Songs & Songwriters
Someone (no one can quite agree who) once said that talking about music is like dancing about architecture, but there's a whole shelf of books ready to prove them wrong. It may require some serious linguistic contortions to describe the sense of release that accompanies the resolution of a chord progression, or that strange change from major to minor, but the way it transforms our lives and our world is well within the grasp of sharply written prose.
From musical memoirs to overarching histories to a study of the way music works on the brain, these books deepen our understanding of an art form that cuts straight to the heart. They suggest new ways of listening to old songs and plenty of avenues for discovery. For the most part, you'll have to provide your own soundtrack, but the vivid writing and poignant stories ensure that you'll have plenty of tunes coursing through your head before long.
