Fan Theories… Does Billy Joel Know What a Novel Is? 10 Apr 202210 Apr 2022 I don’t remember the first time I heard Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” I don’t know if anyone my age does. I do recall one time I heard it on the…
Christmas… Is Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” a Christmas Song? 8 Dec 20182 Dec 2019 Every year, a few conversations begin to occur simultaneously before, on, and after Thanksgiving and continue through the new year. There are things you can expect to talk about with…
A Game of Thrones… Ed Sheeran Didn’t Ruin Anything. Game of Thrones is Rooted in Popular Music 23 Jul 201723 Jul 2017 Game of Thrones is Not Sacred. It’s Grateful Dead Fan Fiction The first episode of the seventh season of HBO’s Game of Thrones sparked a multitude of reactions, but perhaps…
Books… Stop Misquoting Leonard Cohen and Ernest Hemingway. Start Listening and Reading. 12 Jan 201731 Oct 2021 Consider the misquote. It lies in that same realm as citing fake news or reading only the headline. Misquoting is certainly nothing new, but the internet allows a fake quote to be…
American Psycho… The Kanye with a Thousand Faces: Exploring the Inevitable Kanye West Musical, Part One 6 Apr 20167 Jul 2016 Some things are inevitable: death, taxes, reboots, and musical adaptations. This blog has thoroughly discussed the "dark and gritty reboot," but what about the inevitable musical adaptation? Every person, place,…
A Game of Thrones… Did a Grateful Dead Song Inspire Arya Stark and Her Story? 19 Feb 201625 May 2018 Exploring the connections between the Grateful Dead and A Song of Ice and Fire It's no secret that the Grateful Dead's music has influenced George R. R. Martin's A Song of…
Bale… How to Finally Become a David Bowie Fan 1 Feb 201615 Feb 2016 It's a strange thing when a celebrity dies. Some people mourn for days or weeks or months. Others feel ostracized when it's someone whose work they didn't know, outside the…
Adele… “Please stop calling here, Adele.” 17 Nov 20155 Jul 2016 A dialogue with Adele, from the perspective of the person she should not be calling. All of Adele's lyrics are from the song "Hello." The Audience's lyrics are invented for…
Bale… Are Kubrick and Spielberg Renegades? (And Other Odd Film References in Pop Music) 3 Sep 201522 Sep 2016 There's a new song on the radio by a band I hadn't heard of. It's called "Renegades" and they're called X-Ambassadors. In this song, they celebrate "running wild and running…
Macklemore… Not Stopping, White Walls, and Double Standards: Miley Cyrus vs. Macklemore. 14 Apr 201514 Apr 2015 Note: this blog post is actually something I wrote last summer, but never posted on here. I figured I would share it here now. A few days ago, I heard…