Innovators: Songwriters / David Galenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Galenson, David.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w15511.

NBER working paper series no. w15511

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Innovators

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

Irving Berlin and Cole Porter were two of the great experimental songwriters of the Golden Era. They aimed to create songs that were clear and universal. Their ability to do this improved throughout much of their careers, as their skill in using language to create simple and poignant images improved with experience, and their greatest achievements came in their 40s and 50s. During the 1960s, Bob Dylan and the team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney created a conceptual revolution in popular music. Their goal was to express their own ideas and emotions in novel ways. Their creativity declined with age, as increasing experience produced habits of thought that destroyed their ability to formulate radical new departures from existing practices, so their most innovative contributions appeared early in their careers.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2009.