A retrospective lyrical analysis of songs written by adolescents with anorexia nervosa

Song-writing plays a central role in music therapy with adolescents. A retrospective lyrical analysis of songs written by adolescents with anorexia nervosa was undertaken in order to identify common themes solicited through song-writing interventions. Fifteen participants contributed 17 songs, from which 368 lyrical units were identified. A modified content analysis approach was used with each lyrical unit being categorised to one of six themes determined from the literature and clinical experience. The theme of 'identity' was used most frequently (28%), with the sub-theme of 'exploring new behaviours, positive self-talk' being addressed most often (12.5% of total). The dominance of the developmentally important theme of 'identity' may reflect the relationship between adolescents, music and identity or may be related to the way in which anorexia nervosa has been theorised to assist the adolescent in managing challenges to the emerging sense of self. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Folk singers during Labour Day march Brisbane 1965

Folk singers during the Labor Day procession, in Brisbane, Australia, May 1965. One person holds a banner relating to the S.S. Binburra

A Digital Library of Folklore Songs and Keyword-Based Search Engine

ACM Computing Classification System (1998): H3.3, H.5.5, J5.

“Animanazo”. Song and memories. Cultural expressions and movements in the reconstruction of the past inside a north Argentinian town

This article analyses the context of production and local situations of appropriation and resignification related to the folk song “Fire on Animaná” as well as the request and mobilization (“The animanazo”) provoked by this song in order to examine different mechanisms and foundations by which a population connect with an event from its community past, identifying with this and taking it in a specific way. In this article we combine discourse analysis of the song and of interviews to participants in this event with the reconstruction —through ethnographic observation— of how to use this song.

Let The People Sing? Irish Rebel Songs, Sectarianism, and Scotland’s Offensive Behaviour Act

Irish rebel songs afford Scotland’s Irish diaspora a means to assert, experience, and perform their alterity free from the complexities of the Irish language. Yet this benign intent can be offset by how the music is perceived by elements of Scotland’s majority Protestant population. The Scottish Government’s Offensive Behaviour Act (2012) has been used to prosecute those singing Irish rebel songs and there is continuing debate as to how this alleged offence should be dealt with. This article explores the social function and cultural perception of Irish rebel songs in the west coast of Scotland, examining what qualities lead to a song being perceived as ‘sectarian’, by focusing on song lyrics, performance context, and extra-musical discourse. The article explores the practice of lyrical ‘add-ins’ that inflect the meaning of key songs, and argues that the sectarianism of a song resides, at least in part, in the perception of the listener.