Arranged and edited by Milton Okun
The author (John Denver's musical director) also put together an earlier volume of the popular music of the '60s. In contrast to those songs, he observes, "This collection makes few direct references to social issues. The dominant feature of the songs of this decade is the personal, internal search for self or the meaning of life." The pop titles of the "Me Decade" are I Am...'Said, I Write the Songs, When I Paint My Masterpiece. Of the 81 familiar tunes, it comes as a surprise that some of the lyrics seem so rich in print, since too often the words were lost in the overdubbing and driving beat. Who would have guessed Bruce Springsteen in Born to Run was singing: "Oh, baby, this town rips the bones from your back/ It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap/ We gotta get out while we're young..." (Times Books, $19.95)
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