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Stubborn and self-involved, dramatic yet loving of his friends, Ludwig van Beethoven was a virtuoso pianist and canonical composer of dozens of symphonies, concertos for piano, piano sonatas, and string quartets.
MUSIC HISTORY
People love to complain about today’s music. All the lyrics are too bland, repetitive, and racy. So thank goodness we have a canon of treasured composers to fall back on! You know, guys like Mozart. He wrote songs with substance.
In this week's episode of mental_floss on YouTube, The Gregory Brothers stop by to share a little music history.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr are remembered for their instrumental roles in launching the British invasion and bringing the aesthetic of rock and roll to new frontiers with everything from electronic effects to sitars.
One of the great overlooked albums of the 1980s, Famous Blue Raincoat by Jennifer Warnes features the singer covering the songs of Leonard Cohen. Warnes even ended up co-writing one of the album's tracks, based on the life of a modern-day Catholic saint.
With songs about everything from flashy drug czars to downtrodden jazz musicians, Steely Dan have always cast their lyrical net far from the usual romantic fare of pop music. On one of the standout tracks from their 1975 album Katy Lied, they dug back to
It makes sense that R.E.M., a band whose lyrics are often cryptic, would find inspiration for a song in the mysterious circumstances surrounding a physical attack on newsman Dan Rather.
When singer-songwriter Lori McKenna’s son was in second grade, he did a book report on Ruby Bridges, the African-American elementary school student who famously crossed the desegregation lines in 1960. To help her son, McKenna came up with a song about Ru
Stuck for suitable words to his tune, Clive Langer played it for his friend Elvis Costello. Within a few days, Costello had written a poetic and emotional lyric about the Falklands War.
“Vagabond Ways” Written by Marianne Faithfull and David Courts (1999) Performed by Marianne Faithfull The
“The Ballad of Ira Hayes” Written by Pete La Farge (1963) Performed by Johnny Cash The Music Folk singer and songwriter Peter La Farge packed a lot into his thirty-four years on Earth. The son of a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist was a Korean War vet, a
“Biko” Written and performed by Peter Gabriel
“Watergate Blues” Written and performed by Tom T. Hall (1973) The Music Back in the early days of country music, songs were often like newspaper articles, written and sung to spread the news of some topical event. In 1973, country storyteller-songwriter
“New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Have You Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones)” Written by Barry and Robin Gibb (1967) Performed by Bee
“Hurricane” Written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy (1975) Performed by Bob
"American Pie” Written and performed by Don
Editor's Note: This is the fourth installment of Bill DeMain's new(ish) column, where he explores the real historical events that inspired various songs. "Music History" appears twice a month—unless we can convince Bill that twice a month is not sufficien
“Happy Birthday to You” has been used in hundreds of movies, countless advertisements, an estimated 1,500,000+ singing telegrams, and been the basis for pieces by classical composers like Igor Stravinsky and Aaron Copland. It’s arguably the most recognize
Editor's Note: This is the third installment of Bill DeMain's new column, where he explores the real historical events that inspired various songs. "Music History" appears twice a month. “Yes! We Have No Bananas” Written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn (