Words and Music Into the Future - by Michael Koppy (Paperback)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>A rigorous examination of the generally lackluster state of English-language songwriting and criticism in recent decades, and an artistic manifesto detailing specific directions on how to move forward. Both uncompromising general cultural critique and proclamation of progressive intellectual principles and creative practices in popular song.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>Literary criticism, songwriting analysis, and cultural commentary, <em>Words and Music Into the Future</em> 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.</p><p>Whether you agree or disagree with the challenging, even heretical ideas presented in <em>Words and Music Into the Future</em>, it will forever change how you think about and hear popular music.</p><p>Sample chapters: </p><p>1. No, Don, the Levee Wasn't Dry--And No One Was Drinking Whiskey and Rye</p><p>2. There Goes The Robert E. Lee?</p><p>3. To What End?</p><p>4. A Personal Remembrance</p><p>5. A Later Kick in the Pants</p><p>6. Don't Shoot, Dammit! I'm Just the Messenger!</p><p>7. Politics? Religion? How About SONGS?!?</p><p>8. Ground Rule Number One</p><p>9. I'm Your Fan! You're My Hero!</p><p>10. Herds of Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Veldt!</p><p>11. Why Peeing Your Pants Beats the Hell Out Of Nostalgia</p><p>12. Madonna, Kanye, Coldplay, Bieber, U2, One Direction--Effluvia, Ephemera, Etcetera, Etcetera</p><p>13. See You at the Grammys!--A Note on Industrial Smarm Festivals</p><p>14. Ethics? In Popular Music...?!?</p><p>15. Dunno Much 'Bout Art, But I Know What I Like</p><p>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?</p><p>17. Those Pesky, Over-Idealized Nineteen-Sixties</p><p>18. So Where Are We?</p><p>19. "Yeah, But You Really Hafta See 'Em Live!"</p><p>20. Over the Top? Ya Think?</p><p>21. Yes, We Too Are All So Very Sorry You Weren't Born on a Mississippi Cotton Plantation</p><p>22. Art School Confidential</p><p>23. Dance? Okay, Fine. Dance! Now Go Away.</p><p>24. It's All Greek--French, Swahili, Latin, Klingon--To Me.</p><p>25. Country Music is "Three Chords and the Truth" Computerized Drums, a Catering Truck, and a Smirk</p><p>26. Country's Brainier Half-Sibling: Americana</p><p>27. Tradition and Illusions of Same</p><p>28. The Disarmingly Enabling Inscience of Rap and Hip-Hop</p><p>29. Come to the Cabaret, Old Chum</p><p>30. Under a Stack of Marshall Amplifiers</p><p>31. Ethics? In SONGWRITING ITSELF...?!?</p><p>32. The Twentieth Century Ended Two Decades Ago</p><p>33. The Insolvency of 'Po-Mo'</p><p>34. Song Lyrics vs. Poems</p><p>35. "But It's Poetry!"--Refuge for the Inarticulate</p><p>36. Sincerity Ain't Depth</p><p>37. The Kids Are Alright!</p><p>38. La-Da-Da / Sha-La-Ti-Da</p><p>39. Is 'The Folk Process' an Expired Merchanism?</p><p>40. Lessons from Browne's "These Days" and Kristofferson's "Bobby McGee"</p><p>41. How About That! Some Country Music Is...</p><p>42. Get Me Rewrite!</p><p>43. Bob Dylan: Bad Writer, Bad Influence</p><p>44. Shallowness, Thy Name is Bob</p><p>45. Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard</p><p>46. If Ya Wanna Send a Message...</p><p>47. McCartney's Song Writing Lesson</p><p>48. Steve Sondheim Desperately Wishes He Were Right</p><p>49. Didn't I Just Hear That Song in a Commercial for Paper Towels? Insurance? Gum?</p><p>50. Should We Use A Number 37-A?</p><p>51. On Brightly Wrapped Packages</p><p>52. On Gilded Frames</p><p>53. Making Sausages</p><p>54. Making Music</p><p>55. Sure 'Authenticity' is Great--But It Doesn't Guarantee Good Work</p><p>56. Form Follows Function</p><p>57. Words Seek Music. Object: Matrimony.</p><p>58. Rules Were Made to be Broken. However--</p><p>59. Swan Song</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p><strong>"Intriguing, challenging, funny-and in later chapters it provides a veritable map for writing and songwriting. To call this book provocative would be a big understatement, but Koppy's arguments are well informed and well structured, forcing all of us to look harder at the music we've been allowing into our lives. Even the voluminous and often very entertaining footnotes continually expand the conversation with new revelations and further thinking. Altogether a very enjoyable, enlightening and intelligent read."</strong></p>- Tom Ryan, <em>American Hit Radio</em>, American Hit Radio Network</p><p><strong>"An incendiary, vigorous, well-written critique of the sorry state of today's popular songs. It's a much needed warning, a real wake-up call!"</strong></p>- Tom Lanham, <em>San Francisco Examiner</em></p><p><strong>"I really enjoyed this. It's an erudite, eloquent, sometimes even downright funny book that actually makes me re-think many of my own assumptions-and I've been on the air here for over 30 years!</strong>"</b></p>- Michael S. Stock, <em>Folk and Acoustic Music with Michael Stock</em>, WLRN Miami</p><p><strong>"</strong><i>Words and Music Into the Future</i></b> has a spine of considered thought and persuasion, with an often insightful reading of the lyrics examined. When Koppy gets going, the heat rises fast and stays there. <strong>'</strong>We all deserve better!</b><strong>'</strong> he says, and he has a special place in his hall of shame for Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan, <strong>'</strong>The Donald Trump of Popular Music</b><strong>'</strong>. </b>There</b><strong>'</strong>s an air of outrage and mission, written in a voice by turns declamatory and folksy, self-effacing and strong-minded-but always with a larger, more substantial agenda at work: this is a book about ideas.</b>" </b></p>- Steven Winn, <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i></p><br>
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