Topic 1 (session B) - Levels of language: Linguistic levels, style & meaning > Levels of language & pop group names > The Rolling Stones

Levels of language & pop group names

Analysis of the popgroup name, The Rolling Stones

This pop group name shows that, as with book titles and proper nouns, each of the lexically full words in longer group names will have initial capitals.

Grammatically the name is a normal noun phrase (definite article + participial adjective plus head noun). But there are interesting effects in terms of intertextuality and meaning.

The name of the group will allude, for most people, to the proverb 'a rolling stone gathers no moss) and, for the cognoscenti, to a pop song ('Like a Rolling Stone') by Bob Dylan, a beat-style folk singer who the group admired. These allusions bring in associations with people who do not settle down but move continually on to new places and new experiences.

Lexically, 'rolling' also connects with the kind of music the group were well known for 'rock and roll', and this, in turn, helps us to perceive a pun on the word 'stones'. Stones and rocks are quasi-synonyms, thus reinforcing the associations of hardness and refusal to compromise and, at the same time, the identity of the group as a rock and roll band.

Home ¦ Outline ¦ Contents ¦ Glossary