I Shot a Man in Reno: A History of Death by Murder, Suicide, Fire, Flood, Drugs, Disease and General Misadventure, as Related in Popular Song

Graeme Thomson

ISBN 10: 0826428576 / ISBN 13: 9780826428578

Published by Continuum Inter. Publis., 2008

About this Item

Gebraucht - Sehr gut Ungelesenes, vollständiges Exemplar; in sehr gutem Zustand, leichte Lagerspuren, als Mängelexemplar gekennzeichnet -Drawing upon original and unique interviews with such artists as Mick Jagger, Richard Thompson, Ice-T, Neil Finn, and many others, 'I Shot a Man in Reno' explores how popular music deals with death, and how it documents the changing reality of what death means as one grows older.\\nOriginalBarCode: 9780826428578 272 pp. Englisch.

Seller Inventory # 7055170

Bibliographic Details

• Title: I Shot a Man in Reno: A History of Death by Murder, Suicide, Fire, Flood, Drugs, Disease and General Misadventure, as Related in Popular Song
• Publisher: Continuum Inter. Publis.
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826428576
• ISBN 13: 9780826428578
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Sehr gut
• Dimensions: 20.1W x 13.7H x 1.8D centimeters 20.1 centimeters width by 13.7 centimeters height by 1.8 centimeters depth
• Weight: 300 grams

About this title

Synopsis

What do the gangsta rap devotee, the grizzled blues fanatic, the bearded folk fan, the goth and the indie kid have in common? Ask and they will all say the same thing: death and popular music have forever danced hand-in-hand in funereal waltz time. Music charts and the majority of radio playlists may conspire to convince anyone listening that the world spins on its axis to the tune of "I love you, you love me" and traditional matters of the heart. The rest of us know that we live in a world where red roses will one day become lilies and that death is the motor that drives the greatest and most exhilarating music of all. But 'death music' is not merely a byword for bookish solemnity, or the glorification of murder, drugs and guns. Over the course of the last hundred years it has also been about teenage girls weeping over their high school boyfriend's fatal car wreck; natural disasters sweeping whole communities away; the ever-evolving threat of disease; changing attitudes to old age; exhortations to suicide; remembering the dead; compiling the perfect playlist for a funeral; and the thorny question of what happens after the fat lady ceases to sing. So for every "Black Angel's Death Song" there is a "Candle in the Wind"; for every "Cop Killer" there is "The Living Years". Death, like music, is a unifying force. There is something for every taste and inclination, from murderous vengeance to camp sentimentality and everything in between. Drawing upon original and unique interviews with artists such as Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, Ice-T, Neil Finn, Ron Sexsmith, Mike Scott and Will Oldham, the book explores how popular music deals with death, and how it documents the changing reality of what death means as both artists and audiences grow older. It's as transfixing as a train wreck, and you won't be able to put it down. As an epilogue, I Shot a Man in Reno presents the reader with the 40 greatest death

About the Author

Graeme Thomson is a regular contributor to The Word, the Observer, Time Out, the Herald and the Sunday Herald. He is the author of Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello (Canongate, 2004) and Willie Nelson: The Outlaw (Virgin Books, 2006). He lives in Edinburgh.