“I Wanna See It Boil”: Satire as Eco-Political Performance in Talking Heads’s “(Nothing But) Flowers” (1988) and Anohni’s “4 Degrees” (2015)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

See attached.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

See attached.

Author Response

Please find attached a document detailing how I have addressed each of the reviewer's concerns in my revised manuscript. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

A complex and convincing study which leaves us stuck in a situation that seems impossible to change: At line 49 the verb "has" should be "have."

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I listed the one about subject and predicate agreement in number at line 49. I might have said that "nevertheless" is misspelled at line 244. And I suppose I could have said that words like "polysemous," "epideictic," and "disingenuous" may not be in some readers' vocabularies, but that's not a methodological flaw. It's the reader's responsibility.   

Author Response

Thank you for your positive review of my article. On the recommendation of a different reviewer language services have been employed, which will have hopefully smoothed out spelling and concord issues. 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is an outstanding and timely article that makes an original and thought-provoking contribution to the intersection of ecocriticism, popular music studies, and rhetorical theory. Your comparative analysis of Talking Heads’ “(Nothing But) Flowers” and ANOHNI’s “4 Degrees” demonstrates an exceptional capacity to explore how satire operates within song lyrics and musical performance to engage audiences in a critical reassessment of environmental themes. The use of close listening is rigorous and insightful, and your integration of rhetorical concepts such as the “satiric frame of mind” and the epideictic function of lyrics provides a robust theoretical foundation for your interpretations. The polyphonic analysis of Talking Heads and the performance-focused reading of ANOHNI are both convincing and nuanced, allowing readers to appreciate the layers of irony, affect, and ambiguity in these songs. The article is well-structured and elegantly written, maintaining conceptual clarity while addressing the complexities of satire, musical irony, and audience reception. I would only suggest slightly expanding the conclusion, to underscore the broader implications of your findings and perhaps hint at future directions in the study of eco-political performance in music. That said, the article as it stands is of publishable quality and represents a valuable scholarly contribution.

Author Response

Thank you for this encouraging review of my article! While it seems to me that you were focused on the main argument and appreciated the particular combination of theory and analysis, another reviewer had some strong concerns regarding one of the song analyses. This has lead to some changes in the article, most notably an extension of the analysis section. On account of this, I have decided not to expand the conclusion, keeping the article at a managable length, even though I agree that broader implications could have been included. 

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Good revisions.