5 students today, three of whom were new.
Class started with discussion about the Chinese New Year (which was this past weekend), which is apparently celebrated throughout Asia except Japan. I asked if anyone has been to a concert in Seattle yet and only one, Jin, has. He saw local heroes the Presidents Of The United States Of America (PUSA) over the weekend at the Showbox. The Presidents played three nights in a row and the Showbox is my favorite place to see music (only the Paradiso in Amsterdam comes close): I'm sure it was a great show and an excellent Seattle-cultural experience. One of the local Seattle newspapers gave the concert a rave review:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/304190_presidents19q.html
And this blogger liked it, too:
http://librarian-chroniclesof.blogspot.com/2007/02/presidents.html
Speaking of good music coming to Seattle, there are many excellent shows coming up. Lots of British bands. Here's a whole list of concerts in Seattle. I am for sure going to see Kaiser Chiefs at the Showbox on April 25 (I read a rave review of their new album). One of my favorite live bands, You Am I from Australia, are playing the Crocodile Cafe on March 28. Their live show is like watching The Who back in the 70's.
For those willing to invest a whole weekend, in early May there is the Sasquatch Festival (what the word "Sasquatch" means, info about the festival) at the Gorge, 2.5 hours away from Seattle. This year's lineup of bands is great and the venue, set above the Columbia River is in an amazing setting. I have never gone over for the festival as I don't like dealing with such big crowds, but the quality of bands is so high that I think I will go this year.
Speaking of Jin, it turns out he played in a band back home in South Korea. So we started by listening to his band: "locking on Heaven's Door". Heavy music! Jin plays bass on it. I asked what the lyrics are about. He said it is about society not being open to all people, that the chorus says "open it up to all!".
For the next song one of the students wanted to continue in a rock music vein. But he likes rock music that is a little more even in its beat: not too fast but not too slow. He picked "Behind Blue Eyes" (video, lyrics) by Limp Bizkit (bio, website).
Nara didn't like the song because she said it's too sad. She doesn't like sad music because it affects her mood too strongly.
The class did not know that this song was originally written/performed by The Who. So I played some of the Who's version. Nara felt this version has much more energy and isn't as sad. It's true that the Limp Bizkit version doesn't have the energetic middle section. And of course Fred Durst can't sing like Roger Daltrey!
The next student wanted to hear "Cry On My Shoulder". I don't know a song by that name so I wasn't sure which song he meant. We searched on that name on YouTube and found this animation, which he says has the song he was thinking of as the background music. I still don't know who does the song. And I was a bit confused by the animation, as it seems to tell one story with the subtitles which don't match to the song. But the class enjoyed watching the animation.
Next up Izumi chose "Carnival" (video, lyrics) by the Cardigans (bio, website). I asked her why she chose this song and she said the style of the song reminds her of traditional Japanese songs.
As the class was coming to an end one of the students asked to hear a Sarah McLachlan (bio, website) song. I am not very familiar with her songs and had a devil of a time spelling her name so wasn't able to find many choices on YouTube. We ended up watching a video for "In The Arms Of Angels" (video, lyrics) but I think it's a video a fan put over the song.
After class was over I stopped by the library for something else and noticed a Sarah McLachlan dvd there. I picked it up and will bring it to class next week.
After a break of a few months class began again today; it is now once per week for 90 minutes at Seattle Central Community College.
For this first class I had 9 people, from Vietnam, Kuwait, Japan and Thailand. We moved desks around into a semi-circle so that everyone can see each other. The people are outgoing and I think excellent discussions will be had. But I need to have everyone write down their names on a piece of paper so I have a visual aid to help remember names...
I began the session by introducing myself, then going around the room and asking everyone to say their name, where they are from and what kind of music they like. "Pop" music is the most common type of music and that was proven by the songs selected.
When going around the group about what kind of music they like one of the guys mentioned he likes romantic music. Since it is Valentines Day and I wanted to jump straight into listening to songs and talking, I asked him which song he would like to play.
He chose "So Sick" (video, lyrics) by Ne Yo (bio, his MySpace). That was a funny choice for a person who likes romantic songs to suggest... And a funny way to start our first class, on Valentine's Day ;-) . But actually, I *like* doing things that aren't expected. So it was a good start!
The next choice was Sarah Connor (bio, website)"Just One Last Dance." (video, lyrics).
Again, an odd choice for Valentine's Day ;-) . Hmmm, I like how this group doesn't go for the obvious!
I mentioned that Ms. Connor is actually German, though her whole video is shot to look like she's a classic Middle American girl. The video opens with a shot moving over a big yard to a big old house, like I would expect to see in Ohio or something. There's even an American football game cut into the video.
Yet to my knowledge Sarah Connor is practically unknown in the US. So she's a German playing like an American to appeal to European and Asian audiences. What a funny twist.
I was unaware of it, but my class told me that Sarah is married to one of her video's co-stars, Marc Terenzi (bio, website). So next we listened to "Love To Be Loved By You" (video, lyrics). The video includes many shots of their wedding (the real thing or re-made?). I remarked that Sarah's talking about their last dance and he's dedicating his heart to her. Will this relationship last? No one in the class would try to predict the future of these two lovebirds.
Over the course of these first few songs the students said a few times that one of the main reasons they like these songs is because the lyrics were so easy to understand.
Thankfully the next student felt a need to pick a little more upbeat song and chose "Feel" (aka "Real Love") (video, lyrics) by Robbie Williams (bio, website). Again, a European who is unknown in the States whose video is an idealized fantasy of American life for the benefit of international audiences.
Next up was "Overprotected" (video, lyrics) by Britney Spears (bio, website). I asked the student who chose the song what she likes about it and she said it is mostly the beat. The lyrics are of secondary importance in this song for her. (Side note: This song was also talked about in one of my previous classes.)
I asked the students if they know that Britney Spears' reputation is very low in the US media these days. They knew about that. I explained that the media now has given her ex-husband, Kevin Federline (bio), the nickname "Fedex". I had to write out on the blackboard how that nickname was created ("Federline" + "ex-husband") and they thought it was a humorous anecdote.
Speaking of Kevin Federline, I went on to try and explain that he was featured in a commercial during the Super Bowl. I tried to explain that although the Super Bowl is the championship game for American football, it is the commercials played during the game that get the most attention. I don't think they understood; if the game is the championship, why would people pay more attention to the commercials? Well, it's an American cultural thing... Here's a link to a bunch of the Super Bowl commericals.
I explained that Federline is actually a cultural nobody and that he is only famous for being married to Britney Spears. I showed them the Super Bowl commercial with Fedex (video) in it and explained that I give him credit for being able to make fun of himself.
Next song chosen was "To Love You More" (video, lyrics) by Celine Dion (bio, website). We decided to watch the live version of the song to hear Ms. Dion's voice in all its unadorned glory. As soon as the video started the Japanese student exclaimed "That voilin player is a famous Japanese musician!"
Next up I asked the Kuwaiti students to choose a romantic song from their country. They choose this video (I don't know the name of the song nor the artist...) They said it is a song about a little girl's birthday.
To wrap things up told the class I will let them know about concerts in Seattle that they might enjoy. One of the things I like to promote is the flamenco shows put on by my friends from the band Children Of The Revolution (website) at the Capitol Club every Tuesday evening. To show them how professional the band is I showed one of their songs "Isla Margarita" (video), which features salsa dancing.
With that the class ended. I look forward to next week and hope all 9 will return -- perhaps bringing a few more friends!
