In Their Lives - Great Writers on Great Beatles Songs

Informationen zum Autor ANDREW BLAUNER is the founder of Blauner Books Literary Agency. His other anthologies are Coach , Brothers , Central Park , Our Boston , The Good Book , and (coeditor) For the Love of Baseball. A graduate of Brown University and the Columbia University School of Business, Blauner is a member of PEN American Center and the National Book Critics Circle, and a former intern at Rolling Stone . Klappentext The perfect gift for any Beatles fan, In Their Lives is an anthology of essays from a chorus of twenty-nine luminaries singing the praises of their favorite Beatles songs. The Beatles’ influence—on their contemporaries, on our cultural consciousness, and on the music industry ever after—is difficult to overstate. We all have a favorite song from the band that made us want to fall in love, tune in, and follow our dreams. Arranged chronologically by the date of the song’s release, these essays highlight both the Beatles’ evolution as well as the span of generations their music affected. Whether they are Beatlemaniacs who grew up listening to the iconic albums on vinyl or new fans who stream their favorite songs on their phones, all of the contributors explore that poignant intersection between Beatles history and personal history. With contributions from twenty-nine authors and musicians—Roz Chast on “She Loves You,” Jane Smiley on “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Rosanne Cash on “No Reply,” Gerald Early on “I’m a Loser,” Rick Moody on “The End,” Maria Popova on “Yellow Submarine,” David Duchovny on “Dear Prudence,” Chuck Klosterman on “Helter Skelter,” David Hajdu on “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number),” and more—the breadth of the band’s impact is clear. From musings on young love and family strife to explorations of racial boundaries and identity, these essays pay tribute to a band that ran the gamut of human experience in a way no musical group has done before or since.  “ In Their Lives is full of pleasant surprises.”— New York Times Leseprobe ***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof*** Copyright © 2017 Andrew Blauner She Loves You ROZ  C H A S T   “SHE LOVES YOU” was released in the U.S. in September 1963, when I was eight—almost nine—years old. That song provided my first inkling that there was another world out there, one that did not include my parents, my relatives, my neighbors, my teachers, or my classmates—a world of care- free and attractive young people who did not worry about illnesses or money, and who did not care about homework or why one was not popular. The reason they did not think about these things was obvious: they were too busy having fun and being young. When I heard “She Loves You”—that exuberant singing, like nothing I’d ever heard before—I became aware not only that that world existed, but also that I deeply wanted to be part of it. Before the Beatles, pop music didn’t really register with me. I’m sure I’d heard it, but it didn’t “reach” me. It was boring; a bunch of mushy love songs sung by icky guys with irritating voices and greasy hair and even ickier girls with2 ROZ  CHAST bouffants. Ugh. Gross. A lateral move from the shackles of childhood to a different, but equally shackled, adulthood. So, what was it about “She Loves You” that felt like an anthem of liberation? Perhaps it was that chorus of “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” or maybe it was that thrilling “Wooooo!” Or maybe it was the Beatles themselves. I’d never seen any- thing like them. I watched the Beatles sing on Ed Sullivan, with their funny suits and haircuts, bouncing to the beat of their music and playing their instruments, and was completely, totally, in love. They were sexy, for sure, but not smarmy or creepy. I wouldn’t say they were “wholesome,” either, which implies a kind of rosy-cheeked, outdoorsy, earnestness that has never, ev...

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Blauner
• Publisher: Blue Rider Press PRH US
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 13.12.2022
• EAN: 9780593473962
• ISBN: 978-0-593-47396-2
• No. of pages: 320
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Music > Music history