Book Review
Apr. 6th, 2025 05:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariRoadrunner: A Song by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
by Joshua Clover
This short book is a meditation on "Roadrunner" that starts and ends with the song and in between takes a trip backwards through time to the early rock n roll evoked in the song and forwards to the ways the song has been quoted and invoked in more recent pop songs. In particular, he looks at M.I.A. and her song "Bamboo Banga" which quotes "Roadrunner", and at Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha" which reuses "Roadrunner"s chords and melody to look at the Desi diaspora. Clover weaves in commentary on the political and social events surrounding each song. He muses about the nature of cultural circulation, critiques capitalism and the world order it has produced, and takes pop music seriously. It was a very interesting read and made me think about a very familiar and beloved song in new ways. I do wish he had spent a little more time on the song itself and on Jonathan Richman, but that's a minor quibble.
by Joshua Clover
This short book is a meditation on "Roadrunner" that starts and ends with the song and in between takes a trip backwards through time to the early rock n roll evoked in the song and forwards to the ways the song has been quoted and invoked in more recent pop songs. In particular, he looks at M.I.A. and her song "Bamboo Banga" which quotes "Roadrunner", and at Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha" which reuses "Roadrunner"s chords and melody to look at the Desi diaspora. Clover weaves in commentary on the political and social events surrounding each song. He muses about the nature of cultural circulation, critiques capitalism and the world order it has produced, and takes pop music seriously. It was a very interesting read and made me think about a very familiar and beloved song in new ways. I do wish he had spent a little more time on the song itself and on Jonathan Richman, but that's a minor quibble.
