All Shook Up2000
Music, Passion, and Politics
by Carson Holloway
"In the fifteen years since Tipper Gore and Frank Zappa faced off over raunchy lyrics, a furious but confused debate has raged over popular music's effect on character. Shattering the assumptions of pop's critics and defenders alike, Carson Holloway shows that music is both more dangerous and more beneficial than we think.".
"Conservative complaints about popular music focus on lyrics alone and appeal only to public decency and safety. Liberals, swift to the defense of any self-expression, simultaneously celebrate rock's liberating ethos and deny its cultural influence. Neither side appreciates the true power of music or is willing to examine its own musical tastes.".
"Previous ages, Hollaway finds, were not as naive as our own. Plato and Aristotle, who saw that music can awaken the soul...