Customer Reviews

The Green Book of Songs by Subject: The Thematic Guide to Popular Music

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I work as a Mobile Entertainment Professional. When I have a "theme" party to perform, I immediately turn to The Green Book. I look for the category that the theme is centered around and I am immeditely amazed at how many songs are listed. My clients are blown away by the theme music that I play all because of The Green Book!

How many times does the fragment of a song go through your mind, or a phrase and you cannot think where it comes from? And even more, how often during a day do you think of a song again and again and you cannot recapture where you heard it or who sang it on the record.This Book is the answer to any music lover who forgets the title or author of a favorite song. I have used it to plan theme parties, since it lists songs by subject. I cannot imagine how they did the work and keep it so up to date, but this is a reference book for the professional, and for any music lover who has a headfull of songs and needs a hand remembering "Where have I heard that song before"
Don't even think about planning a wedding or a 50th anniversary or 21st brirthday with the Green Boook. It is a treasure!!...

I just received the latest edition (5th) and am blown away by how comprehensive this book is. As a marketing professional, I consider it a competitive advantage and a wise business investment. At times, it's downright entertaining. I would love to see a pocket or "bathroom reading" edition. In the meantime, I'll haul it's comprehensive girth around with me wherever I "go." ;?) LOVE it. HIGHLY recommend it.

Now in an updated and expanded fifth edition with over 14,000 songs added (and featuring over 35,000 songs overall), The Green Book Of Songs By Subject is a comprehensive and very strongly recommended, "user friendly" reference for looking up popular songs by subject. Basic topics such as Freedom, Rivers, specific states and cities, etc. are listed in alphabetical order; each listing is followed by appropriate song entries arranged by title. An especially excellent book for tracking down the title, composer, or publisher of popular as well as obscure songs, The Green Book Of Songs By Subject is a core addition to the reference shelves of academic music history reference collections, and would prove invaluable in the personal reference libraries of professional musicians, DJ's or music-writers who can't afford to waste time struggling to remember (or needing to track down) who composed, performed, or produced a given tune.

Attention! Anyone who's ever come under the spell of rock & roll, of jazz, of blues, of country, pop, R&B or any of the other myriad styles that makes popular music one of America's most important contributions to world culture, should discover this marvelous reference work. What at first might seem a fascinating but serendipitous trove of music trivia, soon reveals itself as a visionary overview of the common themes and concerns of a century of popular culture. This vast thesaurus of America's musical heritage allows us to glimpse the multiple guises that artists have assumed to express their dreams and desires, denounce injustice, or tell tales that evoke their - and our - world. Far more than an exercise in nostalgia - though your memory will be constantly jogged - The Green Book is a window onto our collective conscious. It repeatedly surprises us with its juxtapositions, its inadvertant humor, and the unsuspected links it exposes in song topics that cross generations, genres, and regions which were all but impossible to discern before. By chronicling versions of songs from artist to artist and decade to decade, it brings to life the life of songs. Twenty minutes spent with this curious compendium cannot fail to entertain as well as to enlighten, though two hours will likely pass before you know it. Highly recommended.

This is a supurb reference for teachers to apply multi-intelligences research in the classroom. Teaching a unit on tolerence? Look up the word and find many tunes to use as starting points for discussion...

My being in the music business, this work is a natural and useful reference for me. I can also see, however, how many professionals across a number of occupations would want to keep this book within close reach, particularly those in advertising or any number of creative fields. This book is truly an impressive, vast resource.

The "Green Book" is a unique reference. For people in the music field--songwriters, music supervisors, music librarians, music editors come to mind--who need a quick list of songs by theme or content, this is it. Like with a rhyming dictionary, a quick look at this book can turn into a marathon session, as you follow ideas from subject to subject.

This product has proven to be an outstanding reference for a teacher of any subject. If you're looking to elaborate on a concept studied in class, music is an outstanding way to relate to students. With the ease of downloading music, lesson plans may be materialized in a matter of minutes with authentic discussion to follow. It works beautifully with any unit. Additionally, the book is categorized for easy reference.

As the Video Hound's Guide is for movies, this book is for songs. It categorizes the songs logically so you can always find a song that relates to what you are teaching to help engage kids, help them connect the content to their world, and sometimes even teach content. (Maybe ask your school librarian to buy a copy if you do not wish to spend the money on it.)