Classic Rock for

by Mary Beth Bauermann art by Liz Liner

The intersection of fantasy narratives and rock music sets the stage for a tale of two unlikely friends and their mutual conquest of songwriting expectations in popular music. Rock and roll arose from rhythm and blues, a genre whose lyrics were often grounded in reallife pain and struggle. However, rhythm and blues singers, through their lyrics and instrumental compositions, were embarking on their own quests for freedom in a better, future world, a prominent theme in some of the most well-known fantasy narratives. Classic rock music in the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and beyond not only kept this abstract theme alive, but songwriters in the rock genre became authors of fantasy narratives in their own right, merging music and classic literature, but also creating fantasy worlds of their own. Classic rock – like much of popular music in general – has never been widely regarded as a particularly “intellectual” style or genre of music. Modern musicology is breaking into intellectual studies of popular music, but classical music still takes the cake in terms of a musical genre that is believed to contain true, intellectual artistry in composition. All the while, classic rock contains an abundance of fertile soil for study. For many classic rock and