Poetry. Music. For twenty-five years, Nebraska songwriter Simon Joyner has crafted haunting, honest songs about the unsettled dust of lovers and strangers. A pioneer of the Omaha music scene, Joyner has earned the praises of Conor Oberst, Beck, Gillian Welch, John Peel, John Darnielle, and more. As Dennis Callaci explains in his heartfelt foreword, Joyner has spent those years and earned those praises for songs about the "sorrow and southbound turns" of "the put- upon, the tortured, builders of arcs." ONLY LOVE CAN BRING YOU PEACE is the first selection of Simon Joyner's lyrics (assembled and edited by Simon and his wife Sara) to appear in book form, showcasing the images and characters of over 15 albums, EPs, and rare releases. ONLY LOVE CAN BRING YOU PEACE also features two interviews with Joyner and full illustrations for each section. Whether you're new to Joyner's work, or you've had his songs stuck in your head since 1992, this book serves as a sturdy companion to what Callaci calls the "the grass, branch and bone of a lifetime."

Jarvis Cocker is widely regarded as one of the most original and memorable lyricists and performers of the last three decades. Here, for the first time, is a selection of sixty-six lyrics, presented with commentary and an introduction by the man himself. In this volume, readers (and Pulp fans) will find such classic Jarvis lyrics as 'Common People', 'Disco 2000', 'Babies', 'This is Hardcore' and 'Do You Remember the First Time?' The selection, assembled by the author, reveals a sensibility that is unmistakeably Jarvis: a sometimes visceral, sometimes everyday take on love, relationships and the things we do to each other when the lights get low. Mother, Brother, Lover takes the reader on a thirty-year tour into the life, art and preoccupations of one of the great British artists of the late twentieth century. Shocking, sharp, clever and funny, it is a beautiful collection of lyrics and commentary.

Tiré du site Internet de Nieves: ""Ariel Pink's haunted Graffiti - Selected lyrics" is the debut print publication solely featuring L.A. songwriter Ariel Pink, and the first survey of his lyrics. Unequivocally influencing underground music in the last decade, Ariel Pink's twisted catalog of pop music also bears an exceedingly animated literary world. With thirty-seven lyrics culled from both well-known and obscure releases, the songs in Selected Lyrics span the entirety of Ariel Pink's recording tenure, and together comprise a kind of "best-of", a one-stop tour of Pink's recurrent themes and fascinations. In "Selected lyrics", Pink's tragic dramas of domestic pain come to vivid life in "L'estat (acc. to the widow's maid)" and in lyrics to some of Pink's most beloved songs "Envelopes another day", "Among dreams" and "Life in L.A." These songs are contrasted by others more brashly and viscerally imagined, such as the lurid saga of the neutered cat in "Jules lost his jewels", the sexually inconclusive gender destroyer "Menopause man," and the Darby Crash-esque "Tractor man", a point-of-view confessional from a roaming marauder on a spree in the farms of California. Contrarily, the flickering lamplit beauty of "Let's build a campfire there" reads like a user-manual for backwoods escape in one of Pink's many tranquil masterpieces : "Our faces float bright like distant porch light / for a stranger who is far from home / let's build a campfire there." As the Haunted fraffiti namesake conveys, an antagonistic notion of defacement remains a core feature of Pink's talent for dispatching lyrics in so many indelible guises and seemingly disparate consciousnesses. "Selected lyrics" explores this range, and gives fans authoritative transcriptions of Pink's most classic material, which, famously, has been so difficult to comprehend by ear due to lower-fidelity recordings. Included in the text are several pages of lyrics in their original hand, a reproduction of a fantastic unseen drawing by Ariel Pink, and a thorough discography in the index."

Selected and arranged by the author, and with a new introduction by novelist David Mitchell, How To Be Invisible presents the lyrics of Kate Bush published together for the first time. 'For millions around the world, Kate is way more than another singer-songwriter: she is a creator of musical companions that travel with you through life. One paradox about Kate is that while her lyrics are proudly idiosyncratic, those same lyrics evoke emotions and sensations that feel universal. Literature works in similar mysterious ways. Kate's the opposite of a confessional singer-songwriter ... You don't learn much about Kate from her songs. She's fond of masks and costumes - lyrically and literally - and of yarns, fabulations and atypical narrative viewpoints. Yet, these fiercely singular songs, which nobody else could have authored, are also maps of the heart, the psyche, the imagination. In other words, art.' David Mitchell

This book has the unique distinction of presenting, in one compendious volume, the best of Ghalib in poetry and prose. It contains 104 ghazals, seven miscellaneous poems, and a bouquet of sixty-eight selected letters, besides a few striking couplets and qitas. The ghazals and poems are first given in the original form in calligraphic Urdu. This is followed, on the opposite page, by their English translation, couched in a language that is simple, lucid and rhythmical. The ghazals and poems have also been provided with a transliterated version in the Roman script. This should enable the non-Urdu-knowing reader to have a feel and flavour of the Urdu text. In addition, the book contains a critical-cum-biographical introduction which is comprehensive, well-documented, and insightful. It is hoped that the book will receive a welcome response from the lovers of Ghalib, who was an outstanding poet fit to rank with the greatest poets of the world, and a precious part of our cultural heritage.

Sparks--the long-running duo of Ron and Russell Mael--are among the most respected songwriters of their generation, their songs ranking alongside those of Ray Davies (The Kinks having been a formative influence), George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim. Formed in Los Angeles in 1971, Sparks have issued over 20 albums and scored chart hits with songs such as "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us," "Cool Places" and "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth." While their musical style has changed dramatically over the course of 40 years--embracing the British Invasion sound of the 60s, glam rock, disco (they teamed up with Giorgio Moroder for 1979's "No. 1 in Heaven") and even techno--their work has consistently stretched the boundaries of pop music and the song form. Sparks continue to break new ground: they are currently working on a project with filmmaker Guy Maddin and are soon to embark on a world tour. Now, for the first time, the Mael brothers have chosen their favorite Sparks lyrics (to some 75 songs), editing and correcting them for presentation in In the Words of Sparks. As James Greer--novelist and former member of Guided by Voices--comments, "Sparks-level wordplay is a gift, and more than that, an inspiration." This book also includes a substantial introduction by fellow Los Angeles resident and longtime fan, Morrissey.

Visionary and songwriter of the legendary Velvet Underground, protege of Andy Warhol, student of poet Delmore Schwartz--Lou Reed has been all these things. In the course of his career, he has established himself not only as a rock music pioneer, but also as a writer of extraordinary gifts. Now comes the paperback edition of a selection of his lyrics--a bestseller in hardcover.