Ancient Love Themes in Contemporary Music
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Ronald McCail) and Ring of Fire (Contemporary Song by Johnny Cash) ParallelTextLyricsListen The sensations that follow love are many, but one that is present in many works of art involving love touch on the Read More …
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Ronald McCail) and (Contemporary Song by Maroon 5) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Daphnis and Chloe, the main character’s lives are put against the backdrop of the natural world. While Daphnis and Chloe share romantic interest and Read More …
(Ancient Text by Euripides, translated by A.J Podlecki) and Broken Promises (Contemporary Song by Placebo) ParallelTextLyricsListen Jealousy is a construct closely related to the issue of love. When feelings run deeply within a person, the ending of a relationship may Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolphe Humphries) and (Contemporary Song by Tyler Farr) ParallelTextLyricsListen When you combine love with wine, the result of this mixture can either be pleasant or surprisingly bad. In the ancient as in the modern Read More …
(Ancient Text by Tibullus, translated by Bing And Cohen) and Just The Way You Are (Contemporary Song by Bruno Mars) ParallelTextLyricsListen Beauty is an important theme when discussing love because it is often the initial object of attraction between people. Read More …
(Ancient Text by Catullus, translated by Peter Bing & Rip Cohen) and when the party’s over (Contemporary Song by Billie Eilish) ParallelTextLyricsListen The idea that two people compliment each other so well that they complete each other is very interesting. Read More …
(Ancient Text by Plutarch, translated by Donald Russell) and Love Lockdown (Contemporary Song by Kanye West) ParallelTextLyricsListen Love is often a strong, arguably the strongest, form of expression. Expressing such a strong feeling or desire can sometimes feel like a Read More …
(Ancient Text by , translated by Shelton) and The Night We Met (Contemporary Song by Lord Huron) ParallelTextLyricsListen We have often talked about love in the context of pain, touching on how it can bring unpleasant experiences to people in Read More …
(Ancient Text by Catullus, translated by Bing and Cohen) and The Next Ten Minutes (Contemporary Song by Jason Robert Brown) ParallelTextLyricsListen Catullus’ poem to Lesbia portrays his love for her by asking her to give him so many kisses that Read More …
(Ancient Text by Catullus, translated by Bing and Cohen) and P.D.A (We Just Don’t Care) (Contemporary Song by John Legend) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both the song by John Legend and the verses of the ancient text focus on the display of physical Read More …
(Ancient Text by Catullus, translated by Bing and Cohen) and Love No More (Contemporary Song by Loud Luxury, Anders) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both the song and the verse by Catullus speak of not loving the person they once loved. In the song, Read More …
(Ancient Text by Lucretius, translated by Martin Ferguson Smith) and “My Kind of Crazy” (Contemporary Song by Brantley Gilbert) ParallelTextLyricsListen In the works of Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, one can see the detrimental effects of love on the Read More …
(Ancient Text by Virgil, translated by J. W. Mackail) and “We are never ever getting back together” (Contemporary Song by Taylor Swift) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Virgil’s The Aeneid, the relationship between Dido and Aeneas is a fantastic example of the end Read More …
(Ancient Text by Horace, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and 31 Candles (Contemporary Song by The Mendoza Line) ParallelTextLyricsListen Horace writes about his personal experience of his relationship with a particular lover, and shares what the current younger Read More …
(Ancient Text by Catullus, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and 7 Things (Contemporary Song by Miley Cyrus) ParallelTextLyricsListen Catullus talks about how he has devoted so much of his love to Lesbia, his lover, that even though she Read More …
(Ancient Text by Propertius, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Love Song (Contemporary Song by Sara Bareilles) ParallelTextLyricsListen The ancient text by Propertius is very similar to the modern song “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles, in that they Read More …
(Ancient Text by Meleager, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Always in My Head (Contemporary Song by Coldplay) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Coldplay’s song “Always in My Head” and Meleager’s poem G-P 41 are about lovers unsuccessfully trying to get Read More …
(Ancient Text by Horace, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and It’s Not for Me to Say (Contemporary Song by Johnny Mathis) ParallelTextLyricsListen Horace’s poem 1.5 is complex, but one simplified interpretation of it is that he is warning Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries) and The New Workout Plan (Contemporary Song by Kanye West) ParallelTextLyricsListen The Ars Amatoria acts as a guide to love, it answers all the core burning questions of the hopeful lover. Questions Read More …
(Ancient Text by , translated by ) and Hello (Contemporary Song by Adele) ParallelTextLyricsListen In Adele’s 2015 song, “Hello”, she sings about wanting to apologize to her ex-lover years later after breaking his heart. Unfortunately, he doesn’t answer the phone Read More …
(Ancient Text by Tibullus, translated by Bing and Cohen) and Make you feel pretty (Contemporary Song by lovelytheband) ParallelTextLyricsListen A common phrase in today’s society is “gold digger” when referencing a woman who seems to be after a man for Read More …
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Paul Turner) and Wet Dreamz (Contemporary Song by J. Cole) ParallelTextLyricsListen In the tale of Daphnis and Chloe by Longus discusses the first experiences in love of a young couple, and so does the Read More …
(Ancient Text by Euripides, translated by A.J. Podlecki) and Mama’s Broken Heart (Contemporary Song by Miranda Lambert) ParallelTextLyricsListen In the tale of Medea by Euripides, translated by A.J. Podlecki, we can see the tale of a scorned woman as her husband Read More …
(Ancient Text by Lucretius, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Something in the Way You Move (Contemporary Song by Ellie Goulding) ParallelTextLyricsListen Lucretius criticizes love and claims that it is physically and emotionally damaging. He compares lovers to Read More …
(Ancient Text by Gaius Valerius Catullus, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Breathe Again (Contemporary Song by Sara Bareilles) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Sara Bareilles and Catullus decide that the best way to escape love to is to leave it Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Jessie’s Girl (Contemporary Song by Rick Springfield) ParallelTextLyricsListen Ovid’s poem describes how people always want things and people they can’t have, such as a girl who belongs to Read More …
(Ancient Text by Sappho, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Satisfied (Contemporary Song by Renee Elise-Goldsberry) ParallelTextLyricsListen Saphho’s poem describes how the narrator feels both physically and emotionally when she sees her lover with someone else. In this, Read More …
(Ancient Text by Lucretius, translated by Martin Ferguson Smith) and Crazy (Contemporary Song by Aerosmith) ParallelTextLyricsListen Eoin Sansevero Musical Parallel #2 Lucretius – Aerosmith The explicit nature of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura was initially surprising to me. I haven’t ever Read More …
(Ancient Text by Theocritus, translated by Bing and Cohen) and All of Me (Contemporary Song by John Legend) ParallelTextLyricsListen Theocritus describes the Cyclops as one who would give anything to be with the one he loves, Galatea. At one point, Read More …
(Ancient Text by Sappho, translated by Bing and Cohen) and “Flowers” (Contemporary Song by 5 After Midnight) ParallelTextLyricsListen Sappho expressed how it feels to see someone you love with another person and how that consumes his every thought. His entire Read More …
(Ancient Text by Callimachus, translated by Peter Bing, Rip Cohen) and There Stands the Glass (Contemporary Song by Webb Pierce) ParallelTextLyricsListen Drinking alcohol is an age-old remedy for the pains of love. The poem’s narrator, the stranger, and the subject Read More …
(Ancient Text by Theognis of Megara, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and November Rain (Contemporary Song by Guns N’ Roses) ParallelTextLyricsListen Unrequited love is a theme that arises in many of the ancient texts, and honestly, is a Read More …
(Ancient Text by Sappho, translated by Peter Bing and Rip Cohen) and Dug My Heart (Contemporary Song by Garrett Borns) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both the ancient poem and the modern song characterize love as an almost painful force that physically affects a Read More …
(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Ronald McCail) and It Must Be Love (Contemporary Song by Don Williams) ParallelTextLyricsListen Don Williams iconic “It Must Be Love” closely parallels Daphnis and Chloe’s realization about love after Philetas’ teachings. The simultaneous emotional Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries) and Love is a Battlefield (Contemporary Song by Pat Benatar) ParallelTextLyricsListen Ovid and Pat Benatar both recount the difficult, emotionally challenging nature of love, with both metaphorically comparing love to a military Read More …
(Ancient Text by Plato, translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff) and Grenade (Contemporary Song by Bruno Mars) ParallelTextLyricsListen Phaedrus describes how lovers refuse to be cowardly in front of the person they love. He even goes as far to Read More …
(Ancient Text by Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries) and Gold Digger [Clean] (Contemporary Song by Kanye West) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Ovid and Kanye West are fascinated with the idea of money-hungry women and the manipulative acts women will commit to achieve Read More …
(Ancient Text by Plato, translated by Alexander Nehamas, Paul Woodruff) and I Melt with You (Contemporary Song by Modern English) ParallelTextLyricsListen Both Plato’s Symposium and “I Melt with You” use the verbiage “melt” to describe two lovers coming together physically, Read More …