Full Description
They're Playing Our Songs offers a unique and fascinating vehicle for women's voices to be heard on the subject of women's music and how it affects their lives. Author Ann M. Savage explores 15 women's engagements with what might be called feminist rock music, including that of such noted artists as Ani DiFranco, Tori Amos, the Indigo Girls, and Melissa Etheridge. The women interviewed here tell deeply personal stories of how songs by these musicians have helped them survive and cope with turbulent life experiences such as difficult work environments, depression, and abusive relationships.
As we can see, then, music can be not only pleasurable but also fiercely expressive, in ways that allow its listeners some vicarious catharsis. These accounts of personal transformation make for a book that is at once compelling and dynamically political, revealing the myriad ways in which art, polemics, and life intertwine to create a side of womanhood that few ever get to see.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Women's Attraction to Artists
I'm Not the Only One Who Feels This Way: Identification and Appropriation
Finding Voice: Expression and Connection
The Industry, Society, and Self
Conclusions
Appendix A: Participant Profiles
Appendix B: List of Artists
Appendix C: Select Song Lyrics
Select Discography
Bibliography