Times A-Changin'

Nancy Murphy is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, previously teaching at the University of Houston and the University of Chicago. Her research studies singer-songwriter music, metric flexibility, self-expression, vocal production, and transcription. She has published articles and reviews in Music Theory Spectrum, Music Analysis, and Music Theory Online and serves on the editorial boards of Music Theory Online, Indiana Theory, and Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy (Associate Editor). She has reviewed journal submission for multiple peer-reviewed publications including Music Theory Spectrum, Popular Music, Music Theory Online, Analytical Approaches to World Music, Engaging Students, and Indiana Theory Review.

• AbstractTable of ContentsList of Figures and CaptionsAcknowledgements Chapter 1: The Self Expressive Rhetoric of Flexible MeterSelf-Expressive FeaturesFlexible Meter and "The Fiddle and the Drum"Self-Expression and the Singer-SongwriterExpectations for Singer-Songwriter MusicBob Dylan and The Folk RevivalFlexible Meter as Self-Expression in Singer-Songwriter Music Chapter 2: The Theory of Flexible MeterTypes of Flexible MeterRegular MeterReinterpreted MeterLost MeterAmbiguous MeterMetric Potential Chapter 3: Regular and Reinterpreted MeterRegular MeterReinterpreted MeterJoni Mitchell's Rhapsodic SentimentsPaul Simon: Reinterpreted Meter Expressing Enigmatic LyricsCat Stevens's IntrospectionA Closer Look: Joni Mitchell's "Lesson in Survival" Chapter 4: Self-Expressive Innovations: Lost MeterBob Dylan's "Only a Pawn in Their Game"Cat Stevens's "Time"Joni Mitchell's "Blue" Chapter 5: Intensifying "Imperfection": Ambiguous MeterBob Dylan's "Down the Highway"Bob Dylan's "Restless Farewell"Joni Mitchell's "The Fiddle and the Drum"Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Sir Patrick Spens" Chapter 6: What Happens Next? Self-Expressive Flexible MeterBeyond 1982Future Singer-SongwritersBuffy Sainte-Marie's "My Country" (1966)"My Country" (1966, Rainbow Quest)"My Country" (2017, Medicine Songs) Conclusion: Flexible Meter as Self-Expression Index