Abstract
The article uses insights into lyrical communication for an analysis of the lyrics of three popular rock songs: Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” (1985), AC/DC’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer” (1975), and Nickelback’s “Rockstar” (2005). It explains how these songs about the figure of the rock star involve the careful listener in speculation about the relationship between the text-internal speaker, the singer (or performer), and the author. The discussion about the identity of the ‘I’ in the songs includes the possibility of a ‘mental appropriation’ by the audience. Showing the relevance of extra-textual factors for the message of these songs, the study also argues for a re-evaluation of the concept of the implied author.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Introduction: Poetry and Performance
- Articles
- “Oh make thy selfe with holy mourning blacke”: Aspects of Drama and Performance in John Donne’s Holy Sonnet “Oh My Black Soule”
- Performance, Performativity, and the Medium of Poetry: W. B. Yeats’s “Among School Children”
- Engaging with T.S. Eliot: Four Quartets as a Multimedia Performance
- The Duality of Page and Stage: Constructing Lyrical Voices in Contemporary British Poetry Written for Performance
- Popular Songs, Poetry, and Performance: Observations on an On-going Debate
- ‘I wanna be a Rock Star!’ Lyrical Communication in Self-Referential Rock Songs
- On the Interface between Page and Stage: Interview with Patience Agbabi
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Introduction: Poetry and Performance
- Articles
- “Oh make thy selfe with holy mourning blacke”: Aspects of Drama and Performance in John Donne’s Holy Sonnet “Oh My Black Soule”
- Performance, Performativity, and the Medium of Poetry: W. B. Yeats’s “Among School Children”
- Engaging with T.S. Eliot: Four Quartets as a Multimedia Performance
- The Duality of Page and Stage: Constructing Lyrical Voices in Contemporary British Poetry Written for Performance
- Popular Songs, Poetry, and Performance: Observations on an On-going Debate
- ‘I wanna be a Rock Star!’ Lyrical Communication in Self-Referential Rock Songs
- On the Interface between Page and Stage: Interview with Patience Agbabi