The love song is timeless. From its beginnings, it has been shaped
by bohemians and renegades, slaves and oppressed minorities,
prostitutes, immigrants and other excluded groups. But what do we really
know about the origins of these intimate expressions of the heart? And
how have our changing perceptions about topics such as sexuality and
gender roles changed our attitudes towards these songs?
In Love Songs: The Hidden History,
Ted Gioia uncovers the unexplored story of the love song for the first
time. Drawing on two decades of research, Gioia presents the full range
of love songs, from the fertility rites of ancient cultures to the
sexualized YouTube videos of the present day. The book traces the
battles over each new insurgency in the music of love--whether spurred
by wandering scholars of medieval days or by four lads from Liverpool in
more recent times. In these pages, Gioia reveals that the tenderest
music has, in different eras, driven many of the most heated cultural
conflicts, and how the humble love song has played a key role in
expanding the sphere of individualism and personal autonomy in societies
around the world.
Gioia forefronts the conflicts, controversies,
and the battles over censorship and suppression spurred by such music,
revealing the outsiders and marginalized groups that have played a
decisive role in shaping our songs of romance and courtship, and the
ways their innovations have led to reprisals and strife. And he
describes the surprising paths by which the love song has triumphed over
these obstacles, and emerged as the dominant form of musical expression
in modern society.
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