SKU: 19991219849

Words and Music Into the Future: A Songwriting Treatise and Manifesto

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Description

Words and Music Into the Future: A Songwriting Treatise and ManifestoLiterary 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

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



Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Good Track Records
Published: 08/07/2019
ISBN: 9780996640022
Pages: 358
Weight: 1.16lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 06/24/2019
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SKU: 19991219849

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4.0 ★★★★★
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B
Verified Purchase
B. Stubby
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 3
A familiar story, just with…..less.
Format: Kindle
So, as other reviewers make clear, this is very similar to Pack Darling and The Beta. It’s much closer aligned with The Beta, in plot and maybe more like Pack Darling with characters. That being said, I don’t hate this…..but it wasn’t great either. It’s both books mentioned but just….less. Less angst, less emotion, less feeling. The plot feels very half fleshed out, and the “bad guy” feels underwhelming. I didn’t really feel any real emotions from and of the male leads, except maybe Oliver. The others fell sorta flat for me. And Mika makes herself out to be this big bad ass straight outta training and then we never see it from here again with the one fitting room incident as the exception. SPOILER: The whole, “Oh, I’m actually probably an Omega, but I don’t wanna be but I do actually wanna be but no one can ever know my secret that I do nothing to hide “ thing fell so flat. She never commutes to believing she was secretly an omega, but also mentions her “secret” a lot. It just felt so manufactured. I’m intrigued enough to read part 2 and see how the author closes everything out, but this is not one I’ll recommend or ever come back to.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2024
S
Verified Purchase
SR
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 5
Good start to a series
Format: Kindle
I delayed reading the series for reasons I don’t remember. But my TBR list is huge so I thought I’d take a shot of this and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t think the blurb about it was anything special. But it was a very good book. It took some interesting twists and turns. I am so glad the second book is already out. Because I would not have waited patiently. Very slow burn but good storyline. 🔥🔥/5
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2025
J
Verified Purchase
Jammie Clark
Lexington, US
★★★★★ 4
A good read
Format: Kindle
Multiple points of view. 3 Alpha men and an Omega male. She is a Beta in training for a new program placing betas in Alpha/Omega packs. Mila is only doing the program for the money to take care of her dad. She wasn't expecting to fall for a pack but when she sees this packs Omega she is done for. There is just something about him. His Alphas are good looking as well. Too bad she is hiding a secret and their government is acting shady. I liked it and can't wait to see where their story goes.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023
B
Verified Purchase
Bri Hires
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 3
Slightly repetitive but I did love some things
Format: Kindle
I love this type of story. And omegaverse is one of my all time favorite genres. But there are a few things that pulled me out of my enjoyment while I was reading. It was repetitive at times as well as struggled with telling not showing. So we didn’t always feel like we were experiencing things with the main character. There were also some plot holes but they may still be answered in part 2. Now this isn’t to be said I didn’t enjoy parts of the story. I loved the almost instant love between Mila and Oliver. And how he started changing around her.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2024
K
Verified Purchase
Kimberly G
West Palm Beach, US
★★★★★ 5
delightful read
Format: Kindle
What a delightful read. The characters are awesome, the plot was so good, I loved it. I was intrigued and it kept me wanting more. Told in multiple pov, the book sucks you in and doesn’t let go. I cannot wait to read the next book.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2025

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