a long time member of the Bloods Gang. That coupled with the above leads me to believe that it is nothing more than fantasy. Do not waste your time or money
Like it was written by George Santos
Received an Advanced Reader Copy from a friend. I am an avid true crime reader and upon completion I question if the author is credible. The timeline does not add up for his age and the times of his alleged involvement in organized crime. Some of the things in the book he is alleged to have said and done I remember almost word for word from movies I had previously watched. He literally stole a scene from the movie the accountant with Ben Affleck and said that he did it. I did a little research after completing the book and learned that this author was also claiming in 2010 that he was a long time member of the Bloods Gang. That coupled with the above leads me to believe that it is nothing more than fantasy. Do not waste your time or money
What a difficult story to tell. I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability. Definitely made me think.
I had hopes for this book but was not expecting what I would read within the pages. If your kink is deplorable grammar, incoherent sentences, and inconsistent messages, then this book is for you. At first, I thought the book I received was not the book I ordered. But as I dived in, it was very confusing. I would not recommend this book to anyone
There are not many reviews on the internet for this book. In researching the many stores selling the book, it was self-published which makes a lot of sense. The online description is written perfectly, so reading the actual book was very difficult. Pages two and three are written clearly as well as the table of contents. Pages 155 and 156 are also written logically.
It appears this book was written, then sent through a program like “Grammarly.” Once completed it seems it was published without being re-read or edited. The first clue was the title narrative that used “Has” instead of “As.” The table of contents is one page off from what it shows on pages four though seven. Many of the “q’s” are written as “[]”
Below are some examples of what was within the pages of this book written verbatim:
“Chains & Discipline/ Domination & entry/ Sadism & Masochism (BDSM) is a wide classification of bed room play.” Page 9
“When bringing up the topic of chains, you are actually asking a person to offer you their depend on, their flexibility, and also possibly their suggestion of security in exchange for sensual/sexual enjoyment, power-play, and also feasible re-evaluation of your very own connection.” Page 39
“Techni[]ue can take a selection of kinds and also be as easy or facility as you pick to (new paragraph) bargain for your details scenario” Page 52
“BDSM stands for chains as well as entry, technique and also supremacy as well as sadism and also masochism.” Page 125
“SHELF means Risk Aware Consensual Kink.” Page 130
“Approval is whatever.” Page 152
“your twist isn’t my twist, yet your twist is OKAY.” Page 153
“You can be a top, base, or button” Page 153
Good service, good book. Just what I was looking for! Thank you!