In his latest book, Greil Marcus, perhaps the most influential culture critic of all time, composes what is probably his most passionate and intense essay. Shunning the official history —the encyclopedic, the Rock Hall of Fame, the greatest hits—, Marcus revives ten fundamental songs that, due to their influence and the way they have resonated over the decades, have been a milestone. of popular music. Rehearsing brief biographies of the songwriters or those who gave them voices, letting the sounds evoke and summon the echo that the original songs propelled, Marcus, like a sounding board, tries to capture the very essence of the song. pop song: its enduring and fleeting quality.
"Shake Some Action" by The Flamin' Groovies, "Transmission" by Joy Division, "In the Still of the Nite" by Fred Parris and The Five Satins, later taken up by The Slades; "All I Could Do Was Cry" by Etta James and, decades later, sung by Beyoncé; Buddy Holly's "Crying, Waiting, Hoping," Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)," reimagined by the Beatles; "Money Changes Everything" by The Brains, years later reformulated by Cyndi Lauper; "This Magic Moment," written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and immortalized by Ben E. King and The Drifters; the experimental "Guitar Drag" by Christian Marclay, "To Know Him Is to Love Him" by Phil Spector, which Amy Winehouse made her own almost fifty years later, make up the particular history of Greil Marcus rock who, with his vibrant style, close to to the spontaneous prose beatnik, he gives a new lesson in musical literature and demonstrates why popular music is of paramount importance in our culture.