[Insert Song Lyrics Here]: The Uses and Misuses of Popular Music Lyrics in Legal Writing
2007; Washington and Lee University School of Law; Volume: 64; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1942-6658
Autores Tópico(s)Legal Education and Practice Innovations
ResumoI. For Those About To Rock (I Salute You)1The fun is just about to get started,So throw switchIt's rock 'n' roll time.(Hey!)-Guided By Voices, Over Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox2Popular music is a popular topic in legal writing. Legal writers need little excuse to write about legal issues involving particular musical artists or genres3 when given half a chance, and legal problems of our favorite artists and written judicial opinions they produce are a particular source of interest for many lawyers. We may generally care little and understand even less about vagaries of copyright law, but you tell us that John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival once got sued for plagiarizing his own songs and that case actually made it all way to Supreme Court,4 well, by golly, we might just read your little law review article on subject, even though we secretly think most law review articles are deadly dull.But lawyers do more than just find excuses to write about law and popular music. Quite often, lawyers and judges will use words of popular music artists in an attempt to grab a reader's attention or advance writer's thesis. Such uses could range from something as simple as using (or altering) lyrics as title for a piece of scholarship to using descriptive passages from songs to help create a link between song and legal issue at hand.It is unclear how many artists would feel upon learning that judges and academics sometimes use their lyrics in order to persuade other elites as to correctness of their thinking on a legal issue. Popular music artists have always been somewhat ambivalent about having lyrics to their songs viewed as poetry, tools for social change, or as anything other than a means of self expression.5 There are still quarters within academia that posit that at least some popular music lyrics, and rock lyrics in particular, qualify as poetry,6 evidence in Jim Morrison's poetry to contrary notwithstanding.7 Folk music has long been viewed by ideological left as a means of effectuating change,8 and some genres of rap contain the most overt social agenda in popular music since urban folk movement of 1960s.9 But for every artist willing to go on record as claiming poet or social commentator status, there are almost certainly more who reject such labels. Sixties folk legend Phil Ochs is on record as stating that he wrote about political and social issues out of an inner need for expression, not to change world.10 Bob Dylan's discomfort with being voice of a generation is well-documented and ultimately was a factor in his decision to abandon his protest singer roots.1 ' For first part of R.E.M.'s career, no one could understand what Michael Stipe was even talking about.12Nonetheless, reliance on popular music lyrics in legal writing is natural. Popular music, in its many forms, covers spectrum of human emotions and situations. As Johnny Cash put it on liner notes to his Unchained album, I love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak, and love. And Mother. And God.13 With maybe one or two exceptions, law has something to say on each of those subjects.Aside from aiding a writer in quest to communicate about a particular issue, use of popular music may also humanize an individual in eyes of others. During Samuel Alito confirmation hearings, for example, news media enthusiastically reported that conservative Alito was a fan of Bruce Springsteen.14 Not willing to cede his blue collar bona fides to likes of Republican appointee Alito, Senator Richard Durbin took things a step further by using a line from an interview with Springsteen against Alito:They once asked [Springsteen],. …
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