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A Philosophy of Cover Songs
This short book is an engaging exploration of a range of issues raised by the phenomenon of musical covers. Magnus’s discussion of numerous fascinating and well-chosen examples impressively complements his theorizing, which clearly demonstrates the philosophical richness of his topic.
Prof. Andrew Kania, Trinity University in San Antonio
Cover songs are a familiar feature of contemporary popular music. Musicians describe their own performances as covers, and audiences use the category to organize their listening and appreciation. However, until now philosophers have not had much to say about them. In A Philosophy of Cover Songs, P.D. Magnus demonstrates that philosophy provides a valuable toolbox for thinking about covers; in turn, the philosophy of cover songs illustrates some general points about philosophical method.
Lucidly written, the book is divided into three how to think about covers, appreciating covers, and the metaphysics of covers and songs. Along the way, it explores a range of issues raised by covers, from the question of what precisely constitutes a cover, to the history and taxonomy of the category, the various relationships that hold between songs, performances, and tracks, and the appreciation and evaluation of covers.
This unique and engaging book will be of interest to those working in philosophy of art, philosophy of music, popular music studies, music history, and musicology, as well as to readers with a general interest in popular music, covers, and how we think about them.
Prof. Andrew Kania, Trinity University in San Antonio
Cover songs are a familiar feature of contemporary popular music. Musicians describe their own performances as covers, and audiences use the category to organize their listening and appreciation. However, until now philosophers have not had much to say about them. In A Philosophy of Cover Songs, P.D. Magnus demonstrates that philosophy provides a valuable toolbox for thinking about covers; in turn, the philosophy of cover songs illustrates some general points about philosophical method.
Lucidly written, the book is divided into three how to think about covers, appreciating covers, and the metaphysics of covers and songs. Along the way, it explores a range of issues raised by covers, from the question of what precisely constitutes a cover, to the history and taxonomy of the category, the various relationships that hold between songs, performances, and tracks, and the appreciation and evaluation of covers.
This unique and engaging book will be of interest to those working in philosophy of art, philosophy of music, popular music studies, music history, and musicology, as well as to readers with a general interest in popular music, covers, and how we think about them.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 3, 2022
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August 17, 2023
As the title suggests, this is in fact an entire book on the philosophy of cover songs. If you are into music, like to talk and think about music, and, for some reason, you want to get as clear as you can about the concept, metaphysics, and value of cover songs—there’s probably not a better place to start than this book.
Magnus strikes a balance between accessibility and precision here and it works well. That said, I imagine you still have to have a taste for analytic philosophy all that entails: starting with definitions/clarifications of the concepts, making fine distinctions, thinking hard about specific cases (both historical and thought experimental), and working through relevant puzzles and paradoxes . But if you happen to appreciate the analytic approach, then this extended meditation on covers should be a good time. I just picked this up out of idle curiosity more than anything and knew that a philosopher could find plenty to talk about here. Some of the examples and situations Magnus draws on from the history of popular music are pretty interesting and actually managed to start a few debates about these things among friends.
Note: If the world fully made sense, most academic works in the new millennium would be open access—but surprisingly few actually are. This is one of the few open access philosophy monographs I’ve come across.
Magnus strikes a balance between accessibility and precision here and it works well. That said, I imagine you still have to have a taste for analytic philosophy all that entails: starting with definitions/clarifications of the concepts, making fine distinctions, thinking hard about specific cases (both historical and thought experimental), and working through relevant puzzles and paradoxes . But if you happen to appreciate the analytic approach, then this extended meditation on covers should be a good time. I just picked this up out of idle curiosity more than anything and knew that a philosopher could find plenty to talk about here. Some of the examples and situations Magnus draws on from the history of popular music are pretty interesting and actually managed to start a few debates about these things among friends.
Note: If the world fully made sense, most academic works in the new millennium would be open access—but surprisingly few actually are. This is one of the few open access philosophy monographs I’ve come across.
Displaying 1 of 1 review