Písničkářství je stav duše - Rozhovory z let 1970-2021 – Merta Vladimír (2022)

The book of interviews with Vladimír Merta from 1970-2021 titled "Songwriting is a State of Soul" is published as a key volume in the series of his works, not just a supplementary one. It captures Merta's lively, provocative, and inspiring thinking over more than fifty years, serving as his ongoing self-portrait, a chronicle of the era, and a study material for the history of Czech folk music, poetry, society, and contemporary conditions. Vladimír Merta never censors himself in his responses; he is honest and open. Self-stylization and pathos have always been foreign to him. Two extensive indexes show that there is much to read about and many people to learn about; it is certainly not just a discussion of general matters. Merta sometimes contradicts himself, sometimes he is completely precise, and at other times he is only approximate at that moment - just as it should happen in creative thinking in a state of emergence. Within the genre of collected interviews with prominent figures in popular music, which is still not very common in our country (the exception being Karel Kryl's Interviews), but is quite common worldwide, this is one of the liveliest and most reader-attractive volumes.