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Introducing Carl’s Rock Songbook

This blog has been carried by Peter Lawler for the last year or so, and the time has long since passed for yours truly to lend a hand. As a way of prodding myself into the unremunerated glories of blogospheric content production, I’ve given myself permission to muse upon old rock songs. Most . . . . Continue Reading »

Finally: Why We Like Music

It’s not because of its sonority, its emotion, its excellence, or its beauty. No, forget all that; none of those messy, unscientific explanations get to the bottom of why we like music. The real truth has at last been revealed in its fulness: Whether it’s the Beatles or Beethoven, people . . . . Continue Reading »

Why We Can't Hear Wagner's Music

Late in the nineteenth century, men and women in apparent possession of their senses heard Richard Wagner’s new operas and announced that their lives had changed forever. Charles Baudelaire saw Tannhäuser in 1861 and gushed, “Listening to this impassioned, despotic music, painted upon . . . . Continue Reading »

Happy Birthday Dear Sebastian!

[caption id=”attachment_5721” align=”aligncenter” width=”480” caption=”Happy 325th Birthday Kantor Bach!”][/caption]Our beloved fifth evangelist was born on this day in 1685. Since many male relatives in Bach time shared a common first name: fathers, . . . . Continue Reading »

Wild Hearts, Blue Jeans, and White T-Shirts

As we continue our discussion of popular music and its discontents , I opened up the paper this morning to find a charming tribute to the place and milieu in which I grew up: the New Jersey hardcore scene. Although it’s partly a record review, the piece does a good job capturing the local . . . . Continue Reading »

O Holy Night (12) - Christ Is the Lord!

This is the final post in a twelve part devotional commentary on “O Holy Night.” See the introduction here.Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,His power and glory Evermore proclaim.His power and glory Evermore proclaim.The carol ends on a note of proclamation, its fourth . . . . Continue Reading »

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