From Seven Drunken Nights (1967) by the Dubliners to The Rocker (1973) by Thin Lizzy, My Perfect Cousin by the Undertones (1980), National Express by The Divine Comedy (1998) and Beautiful Day by U2 in 2000, a new book by two academics explores Ireland's changing culture through songs by Irish bands. Beautiful Day: 40 Years of Irish Rock , written by Gerry Smyth, a lecturer in cultural history at Liverpool John Moores University and Sean Campbell a lecturer at Anglia Polytechnic University, includes 41 short essays on an Irish popular song from each year between 1964 and 2004. Dr Smyth said: 'There's a crucial relationship between a society's popular music and its wider social, cultural, and political make-up.' The book is published by Cork University Press