Historical Qualitative and Quantitative Overview of Classic Literature Embraced by Rock n’ Roll, 1960-2000

Abstract

Rock music lyrics are often denied their status as influential pieces of literature in much the same way, it seems, as graphic novels, but both are no less effective in conveying a message or eliciting a powerful feeling. Not until October 2016, when Bob Dylan became the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in literature since 1913, did lyrics truly get a step closer to being recognized as literature within the boundaries of rock music (Chaudhuri, 2016)? This study was designed to help inspire others to take up the torch to further research: the influence and the power that literature had on the lyricists in the development of rock music, the concept of rock music as a proponent to spread the word of literature through its own influence, and the concept that rock lyrics should be considered literature in their own right and given consideration in collection development. The purpose of this study is to provide a quantitative analysis of record sales charts along with content analysis of literature in rock lyrics to provide a historic overview of the influence that classic literature had on “rock’ n’ roll “/” rock” music, a genre often considered to have been derived from an uneducated subculture by the same name, from the mid-1960s through the turn of the century in 2000.