Should I Stay Or Should I Go?: And 87 Other Serious Answers to Questions in Songs

by James Ball

What is Love? How Soon is Now? Is this real life? Is there life on Mars?How do you solve a problem like a Maria? They're some of the most famous questions ever asked. But do you know the answer to them? In Should I Stay or Should I Go?, James Ball gives the definitive and hilarious answers and in doing so uncovers what we have always know - pop songs are the key to life itself.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Humor

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 30, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Ball, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral, has been in the autism field for over 20 years providing educational, residential, and employment services to children and adults affected by autism. Dr. Ball is the President/CEO of JB Autism Consulting. He is also the Director of Clinical Services for New York Families of Autistic Children, Inc. (NYFAC), a private not-for-profit organization providing support and training for children and families. He provides private consultation to organizations, schools, and families regarding staff training, parent training, home support services, classroom design/support, and behavior management/assessment.

Dr. Ball is also a member of Autism New Jersey, formally known as the New Jersey COSAC, Board of Trustees, and Professional Advisory Board, and also sits on the advisory board for Autism Asperger’s Digest magazine. A member of the Autism Society Board of Directors. Dr. Ball has lectured nationally and internationally on various topics such as early intervention, inclusion services, functional behavior assessment, social skills training, behavior management, direct instruction, sensory issues, and accountability. He has published in many of the above areas and authored the breakthrough award- winning book Early Intervention and Autism: Real-life Questions, Real-life Answers. Dr. Ball has won numerous awards including: NYFAC’s Autism Inspiration Award, the Autism Society’s Publication Award, and the Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor of Autism New Jersey.

Reviews

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas gift, and one which provided a lot of amusement whilst relaxing around this festive season. The premise of the book is a clever one - taking questions posed within the titles/lyrics of a number of pop songs and trying to address them in terms of analysis - presented almost in the form of a series of scientific abstracts. OK, so it's best read as a coffee-table book or a toilet book, and hence when I read the second half in one session it felt a little more 'one trick pony', but it was an entertaining little read.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wie ich zu diesem Buch gekommen bin, weiss ich gar nicht mehr, aber auf jeden Fall war es ein richtiger Glückstreffer. Denn obwohl ich nicht viel von Musik verstehe und auch nicht alle erwähnten Lieder kenne, so macht dieses Werk einfach nur gute Laune.

Die Herangehensweise Balls an die verschiedenen Fragen war ganz anders als ich erst gedacht hätte. Er nennt die Liedzeilen "Statistiken" o.a. und erörtert anhand aktueller Studien deren Wahrheitsgehalt. Und das auch noch mit sehr viel trockenem Humor. Manchmal musste ich mir das Lachen verkneifen, um morgens nicht die schlafende Familie zu wecken.

Wer Musik und Bücher mag findet hier eine perfekte Kombination, die sich aber auch als Geschenk für Musikfans mit Humor eignet. Die kurzen Texte sorgen dafür, dass auch jene, die nicht viel lesen, auf ihre Kosten kommen.

[Richard Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably much better as a series of articles than as a single tome, as the joke wears increasingly thinner with each chapter. The joke is that the writer - James Ball - treats questions in songs, as serious scientific queries and analyses them using mathematics and statistics. However the many forms of statistical graphics - pie charts, line graphs etc, do not generally add much to the analysis.

[papilionna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea behind this, but the joke wears off pretty quickly. It's a good bathroom book, best read in small doses.
Some song choices are a bit questionable, if not pure filler, I really appreciated the statistics though.
It's a fun little book, but nothing too memorable.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light-hearted look at some of the questions asked in songs. Much of the 'analysis' is only vaguely relevant, but it does highlight some of the weird things that people actually do research.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gjistig boekske

[Saba · Rating 4 out of 5]

My top three thoughts on 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?':
1. I'm a sucker for a good book cover. I'm actually one of those people that really does judge a book by the cover. I was casually going through a less popular section of my local library and came across this book. It's no surprise that this clever, simple, yet eye-catching cover caught my attention right away.
2. So, what's 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?' about? The cover says that it has serious answers to questions in songs. While some of the answers are literal, some questions have amusing and creative responses.
-See the interpretation of Spice Girls - Who do you think you are? page that connects the song to dementia.
This is overall a super fun yet somewhat educational book because of all the research that's gone into it. James Ball has a quirky sense of humor and each question is on two pages. One page has facts and research and the next page has interesting visuals to drive home Ball's point. The book is small and the pages have limited space, so there isn't any overload of information in his answers either.
3. I actually enjoyed his selection of songs and liked that he covered music of all genres and from various decades. It's best to enjoy this book in small doses so the jokes and information doesn't get lost on you.

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love silliness and I will actively pursue it, keep people in my life is they are silly and partake in anything that is in the least bit silly. It is for that reason that I really enjoyed reading Should I Stay or Should I Go. It is such a simple concept really, take a popular song and look for all the things that could be incorrect in it or that pose a question.

Genius.

This book made me look at popular music in a different way. My one issue with the book was actually a matter of research. It claims that Busted had four members in the band which it does not. It only has three. So yes, I love the silliness but I also like accuracy.

Should I Stay or Should I Go: And 87 Other Serious Answers to Questions in Songs by James Ball is available now.

[Gijs Hollebosch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dit boek moet je niet lezen om meer te ontdekken waar songs eigenlijk over gaan. Dat gebeurt maar sporadisch. Bovendien gaat het niet altijd om titels van songs waarin een vraag zit genre “When will I be Damons?”, meestal niet zelfs “I will survival - but for how long?”, “Do you give me gever?”, “Can you kill someone with a song?” Waarom die dan opnemen in dit boek? Een poging om er grappig over te schrijven, maar meestal niet erg geslaagd want flauw of vergezocht. Soms zijn er wel bekende vragen uit liedjes “Annie are you okay?” (Niet dus), “Is this burning an eternal flame?” De antwoorden daarop zijn soms wel amusant.

[Jon Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

A daft read that hits more targets than it misses - but when it does miss it’s like a poorly delivered joke failing to raise a laugh. James Ball seeks to “answer” the questions posed by famous songs such as “is there life on Mars?”, “where is my large automobile?” and “Why’d you have to go and make things to complicated?”

When he cites relevant studies, Ball hits the mark. But when the answers are barely related to the question, or simply wide of the mark, it provokes more of a deep sigh than a chuckle. But as a novelty experiment it was worth conducting - if only so no-one else now has to.

[Bjorn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun idea that raises more than one chuckle, but the joke wears very thin over ~200 pages and some of the entries feel like obvious filler. Might have been more fun if Ball had gone all-out What if? and actually applied more hard science to answering the questions. Then again, not everyone can be Randall Munroe, I guess. Ain't that a shame?

[Tim Vasil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silly fun read, in which questions posed in pop songs are answered as if they were clinical studies. Some work better than others, of course, and some of the songs were only popular in the UK, so there are a few U.S. readers won’t know. It’s a good quick read and would make a fun gift for fans of both music and humor.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

very interesting easy read. tbh never really thought about the questions in songs but I think i might start.
also I think this read was just a bunch of information I dont know if I'll ever need again but nevertheless fun to read.

I feel like I appreciate the actual meaning of songs more than the supposed what they could mean but I had a few chuckles and hmm moments.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pointless attempt to answer some of the greatest questions ever posed ("why does it always rain on me", do they "know it's Christmas time", what would happen if it was "Christmas every day" and should we really "blame it on the boogie" using science.

[Captain I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly silly, occasionally serious, avenue to lot of further research into the subjects 'discussed' by the lyricists and to sniggering and then reading out choice paragraphs to your loved ones, whether they happen to find them as amusing as you do or not!

[Raven Griffin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible. I had higher hopes for this little book but they were dashed on page one. What could have been funny and thought provoking was just churned out dribble. Sadly, I can't unread this trainwreck.

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and witty; thoroughly entertaining.

[Jane]

Not as funny or entertaining as I'd hoped.

[Sarah England · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, is a bit of a "one-trick pony", which many other reviewers have mooted, though there are some fun facts in there and the dry style is good, if wearing.

[Rudolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lekker snel te lezen met leuke feitjes

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This rather silly and perhaps redundant book is one that deserves to be read so that it doesn't need to be read again. Ball has not written a bad book per se, however it is for the most part based on a premise or construct that overstays its welcome. Yes, song lyrics can be absurd and one can make fun of them. Yes, the development of serious responses to questions posed by pop singers can be risible, especially when the thesis is abstruse or surreal, however after the first ten or so examples Ball's text loses its originality and becomes banal.

The most engaging books that exploit popular culture for comedic purposes rely on an imaginative construct with a narrative that sparks with wit and invention. Unfortunately this isn't the case with Ball's book. Perhaps the most appropriate platform or mode for the content in this book is online, either in the form of social media posts or a web site. There the brevity of the idea and the shortness of attention required for the format would make Ball's humour more enjoyable and less boring.

If this review appears to be overly critical then I must balance out the negative comments with one key observation. The invention and completion of Ball's idea re faux-academic consideration of pop song lyrics is imaginative, and whilst the delivery is not truly successful the author does deserve commendation for making the attempt.