17 April 2008

Theme for April 24: Children's songs.


16 Students today, including 4 new students! It's great to have so many people show up. And I am glad when I see them talking amongst themselves on the side -- the hour is about conversation, anyway!

The new students introduced themselves: name, where they are from and what kind of music they like.

For those Asian students who have an English name (as opposed to here using their name from the country where they are from) I asked how they cam to choose the English name they use. There are many answers. Often it is the parents who chose the English name. Or they choose an English name that sounds similar to their Asian name.

To start with the music I asked one of the new students, EJ, to choose a song. She likes classical music and has recently been getting into "crossover" music. She chose Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (video) played by Maksim Mrvica (bio). EJ mentioned a few times as we watched the video that she thinks Maksim is very good looking ;-)) .

Mrvica is from Croatia and I ended up explaining that my last name, Zitkovich, is also Croatian. And I told about how it was annoying when I was in school to be called Zitko-bitch by the other school kids. But all in all I didn't have a traumatic school experience and nowadays I am happy to have a unique name.


The next new student is from Colombia. Everyone in the class wanted to know who besides Shakira (bio) is popular in Colombia. Carlos chose "Me Enamora" (video) by Juanes (bio). I have never heard of Juanes but apparently I have had my head stuck in the sand -- all my international students knew about him and the video has been watched over 6.5 million(!!) times.

I asked Carlos if Juanes is a good guy and Carlos said yes, he has the impression that Juanes is a good guy. I have read his Wikipedia bio and it mentions Juanes's humanitarian work, so it does sound like his is a good guy! This was an excellent choice to introduce the class to another singer!


The next new student, Kiseo, chose Clazziquai Fiesta (song without video) by Daishi Dance, a house DJ from Japan. I can't find any biographical information about this guy!






In that song I noticed a melody similar to the main one in Tom's Diner (video) by Suzanne Vega (bio). [I saw Suzanne play here in Seattle this past Autumn -- it was a great show! You can see a video of her playing shortly afterwards in Amsterdam at www.fabchannel.com.]



As we watched that video someone commented how typical 80's the dancing was. I said that the most typical 80's dancing in my view is "U can't touch this" (video) by MC Hammer (bio). It's amazing how much money that guy burned through: he had $33 million and wasted it *all* until he had to claim bankruptcy (definition).


Everyone in class knows that song by MC Hammer, but I just had to ask if they knew the "original" version of that song: Super Freak (video) by Rick James (bio). None of them knew that MC Hammer had really just re-worked an existing song from 1981. And they were a little shocked by the tawdry (definition) nature of the video. Read the Rick James bio to see what a sad fate he also had. Note to self: I think the song "Super Freak" brings bad luck to anyone who sings it...

Next up we watched a video from a Chinese artist. But all the YouTube keywords were in Chinese and now I can't find it to link to :-(( . I noted that the video was posted by someone named "rainie777" but that person has 827 videos posted and I can't find the one we watched from all those videos!

The next choice was "Goodbye My Lover (live)" (video, lyrics) by James Blunt (bio). The student who chose this song specifically wanted the "live" version because he says it is much more emotionally performed than the "studio" version from the album.

The conversation moved to Blunt's other big hit "You're Beautiful" (video, lyrics). Some of the students didn't realize how the song is about longing.

Speaking of misunderstood songs, I mentioned (as I have in previous classes) that the song "Every Breath You Take" (video, lyrics) by The Police (bio) is actually a song about controlling another person. People play it at their weddings because they think the lyrics about being together with their loved one are sweet, but in fact the song is exactly opposite -- it's about control, not love!

I asked Marianna if she is going to a concert soon. She will go see Eyes Set To Kill (MySpace, official website). As an example of their music she chose the song "Darling" (video, lyrics).






The next song was "I don't wanna know" (video, lyrics) by Mario Winans (bio). The students had some questions about the lyrics mean, like what "playin' me" (="don't play me for a fool") and "keep it on the low" (="don't talk about it").




The next song chosen was "Hysteria" (video, lyrics) by Muse (bio). Jay said he tried to learn this bass part but it is too difficult. I should have pointed him to a transcription of the bass tabulature for the song.





A lot of people who like Muse also like Jeff Buckley (bio). Jeff is considered one of the best rock singers in the 1990's yet he tragically died at age 31. To show an example of his singing I showed two videos: "Hallelujah" (video, lyrics) to show his vocals and "Grace" (video, lyrics) to show he could rock out, too (hence the appeal to Muse fans).


The last song of the day was "Walking Away" (video, lyrics) by Craig David (bio). I personally like the use of the vocoder on his vocals on the song. I had the tune stuck in my head for a few hours after class!






Theme for the next class (April 24): Children's songs.