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Cited by 41Musicology and Musical AnalysisMusic History and CultureNarrative Theory and Analysis

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Narrative Paradigms, Musical Signifiers, and Form as Function in Country Music

NEAL, JOCELYN R.·2007·Music Theory Spectrum
DOI 10.1525/mts.2007.29.1.41
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Abstract

Within country music's songwriting practices, musical form and harmonic structure often become functional contributors to a song's story; these combinations of form and theme can be modeled as distinct narrative paradigms. This essay defines a Time-Shift narrative paradigm that relates a central trope in country music's texts to formal, structural, and poetic devices. It then presents analyses of several songs to show how the use of the narrative paradigm reinforces the core identity of country as a genre, and connects art, biography, and interpretation.

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Research works printed but not linked: 21

  1. Ching, Barbara. 2001. Wrong's What I Do Best: Hard Country Music and Contemporary Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. · DOI
  2. Covach, John. 2005. "Form in Rock Music: A Primer." In Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis, ed. Deborah Stein. New York: Oxford University Press, 65-76.
  3. Ellison, Curtis W. 1995. Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
  4. Everett, Walter. 1997. "Swallowed by a Song: Paul Simon's Crisis of Chromaticism." In Understanding Rock, ed. John Covach and Graeme Boone. New York: Oxford University Press, 113-153.
  5. Fillingim, David. 2003. Redneck Liberation: Country Music as Theology. Macon: Mercer University Press.
  6. Forte, Allen. 1995. The American Popular Ballad of the Golden Era, 1924-1950. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  7. Fox Aaron, 1992, Popular Music, 11, 53, 10.1017/S0261143000004840 · DOI
  8. - 2004. Real Country: Music and Language in Working-Class Culture. Durham: Duke University Press.
  9. 10.1111/j.0022-3840.1978.1104_857.x · DOI
  10. Neal Jocelyn R, 2000, Country Music Annual, 1, 112
  11. - 2004. "Dancing Together: The Rhythms of Gender in the Country Dance Hall." In A Boy Named Sue: Gender and Country Music, ed. Kristine M. McCusker and Diane Pecknold. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 132-154.
  12. Pattison, Pat. 1991. Managing Lyric Structure. Boston: Berklee Press.
  13. Perricone, Jack. 2000. Melody in Songwriting. Boston: Berklee Press.
  14. Ricci Adam, 2000, Indiana Theory Review, 21, 129
  15. Rogers, Jimmie N. 1989. The Country Music Message Revisited. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press.
  16. Rogers Jimmie N, 2000, Country Music Annual, 1, 46
  17. Sayrs, Elizabeth. 2003. "Narrative, Metaphor, and Conceptual Blending in `The Hanging Tree'." Music Theory Online 9.1 (March). · DOI
  18. McGraw, Tim. 1994. "Don't Take the Girl." Composed by Craig Martin and Larry W. Johnson, c SONY/ATV Tree Publishing and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing. Not a Moment Too Soon. Curb D2-77659.
  19. Raye, Collin. 1995. "One Boy, One Girl." Composed by Mark Alan Springer and Shaye Smith, c EMI Blackwood Music, Inc., and Zomba Songs. I Think About You. Epic 67033.
  20. Tucker, Tanya. 1992. "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane." Composed by Mark Springer, c Murrah Music Corporation. Can't Run from Yourself. Liberty C2-98987.
  21. Young, Faron. 1961. "Hello Walls." Composed by Willie Nelson, c Sony/ATV Tree Publishing. Hello Walls. Capitol ST-1528. Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 29, Issue 1, pp. 41-72, ISSN 0195-6167, electronic ISSN 1533-8339. c 2007 by The Society for Music Theory. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Rights and Permissions website, at http://www .ucpressjournals.com/reprintinfo.asp. DOI: 10.1525/mts.2007.29.1.41

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Metadata

Authors
NEAL, J. R.
Corresponding author
NEAL, JOCELYN R.
ORCID
NEAL, JOCELYN R.
Venue
Music Theory Spectrum
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2007-04
Volume
29
Issue
1
Pages
41-72
ISSN
  • 0195-6167 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-8339
DOI
10.1525/mts.2007.29.1.41
OpenAlex
W2103701479
Cited by
41
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
FWCI
26.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Music Theory Spectrum (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Musicology and Musical Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Music History and Culture
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Narrative Theory and Analysis
Keywords
country music, songwriting, musical form, harmonic structure, narrative paradigm, genre identity, song lyrics, musical meaning

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Narrative Paradigms, Musical Signifiers, and Form as Function in Country Music. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1525/mts.2007.29.1.41
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NEAL, J. R. (2007). Narrative Paradigms, Musical Signifiers, and Form as Function in Country Music. Music Theory Spectrum. https://doi.org/10.1525/mts.2007.29.1.41