{"id":9484,"date":"2024-06-23T13:16:33","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T13:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/bilidas-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T16:27:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T16:27:44","slug":"malawey","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of <i>Time\u2019s A-Changin\u2019: Flexible Meter as Self-Expression in Singer-Songwriter Music<\/i> by Nancy Murphy, Oxford University Press, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<script type=\"text\/x-mathjax-config\"> \n\t\tMathJax.Hub.Config({ \n\t\t  messageStyle: \"none\" \n}); \n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/37-malawey\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"9547\">View PDF<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"9044\">Return to Volume 37<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Victoria Malawey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The newest monograph in the Oxford Studies in Music Theory series, Nancy Murphy\u2019s <em>Time\u2019s A-Changin\u2019: Flexible Meter as Self-Expression in Singer-Songwriter Music<\/em>, offers a framework for interpreting meter applied to a collection of analyses engaging the relationship of metric structure to extramusical meaning in recordings by Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Paul Simon, and Cat Stevens. The author identifies four elements\u2014\u201cself-presentation, [ . . . ] personal lyrics, striking techniques of vocal production, and flexible meter\u201d\u2014as central to music written by singer-songwriters in the 1960s and \u201870s that emphasizes self-expression (3). The book focuses on the fourth category\u2014flexible meter\u2014defined as \u201ca metric structure that contains malleable performance timings, either in the form of ambiguous or vague meter or as vacillations between ambiguous and regular meter\u201d (5). As the title of the monograph suggests, the author examines flexible metric structures in recordings by the five artists and connects them to specific expressive meanings, related to the songs\u2019 lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The object of the author\u2019s inquiry comprises \u201csinger-songwriter music\u201d written in North America between 1962 and 1972, which Murphy describes as original music both performed and accompanied by the songwriter featuring lyrics that seem central both to the artist and their audiences. She highlights this body of music\u2019s association \u201cwith an aesthetic of musical self-expression that generates an empathetic response with audiences and gives the impression of an \u2018authentic\u2019 and \u2018unmediated\u2019 performance practice in which songs are vehicles for personal truths\u201d (14). Unlike other terms that describe genres, \u201csinger-songwriter music\u201d does not neatly encompass a particular style with similar musical markers and cohesive generic features.<span id='easy-footnote-1-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-1-9484' title='See arguments made by Tim Wise (\u201cSinger-songwriter,\u201d in &lt;em&gt;Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World&lt;\/em&gt;, vol. 8, &lt;em&gt;Genres: North America&lt;\/em&gt;, ed. David Horn, 430\u201334 [New York and London: Continuum, 2012] and Charlotte Grieg (\u201cFemale Identity and the Woman Songwriter,\u201d in &lt;em&gt;Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender&lt;\/em&gt;, ed. Sheila Whiteley, 168\u201377 [London and New York: Routledge, 1997], 168).'><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> While the term remains murky in terms of denoting musical style, Murphy\u2019s use of \u201csinger-songwriter music\u201d in this context suffices to describe this specific body of music. In what follows, I will present a summary and evaluation of the book\u2019s six chapters, reflect on the concept of authenticity as it relates to the monograph, and offer concluding thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The opening chapter of <em>Time\u2019s A-Changin\u2019<\/em> introduces readers to the work of the five songwriters explored in this study, characterizing them as pioneers in self-expressive songwriting, and provides a rationale for the study. An introductory analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cA Fiddle and the Drum\u201d compellingly shows how fragmented, flexible meter musically conveys the artist\u2019s pro-peace plea, while the establishment of regular meter not only relieves the earlier metric flexibility but also connotes battle imagery. Ultimately, Murphy argues for an approach to interpreting meter that makes room for not only standard periodic and regular metric structures, but also changes within recordings to accommodate more flexible meter structures, appropriate for this particular body of music. Identifying the expressive potential of flexible meter to convey specific imagery or narrative content as well as its broader potential to convey the appearance of imperfection and spontaneity associated with this body of music, the author writes, \u201cthe seemingly spontaneous moments of flexible meter in these performances are critical features of the poetics of self-expression in 1960s and 1970s singer-songwriter music\u201d (10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Solidly grounded in key scholarship related to rhythm and meter, chapter 2 provides an overview of the book\u2019s overarching theoretic framework and offers five types of flexible meter\u2014\u201cIdeal Meter,\u201d \u201cRegular Meter,\u201d \u201cReinterpreted Meter,\u201d \u201cLost Meter,\u201d and \u201cAmbiguous Meter\u201d\u2014based on degree of regular periodicity.<span id='easy-footnote-2-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-2-9484' title='Capitalization of the five categories appears throughout the book with one or two exceptions, and I have retained the capitalization of these terms when they appear in direct quotations throughout this review.'><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Murphy conceives of \u201cIdeal Meter\u201d as a prototype\u2014a category more hypothetical than practiced\u2014featuring precisely periodic, isochronous rhythms, nearly impossible for humans to perform unless assisted with technologies like quantization. More common in the music Murphy analyzes is the category of \u201cRegular Meter,\u201d which features regular, periodic spacing and durations of beats but lacks the isochronous precision of Ideal Meter, as its timings are subject to subtle expressive human deviations in performance. \u201cReinterpreted Meter\u201d features some interruptions in regularity resulting from the addition or removal of beats in an otherwise periodic meter. A related category, \u201cLost Meter,\u201d involves the lengthening of time between beats, resulting in a temporary loss of Regular Meter, also marked by an expectation for it to return. The fifth category, \u201cAmbiguous Meter,\u201d results from unrealized durations and ungrounded beats, is devoid of any regularity or periodicity, and does not invite any expectation for Regular Meter to emerge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Building upon the work of Berry (1979) and Schachter (1999), the author offers five aspects of meter that serve as metric cues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li>\u201cstress,\u201d which results from \u201caccentual cues,\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cduration\u201d,<\/li><li>\u201cpulse,\u201d defined as that which \u201cemerges when a level of equally spaced beats is created between at least three events,\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cstrong-weak organization,\u201d and<\/li><li>\u201cmetric hierarchy\u201d (51).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>This chapter also summarizes theories of projection put forth by Hasty (1997) in an easy-to-follow manner and provides the groundwork for Murphy\u2019s adaptation of Hasty\u2019s methodology throughout the rest of the book, a helpful and effective contribution to the literature on rhythm and meter in popular music, especially as it relates to listeners\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chapter 3 begins with an analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cLittle Green\u201d to demonstrate Regular Meter. Metric accents on the word \u201cgreen\u201d relate to the meaning of the song, an ode to the daughter she gave up for adoption (55\u201356). Murphy then explores Reinterpreted Meter, which she defines as a result of added or omitted beats, in an analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cA Case of You.\u201d Observing irregularity in the poetic structure that relates to irregularity in hypermetric structure, the author connects irregularity in both related domains to emotional nostalgia expressed in the song (58\u201359). Additionally, an analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cAll I Want\u201d shows how the placement of opposing words of \u201clove\u201d and \u201chate,\u201d indicative of the singer\u2019s mixed emotions, directs listeners to hear reinterpreted hyper-downbeats, which creates a flexible metric structure in the recording. The author also offers two analyses engaging Reinterpreted Meter in Simon\u2019s songs. Murphy observes that in \u201cThe Sound of Silence,\u201d Simon emphasizes the word \u201csilence\u201d on hyper-downbeats, and in \u201cApril Come She Will,\u201d metric flexibility evokes images of expansive time and space described in the lyrics. Murphy also analyzes three recordings by Stevens\u2014\u201cThe Wind,\u201d \u201cInto White,\u201d and \u201cKathmandu\u201d\u2014connecting flexible meter in these recordings with the artist\u2019s transformation from \u201cteenage pop star to a serious, introspective singer-songwriter\u201d (73). Annotated transcriptions of passages from Steven\u2019s recordings compellingly illustrate changing meter and hypermetric interpretation. The chapter concludes with an in-depth analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cLesson in Survival\u201d (74\u201384). Murphy argues, \u201cSince many listeners took Mitchell\u2019s songs to be autobiographical, these passages of flexible meter indicate a connection between the singer revealing personal truths in her songs and a malleable metric rhetoric that responds to her expressive whims\u201d (84\u201385).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chapter 4 focuses on Lost Meter. Opening with an analysis of Dylan\u2019s \u201cOnly a Pawn,\u201d the author identifies two ways in which metric flexibility manifests: \u201cwith varying stanza lengths and an irregular number of line repetitions\u201d and \u201cvacillations between Regular Meter and Lost Meter\u201d (88), with \u201cdeliberately unpredictable\u201d timings (94). The author connects these metric features with Dylan\u2019s self-expressive rhetorical style associated with protest song and argues that flexibility in terms of form aligns with Dylan\u2019s \u201cbroader aesthetic of unpredictability\u201d (91).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The author offers two complementary interpretations of Stevens\u2019s \u201cTime\u201d (1970)\u2014one that attends to irregularly shifting meters in which metric regularity is never established, and another, following Hasty (1997), using projective, process-based analysis intended to capture how listeners might experience spans of time between articulations in the recording. Murphy characterizes \u201cTime\u201d as exemplary of the autobiographical, \u201cconfessional\u201d type of songwriting in which \u201cintrospective narrative [is] expressed through flexible meter\u201d (100). The author argues that larger-level durations musically depict the \u201clived experiences of temporal spans\u201d (107), a theme explored in the song\u2019s lyrical content, while smaller-level \u201cbeat articulations\u201d represent \u201cminutes or seconds, the ticking of a clock between larger events\u201d (107). Murphy observes that the recording\u2019s final section returns to simple quadruple (4\/4) reflective of the lyrical theme of \u201cgoing back\u201d (108).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Effectively combining generative-style dots following Lerdahl and Jackendoff (1983) with projection arrows following Hasty (1997), the chapter concludes with an analysis of Joni Mitchell\u2019s \u201cBlue.\u201d Here, Murphy shows how parallel melodic content undergoes change in metrically different contexts, exemplifying the effects of metric flexibility, and connecting those effects to meanings in the song lyrics. The author argues that the recording\u2019s metric flexibility \u201cexpress[es] an ideological tension between intimacy and freedom,\u201d which connect to lyrical themes related to a love lost, as well as broader themes in Mitchell\u2019s career regarding artistic freedom (111).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chapter 5 presents a series of detailed, line-by-line and fragment-by-fragment analyses to explore Ambiguous Meter in recordings by Dylan, Mitchell, and Sainte-Marie. Murphy explores the ways in which \u201cflexible, \u2018imperfect\u2019 timings\u201d may convey \u201cnarrative meaning\u201d as a marker of each artist\u2019s individuality more broadly (125). Ambiguous Meter implies an ongoing \u201c<em>potential<\/em> for metric regularity to emerge\u201d (125, author\u2019s emphasis). Building on work by Horlacher (2000\u20132001), the author defines \u201cemerging meter\u201d as \u201cthe process by which metric cues (stresses, pulse levels, and alternating strong and weak beats) gradually or swiftly organize into more regular levels of meter\u201d (125).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an analysis of \u201cDown the Highway,\u201d Murphy observes that Dylan\u2019s guitar strumming patterns create metric flexibility and irregularity. She argues that Dylan obfuscates Regular Meter, feeding into \u201chis broader \u2018imperfect\u2019 performance aesthetic\u201d (128). At once these techniques both situate Dylan as a participant in the Delta blues tradition (a curious marker of authenticity, ostensibly at odds with his Minnesotan roots) and as expressive of his seemingly original, creative style. Murphy also explores the first five lines of Dylan\u2019s \u201cRestless Farewell,\u201d which adapts the harmony and narrative content of a Scottish folk song, \u201cThe Parting Glass.\u201d The lyrics engage the theme of leaving, and the author connects Dylan\u2019s expressive timing, a result of inconsistency between the vocal part and the guitar strumming, to the restlessness articulated in the lyrics. Specifically, Dylan obscures meter in the guitar part by adding beats and competing with the vocal part. The author observes contrast between metric ambiguity in the first four lines of the recording and metric emergence in the fifth line, which introduces lyrical content referencing \u201ckilled\u201d bottles, signaling the end of an evening (146). Readers may be interested in pursuing how the lyrics of the subsequent verses, beyond the first five lines, interact with metric structures as the recording unfolds, which isn\u2019t addressed here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this chapter, Murphy also revisits the analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cThe Fiddle and the Drum\u201d in greater depth, connecting the artist\u2019s identity as a Canadian, female outsider to \u201ctimidity\u201d and an \u201cinitially Ambiguous metric structure\u201d (148). In the final analysis of chapter 5, the author perceives no clear pulse level in the recording of Sainte-Marie\u2019s \u201cSir Patrick Spens\u201d and connects Ambiguous Meter in the recording with the folk style, instrumentation, and a \u201cseafaring source narrative\u201d (155) borrowed from a Scottish ballad of the same name. As one of the most extreme examples of Ambiguous Meter, the author uses projection arrows following Hasty (1997) in the transcriptions of \u201cSir Patrick Spens\u201d to show how listeners might experience Ambiguous Meter in this recording. Murphy explores how the artist\u2019s mouthbow instrument articulates \u201cungrouped beats\u201d while the double bass plays \u201cunrealized durations,\u201d defined as the phenomena \u201cwhich occur when a clear stressed event initiates a duration\u2019s onset but no second event occurs to confirm a time span\u201d (159). Murphy observes that, in this recording, metric emergence occurs in tandem with narration, \u201corganizing the story telling, giving agency to the narrator\u201d (161). Finally, the author argues that Sainte-Marie\u2019s adaptation of \u201cSir Patrick Spens\u201d may be understood as reflective of her identity as a Native American and her activism against the oppression of and violence toward indigenous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final chapter presents analyses of three different versions of Sainte-Marie\u2019s \u201cMy Country\u201d (two 1966 performances and a more recent recording from 2017). While Murphy addresses important aspects and the impact of vocal delivery in these recordings, there may a be an opportunity to connect prosodic aspects of vocal delivery more directly to metric aspects central to the analysis, specifically what I have characterized elsewhere as consonantal articulation and vocal motility, here expressed as artful vibrato and pressed phonation.<span id='easy-footnote-3-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-3-9484' title='I argue that consonantal articulation and vocal motility impact an artist\u2019s prosody, understood broadly as the pacing of vocal delivery, which is an oft overlooked but central aspect of shaping an artist\u2019s singing voice (&lt;em&gt;A Blaze of Light in Every Word: Analyzing the Popular Singing Voice&lt;\/em&gt; [Oxford University Press, 2020], 69\u201371). Specific to the interpretation of Sainte-Marie\u2019s recording of \u201cMy Country\u201d on &lt;em&gt;Little Wheel Spin and Spin &lt;\/em&gt;(1966), we can observe distinct contrasts between some choppy, intra-phrase discontinuity of the opening 45 seconds, heightened by marked consonantal articulation of ending consonants, and the more languid, more continuous phrases that follow, marked by the lingering on nasal consonants that Murphy observes. The variation in phrasing, heightened by consonantal articulation and different phrase and subphrase lengths directly contributes to the recording\u2019s metric flexibility.'><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Murphy reads the 2017 recording of \u201cMy Country\u201d in dialogue with the earlier versions and notes changes in vocal pitch and quality, including greater raspiness and growling, and observes intensification of the metric properties of earlier versions in the more recent recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, Murphy\u2019s monograph is well-written and presents many illustrative musical examples and transcriptions, in spite of a few typos that somehow got past the editing process. For the most part, musical examples are easy to read and laid out effectively. Occasionally some formatting is a little difficult to read in the print version of the book. For example, highlighted text in Figure 3.13 (75) does not show up well in greyscale, and Figure 5.7 (136) uses a small font, which may be difficult for some readers to read in the print version of the book. Strengths of the book include its solid grounding in literature on rhythm and meter\u2014especially the effective combination of methodologies from work by Lerdahl and Jackendoff (1983) and Hasty (1997)\u2014to show aspects of how listeners might experience flexible meter in the song recordings. There may be an additional opportunity here as well for engagement of Kramer\u2019s concept of nondirected linear time\u2014meaning a processive but unpredictable experience of time, which moves forward but without a single expected outcome\u2014as it relates to Murphy\u2019s category of Ambiguous Meter.<span id='easy-footnote-4-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-4-9484' title='See Jonathan Kramer, &lt;em&gt;The Time of Music &lt;\/em&gt;(New York and London: Schirmer Books, 1988), 39\u201340, 61\u201362, and 453.'><sup>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Authenticity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though the concept of authenticity is not the book\u2019s primary focus, readers might benefit from a more in-depth engagement of the literature on authenticity as it relates to the analyses in the book. Specifically, Allan Moore\u2019s \u201cAuthenticity as Authentication\u201d could provide an engaging critical frame for this discussion.<span id='easy-footnote-5-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-5-9484' title='Allan F. Moore, \u201cAuthenticity as Authentication,\u201d &lt;em&gt;Popular Music &lt;\/em&gt;21, no. 2 (2002): 209\u201323.'><sup>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Arguing that authenticity is an ascribed phenomenon, Moore offers three categories of authentication: (1) \u201cfirst-person,\u201d which involves listeners believing artists are speaking \u201cfrom the heart\u201d as if what they say reflects their own genuine identity or perspective; (2) \u201csecond-person,\u201d occurring when listeners can identify with the situations and perspectives the singers portray in their songs; and (3) \u201cthird-person,\u201d arising when artists seem to be participating in a specific musical tradition with particular musical features and expectations. When Murphy observes, \u201cthere may be some conscious intention on the part of these artists to have included flexible meter both as a technique of self-expression and as a way to align their output with self-expressive traditions\u201d (21), these easily correspond to Moore\u2019s first- and third-person types of authenticity respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These categories may aptly provide a framework for understanding how authenticity (as an ascribed value) plays out in several analyses. For example, in the analysis of \u201cDown the Highway,\u201d Murphy identifies Dylan as a participant in the Delta blues tradition, which illustrates Moore\u2019s third-person authenticity while the artist\u2019s seemingly original, creative style connects to Moore\u2019s first-person authenticity. Also, in the analysis of \u201cRestless Farewell,\u201d we can connect Dylan\u2019s alignment with the folk tradition in this recording with Moore\u2019s third-person authenticity, which establishes his role as legitimate participant within a musical tradition. In addition, Murphy positions Dylan as an \u201coutsider and renegade, rebelling against regularity and signaling a broader \u2018aesthetic of imperfection\u2019\u201d (147), which she connects directly to Ambiguous Meter in the recording. These attributes, as they relate to listeners\u2019 perceptions of authenticity, reflect Moore\u2019s first-person authenticity, as listeners may understand the \u201caesthetic of imperfection\u201d to convey sincerity and Dylan\u2019s own personal truth. Finally, in the analysis of \u201cMy Country,\u201d the author interprets Sainte-Marie\u2019s distinctive vibrato and emphasized consonantal articulation as central to listeners\u2019 understanding of her vocal delivery as connoting \u201craw and \u2018authentic\u2019 emotions,\u201d which could be understood as a marker of Moore\u2019s first-person authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This book will likely appeal to several different kinds of scholars. First, for those of us craving detailed, thoughtful analysis of music by this set of prominent artists (whose work has to date been underrepresented in music-theoretic scholarship) will delight in Murphy\u2019s thorough consideration of dozens of their recordings. Murphy\u2019s monograph complements literature that already exists on Dylan\u2019s and Mitchell\u2019s music, and paves the way for new, sophisticated analysis of music by Sainte-Marie, Simon, and Stevens. Adding to scholarship by Steven Rings that considers a broader range of musical parameters (phrasing, pitch, timbre, articulation, and rhythm) applied to multiple recordings of a single song, Murphy zeroes in on the specific ways Dylan uses metric flexibility as an expressive device in a wide sample of his iconic recordings.<span id='easy-footnote-6-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-6-9484' title='Steven Rings, \u201cA Foreign Sound to Your Ear: Bob Dylan Performs \u2018It\u2019s Alright, Ma (I\u2019m Only Bleeding),\u2019 1964\u20132009.\u201d &lt;em&gt;Music Theory Online&lt;\/em&gt; 19, no. 4 (Dec. 2013). &lt;a href=&quot;http:\/\/www.mtosmt.org\/issues\/mto.13.19.4\/mto.13.19.4.rings.php&quot;&gt;http:\/\/www.mtosmt.org\/issues\/mto.13.19.4\/mto.13.19.4.rings.php&lt;\/a&gt;.'><sup>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In addition, by focusing on meter, Murphy also enhances preexisting analytic scholarship by Lloyd Whitesell that considers lyrics, harmony, melody, and form in Mitchell\u2019s recordings.<span id='easy-footnote-7-9484' class='easy-footnote-margin-adjust'><\/span><span class='easy-footnote'><a href='https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/#easy-footnote-bottom-7-9484' title='Lloyd Whitesell, &lt;em&gt;The Music of Joni Mitchell&lt;\/em&gt; (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).'><sup>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, this book will also appeal to scholars interested in metric flexibility in any genre\u2014especially as it connects to extramusical meaning. The author\u2019s artful combination of hierarchical dot notation (following Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983) with projective arrows (following Hasty 1997) shows complementary retrospective and processive interpretations respectively, especially in the analysis of Mitchell\u2019s \u201cBlue.\u201d Building on Whitesell\u2019s analysis of \u201cBlue\u201d (2008), which connects harmonic content with the song\u2019s lost-love lyrical narrative, Murphy\u2019s analysis of flexible meter further supports the recording\u2019s lyrics. While the author does not explicitly engage existing theories of musical meaning in this and other analyses, the analytic methodology effectively models compelling connections between metric structure and song lyric narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Third, anyone interested in political and confessional aspects of music associated with the late 1960s and early 1970s folk-inspired singer-songwriter scene, will find in Murphy\u2019s book, useful information about the historical and biographical contexts from which the music emerged beautifully weaved into the analyses, along with how they connect to musical content and specifically metric aspects in the recordings considered. Connections are made seamlessly throughout, and readers more interested in historical context may easily navigate the analyses, while readers more interested in musical content will find the pertinent contextual information enhances the analyses. A great deal of care was taken with the writing of the prose and crafting of the musical examples, as the book is a pleasure to read and easy to understand\u2014no small feat for a slim volume that offers sophisticated analysis at a high level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Berry, Wallace. 1976. <em>Structural Functions in Music<\/em>. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grieg, Charlotte. 1997. \u201cFemale Identity and the Woman Songwriter.\u201d In <em>Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender<\/em>, ed. Sheila Whiteley, 168\u201377. London and New York: Routledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hasty, Christopher. 1997. <em>Meter as Rhythm<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Horlacher, Gretchen. 2000\/2001. \u201cMultiple Meters and Metrical Processes in the Music of Steve Reich.\u201d <em>Int\u00e9gral <\/em>14\/15: 265\u201397.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kramer, Jonathan. 1988. <em>The Time of Music<\/em>. New York and London: Schirmer Books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lerdahl, Fred and Ray Jackendoff. 1983. <em>A Generative Theory of Tonal Music<\/em>. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malawey, Victoria. 2020. <em>A Blaze of Light in Every Word: Analyzing the Popular Singing Voice<\/em>. Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moore, Allan F. 2002. \u201cAuthenticity as Authentication.\u201d <em>Popular Music <\/em>21, no. 2: 209\u201323.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rings, Steven. 2013. \u201cA Foreign Sound to Your Ear: Bob Dylan Performs \u2018It\u2019s Alright, Ma (I\u2019m Only Bleeding),\u2019 1964\u20132009.\u201d <em>Music Theory Online<\/em> 19, no. 4 (December). <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mtosmt.org\/issues\/mto.13.19.4\/mto.13.19.4.rings.php\">http:\/\/www.mtosmt.org\/issues\/mto.13.19.4\/mto.13.19.4.rings.php<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schachter, Carl. 1999. \u201cAspects of Meter.\u201d In <em>Unfoldings: Essays in Schenkerian Theory and Analysis<\/em>, ed. Joseph Strauss, 79\u2013117. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whitesell, Lloyd. 2008. <em>The Music of Joni Mitchell<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wise, Tim. 2012. \u201cSinger-songwriter.\u201d In <em>Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World<\/em>, vol. 8, <em>Genres: North America<\/em>, ed. David Horn, 430\u201334. New York and London: Continuum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>View PDFReturn to Volume 37 Victoria Malawey The newest monograph in the Oxford Studies in Music Theory series, Nancy Murphy\u2019s Time\u2019s A-Changin\u2019: Flexible Meter as Self-Expression in Singer-Songwriter Music, offers a framework for interpreting meter applied to a collection of analyses engaging the relationship of metric structure to extramusical meaning in recordings by Joni Mitchell, &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/37-2024\/malawey\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review of <i>Time\u2019s A-Changin\u2019: Flexible Meter as Self-Expression in Singer-Songwriter Music<\/i> by Nancy Murphy, Oxford University Press, 2023&#8243;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"parent":9044,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9484","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9484"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9574,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9484\/revisions\/9574"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theory.esm.rochester.edu\/integral\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}