This is the first of a two-part look at songs (âWreck on the Highwayâ and âPercyâs Songâ) about road crashes and their aftermath ⌠The meaning of life is that it stops. â Kafka Impact Shards of shattered windshield, mangled … Continue reading →
Ever since the Concert for Bangladesh organized by George Harrison there have been countless concerts and recordings in tribute to a musical style or an artist. The next two weeks we will sample some of the very best. This week … Continue reading →
A dillar a dollar a ten o clock scholar blow off his legs and then watch him holler. â Dalton Trumbo: Johnny Got His Gun  I saw it. â Francisco Goya Bayonet and Musket In 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte launched a … Continue reading →
Stephen Colbert is ending his long-running comedy show, The Colbert Report, tonight. Although, not a music show per se, the Report has been home to plenty of artists, such as Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Dom Flemons, Emmylou Harris, … Continue reading →
Neil Young, New York 1970 photo by Joel Bernstein This is the fourth and final post of our initial discussion of Neil Youngâs âOhio.â Here are the first, second, and third posts. I know, I know. On the fourth post … Continue reading →
Bruce Springsteen performed a tribute to the late singer-songwriter Victor Jara on September 12 in Chile. The performance was part of the Wrecking Ball tour, and fell coincidentally on the 40th anniversary of the Chilean military coup which led to … Continue reading →
This is the third post in a series on Bruce Springsteenâs âAmerican Skin (41 Shots)â and related songs. Read the first post here, and the second one here. âWe donât want to bring our politics to yaâŚâ Remember that quote … Continue reading →
We decided to extend the discussion of Bruce Springsteenâs âAmerican Skin (41 Shots)â into two weeks. As a coincidence, we launch this post on The Bossâs 64th birthdayâa celebration, of sorts, of his extraordinary body of work, developing many of … Continue reading →
Weâre focusing this week on Bruce Springsteenâs âAmerican Skin (41 Shots).â If you have any concerns about us calling this song a murder ballad, I encourage you to read here, here, and/or the postcript below. Itâs going to take us a … Continue reading →
âCain and Abel,â by Titian When I wrote last year about Jesus and the murder ballad, I thought I would finish that week by looking back to other Biblical stories that also provided symbols for music in this genre. Â I … Continue reading →
