Tuesday 12 September 06

Only two students again, Grace and Noriko.

We started by looking at Grace's blog, "To Find Where I Belong" again. She had recently posted the lyrics to the song "Irresistible" (lyrics, video) by Jessica Simpson (bio). Grace is not really a fan of Jessica Simpson, Grace had just seen an interview with Jessica on TV and was curious about her and found the lyrics to this song.

Grace asked if I like the song and I said, "Truthfully, not really: it's too generic. There's nothing special about the song."

However, I noted that sometimes a song can be a favorite because it reminds a person of a time or a memory. So an otherwise uninteresting song can have a positive connection to a person if it reminds them of something they enjoyed.


To illustrate this idea I showed Grace the video to the song "Word Up" (video) by Cameo (bio) which is not really a great song, but every time I hear it I think about the student parties at the University of Mainz when I was studying there in 1986/87.

I asked Noriko which song reminds her most of her previous stay in Seattle, when she was here for 11 months. She says it is "Beautiful" (video, lyrics) by Christina Aguilera (bio) because it was so popular at that time.

Another song Noriko identifies with her previous US trip is "Sakura" (video with subtitles) by Naotaro Moriyama (bio, website). It is traditionally a song sung for graduation from school (which happens in March in Japan), but somehow it became the soundtrack to her roadtrip from California to Las Vegas with her friend. So it also reminds her of the American landscape and scenery down in the desert.

Another pick for Grace of a song which is rooted in a time is "Only Time" (video, lyrics) by Enya (bio): it reminds Grace of the air conditioner in her classroom when she was a kid and the English teacher explaining the lyrics to the song. The teacher is/was from Seattle (he still teaches in Taipei).

With that, class ended.

Later in the evening I went to see the Children of the Revolution flamenco show at the Capitol Club; it was a special show and very full because it was the last performance before the two main players go to Spain for 6 weeks to study flamenco more. Pei Hsuan liked it so much last week that she came to this show again, her last chance before she leaves back to Taiwan on Sunday.