The World In Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature [Hardcover]

Charles Darwin meets the Beatles in this attempt to blend neuroscience and evolutionary biology to explain why music is such a powerful force. In this rewarding though often repetitious study by bestselling author Levitin (This Is Your Brain on Music), a rock musician turned neuroscientist, argues that music is a core element of human identity, paving the way for language, cooperative work projects and the recording of our lives and history. Through his studies, Levitin has identified six kinds of songs that help us achieve these goals: songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love. He cites lyrics ranging from the songs of Johnny Cash to work songs, which, he says, promote feelings of togetherness. According to Levitin, evolution may have selected individuals who were able to use nonviolent means like dance and music to settle disputes. Songs also serve as memory-aids, as records of our lives and legends. Some may find Levitin's evolutionary explanations reductionist, but he lightens the science with personal anecdotes and chats with Sting and others, offering an intriguing explanation for the power of music in our lives as individuals and as a society. (Aug.)
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"Daniel Levitin takes the most sophisticated ideas that exist about the brain and mind, applies them to the most emotionally direct art we have, our songs, and makes beautiful music of the two together." -- Adam Gopnik, Essayist, The New Yorker and Author, "Paris to the Moon"

"I loved 'The World in Six Songs.' Daniel Levitin writes about music with all the exuberance of a die-hard fan, and all the insight of a natural-born scientist. This is a fascinating, entertaining book, and some of its most inventive themes may stay stuck in your head forever, something like a well-loved song." -- Elizabeth Gilbert, Author of "Eat, Pray, Love"

"Music seems to have an almost willful, evasive quality, defying simple explanation, so that the more we find out, the more there is to know, leaving its power and mystery intact, however much we may dig and delve. Daniel's book is an eloquent and poetic exploration of this paradox. There may be no simple answer or end in sight, but the ride is nonetheless a thrilling one, especially in the company of a writer who is an accomplished musician, a poet, a hard-nosed scientist, and someone who can still look upon the universe with a sense of wonder." -- Sting

"The human mind is an amazing thing and its greatest attribute is imagination; from this has come great inventions, medical discoveries and art. All those great works from Bach onwards up to the present day have come from the fertile imagination of the human brain. Without music, the most sublime of arts, we would be little more than animals. In SIX SONGS, Mr. Levitin explains it all beautifully." -- Sir George Martin, CBE, Producer of The Beatles

"Why can a song make you cry in a matter of seconds? From classical to contemporary music, SIX SONGS is the only book that explains why. With original and awe-inspiring insights into the nature of human artistry, it's an irresistably entertaining and thought-provoking journey. Anyone who loves music should read it." -- Bobby McFerrin, Singer, Composer ("Don't Worry Be Happy"), Conductor (Vienna Philharmonic)