World Within a Song
Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music
1 of 1 copy available
What makes us fall in love with a song? What makes us want to write our own songs? Do songs help? Do songs help us live better lives? And do the lives we live help us write better songs?
After two New York Times bestsellers that cemented and expanded his legacy as one of America’s best-loved performers and songwriters, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) and How to Write One Song, Jeff Tweedy is back with another disarming, beautiful, and inspirational book about why we listen to music, why we love songs, and how music can connect us to each other and to ourselves. Featuring fifty songs that have both changed Jeff’s life and influenced his music—including songs by the Replacements, Mavis Staples, the Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Dolly Parton, and Billie Eilish—as well as Jeff’s “Rememories,” dream-like short pieces that related key moments from Jeff’s life, this book is a mix of the musical, the emotional, and the inspirational in the best possible way.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF with song credits and permissions.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
November 7, 2023 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593786772
- File size: 135341 KB
- Duration: 04:41:57
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
September 4, 2023
Tweedy (Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back)), cofounder of the rock band Wilco and alt-country group Uncle Tupelo, delivers a spirited memoir centered on his relationships to such songs as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” and Judy Collins’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” In short sections organized by song, Tweedy holds forth on the ways these tunes—which he often loves, sometimes hates, and occasionally feels indifference toward—have shaped his life and relationships, delving into his own creative process along the way (“When you hear the occasional whistled refrain in my own songs,” he writes, “it’s only there because Otis let me sit down on the dock beside him” in “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”). “Shotgun” by Junior Walker and the All-Stars stirs up memories of marrying his wife, Susie (a tongue-in-cheek selection, as she was pregnant at the time); “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five convinced him, at 15, that hip-hop was “a vitally important new form of musical expression” rather than “some pop music anomaly.” Tweedy’s snappy prose (“I reflexively reject everything Bon Jovi does”) and dry wit elevate the proceedings. This entertaining and enlightening survey hits the right note. Agent: Josh Grier, Ember Lab. -
March 1, 2024
New York Times best-selling author and Wilco front man Tweedy (How To Write One Song) is back with another fun, self-narrated audiobook about the power of music. Tweedy explains how music has impacted every aspect of his life, from his childhood through his wedding, and shares 50 songs that represent critical moments in his life. He emphasizes that these aren't what he considers the best songs of all time--that is too daunting a list by far. Instead, these are songs that are personally significant. Tweedy's list is fresh, surprising, and eclectic, containing recordings by Otis Redding ("Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay"), Billie Eilish ("I Love You"), Deep Purple ("Smoke on the Water"), and Bob Dylan ("Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"), among many others. As Tweedy shares his experiences with each song and describes how it affected his relationships with music and songwriting, he is charming, intimate, and entertaining. VERDICT Tweedy's charisma shines throughout this outstanding blend of memoir, music appreciation, and all-around joy. The journey through Tweedy's musical history will have listeners hitting pause to check out the many songs he references.--Erin Cataldi
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-