Sweet Nothings

An Anthology of Rock and Roll in American Poetry

By: Jim Elledge (Editor)

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Paperback | 1 June 1994

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310 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
21 x 14 x 2

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Every lovesick summer has its song,
And this one I pretended to despise.
But if I were alone when it came on,
I turned it up full-blast to sing along--
A primal scream in croaky baritone,
The notes all flat, the lyrics mostly slurred--
No wonder I spent so much time along
Making the rounds in Dad's old Thunderbird.
--From Cruising with the Beach Boys by Dana Gioia

No one should be surprised that rock and roll music turns up in the work of many of the Baby-Boom poets, where it conjures up poignant memories, evokes a specific mood, or haunts the poets' psychic landscape. Arranged in a loosely thematic manner, the 125 poems in Sweet Nothings mirror the varied forms of rock and roll, mimic its sounds, bask in its innocence, draw inspiration from its rebelliousness. For this collection Jim Elledge has gathered works by 79 poets, among them some of the most highly regarded poets of our time: Frank O'Hara, Joyce Carol Oates, David Wojahn, Thom Gunn, Rita Dove, Lynda Hull, Albert Goldbarth, Lisel Mueller, Yusef Komunyakaa, Gary Soto, William Matthews. In the final section of the book the poets comment on the relationship between their works and rock and roll.

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Introduction: Rock and Roll and American Poetry
W.C.W. Watching Presley's Second Appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show: Mercy Hospital, Newark, 1956	p. 1
On the Elvis Mailing List	p. 3
Letter to Russell Barron	p. 4
Woody Guthrie Visited by Bob Dylan: Brooklyn State Hospital, New York, 1961	p. 6
Late Summer News	p. 7
"Tumbling Dice"	p. 10
Jungle Music	p. 11
Class Bully	p. 14
How Near Vietnam Came to Us	p. 16
The Songs We Fought For	p. 18
Very True Confessions	p. 19
Hanoi Hannah	p. 21
Forgetting the Sixties	p. 23
Meet the Supremes	p. 25
Painkillers	p. 30
Eighties Meditation	p. 32
Strangers: An Essay	p. 33
The Back-Up Singer	p. 36
Midnight Reports	p. 39
The Man Who Knew the Words to "Louie, Louie"	p. 41
"Johnny B. Goode"	p. 43
Rock 'n Roll	p. 45
Song of the Burning	p. 46
The Hours Musicians Keep	p. 49
An Elegy for Bob Marley	p. 51
Time with Stevie Wonder in It	p. 53
The One White Face in the Place	p. 55
Decrescendo	p. 59
Upon Finding a Black Woman's Door Sprayed with Swastikas, I Tell Her This Story of Hands	p. 61
Christ at the Apollo, 1962	p. 63
Soul Music	p. 65
The Supremes	p. 67
Tu Do Street	p. 69
It Was Fever That Made the World	p. 71
Consolation	p. 73
The Purest Rage	p. 75
Chosen to Be Water	p. 77
The Day Lady Died	p. 78
Heat	p. 80
American Bandstand	p. 81
"Hully Gully"	p. 83
"Dream Lover"	p. 84
The Penalty for Bigamy Is Two Wives	p. 86
Sound Systems	p. 87
Cures	p. 88
Elvis Presley	p. 90
The Prophecy	p. 91
Betty	p. 93
Playland	p. 96
Performance	p. 97
Dancing to the Track Singers at the Nightclub	p. 99
Nine of Clubs, Cleveland, Ohio	p. 101
The Deaf Dancing to Rock	p. 104
"Their Hats Is Always White"	p. 105
I Wannabe Your Queen	p. 106
Mary's Dream	p. 108
Fans	p. 109
The Victim	p. 111
Video Mama	p. 112
To Marie Osmond	p. 113
Mama Loves Janis Joplin	p. 114
Honky-Tonk Blues	p. 116
Homage to Robert Johnson	p. 118
Heartbreak Hotel Piano-Bar	p. 120
Joni Mitchell	p. 121
Ancestral Echoes / Rap Music	p. 123
The Everly Brothers	p. 124
Father of the Man	p. 125
Paul Butterfield, Dead at 44	p. 127
Salad Days	p. 128
The Girl with the Bad Rep	p. 129
Spofford Hall	p. 132
The Summer the Beatles Went Over Seven Minutes on a Single	p. 133
Audubon Drive, Memphis	p. 135
The Year the Space Age Was Born	p. 137
Vacation, 1969	p. 139
In 1969	p. 140
Nursing the Sunburn	p. 141
Tempted by the Classical on Returning from the Store at Twenty below Zero	p. 142
Household Gods	p. 145
"Monday, Monday"	p. 147
"California Dreaming"	p. 151
California	p. 152
"What's So Funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding"	p. 155
"When You Wish upon a Star That Turns into a Plane"	p. 156
Seizing the Day	p. 158
After Supper	p. 159
How It Comes	p. 161
Cruising with the Beach Boys	p. 163
For the Last Summer	p. 165
First Performance of the Rock 'n Roll Band Puce Exit	p. 167
How Garnett Mims and the Enchanters Came into Your Life	p. 170
Smoking	p. 171
Late Afternoon at the Arboretum	p. 173
First Radio	p. 175
Hurley High	p. 176
Jesus Never Sleeps	p. 178
The Burden Lifters	p. 180
On Living with a Fat Woman in Heaven	p. 182
Fifties Rock Party, 1985	p. 184
Heaven	p. 186
Enclosure	p. 188
The Death of Janis Joplin	p. 190
People Are Dropping Out of Our Lives	p. 192
Homage to Lester Flatt	p. 195
Buddy Holly	p. 197
Sphinx	p. 199
Patsy Cline	p. 201
Eight Ball	p. 203
Necromancy: The Last Days of Brian Jones, 1968	p. 206
Epithalamion	p. 207
Duckling, Swan	p. 209
Elegy for Elvis	p. 211
Over Voice of America	p. 213
"All Shook Up"	p. 215
Rocket to Russia	p. 217
Venice Beach: Brief Song	p. 218
A Challenge to the Reader	p. 220
Bryan Ferry	p. 224
World without End	p. 225
Night Waitress	p. 228
Waiting on Elvis, 1956	p. 230
Wildsisters Bar	p. 231
On the Otis Redding Bridge	p. 234
Contributors' Notes and Comments	p. 235
Acknowledgments	p. 269
Author Index	p. 277
Title Index	p. 279
Index to First Lines	p. 281
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Sweet Nothings

An Anthology of Rock and Roll in American Poetry

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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