20 June 2012 (Wednesday)

Today was the first class of the Summer Quarter.  I wasn't sure how many students would even show up... but it was a good group: 11 students, 5 of whom were there for the first time!

I knew that many of my students from the previous quarter had gone on road trips during the break between quarters.  So I started by asking what the music that accompanied their travels was.

The first song was "We Are Young" (video, lyrics, song info) by fun. (info). This song is currently a big hit in America plus the songs is about being young(!), so it's a natural choice for a Spring/Summer 2012 road trip.  I can imagine it playing in the car many times as the students drove around.

(In a previous class we compared this original version of the song with the one done on the Glee tv program.)

The next song was "Beez In The Trap" (video, lyrics, song info) by Nicky Minaj (info). Honestly, I couldn't follow the lyrics of what Ms. Minaj is trying to tell us about in the song.  The student who chose the song said she doesn't know what the song is about, either, she just heard it often on the radio.

Now I asked one of the new students to pick a song so we could hear what kinds of music the new students like.  The choice was "The Climb" (video, lyrics, song info) by Miley Cyrus (info).  The student who chose this song says he likes how the lyrics are about reaching for goals.

I have a personal favorite song on that theme: "Foot Of The Mountain" (video, lyrics, song info) by Paul Weller (info).  My favorite part of that song is the stanza "At the foot of the mountain / Such a long way to climb / How will I ever get up there? / But I know I must try."  When I am in difficult situations I often sing those lines to myself.

I told the class that Miley Cyrus is the daughter of a man, Billy Ray Cyrus (info) who had a huge hit in the 1980's: Achy Breaky Heart (video, lyrics, song info). This song and the linedance that goes with it (see the video) is one of the songs that belongs to the whole culture of the 80's in the US.

I didn't mention it in class, but for students who like good lyrics, a little bit of country music and a strong woman singer, there is a singer from Seattle, Brandi Carlile (info) who just released a new album, Bear Creek (video introduction to the album).  Brandi is gaining popularity in the US each year and I think she will become even bigger with this new album.  Watch out for her name this summer!

Next I asked another of the new students for a song.  He said he usually likes heavy metal, but that for this class he would chose "Devil's Dance Floor" (video with lyrics, song info) by Flogging Molly (info). 

[I reminded the class that we will listen to any music in this class, so don't be afraid to suggest heavy metal songs!] 

Now we went back to a song from the road trips.  Next song chosen was "What Makes You Beautiful" (video, lyrics, song info) by One Direction (info).  The student who chose this song heard it for the first time on the road trip; he was looking at the Billboard 100 chart and saw the song title and thought it looked interesting. Although the guys in the video look like California boys, I was surprised to earn that One Direction is actually a British boy band! Like the song "We Are Young", I think this song will be one of the most popular songs across America this summer.

The next song chosen was "Secrets" (video, lyrics, song info) by OneRepublic (info).  The student chose it because it is used in a movie she likes, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (info).  

Speaking of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, that short film is one of my favorite Disney animations (video).

Another song chosen by a new students was "Last Friday Night (TGIF)" (video, lyrics, song info) by Katy Perry (info).  The student who chose this song said that when she is sad this song picks her up.

One of the other students said she thinks that Katy Perry needs to improve her singing voice; in the studio they can use tricks like Autotune (info) but she had heard Katy sing live once and Katy's voice didn't sound very good. To test this we watched a live clip of Katy singing "Hot N Cold (on Letterman)" (video, lyrics, song info).

Since Ms. Perry obviously is not the best singer around we asked ourselves in the class how she got so famous.  My theory, from reading the info on her in Wikipedia, is that because she is from Nashville, one of the centers of the music industry in America, she was noticed by some music industry people who thought she is cute and that they could make her a pop star.  And now she is!  That's my theory.  Katy, you can write us at this blog if you want to offer a different explanation.

At this point I explained to the class that it is part of American culture to have "variety shows" on late-night tv.  Traditionally, at 11pm there is a 1/2 hour news broadcast, and at 11:30pm there are "late-night variety shows" which always follow this formula:


1/ The host tells some jokes
2/ The host interviews two celebrities
3/ At the end of the show a music band plays (this is where the Katy Perry clip comes from).

The two most famous late night shows are Jay Leno (show info, in Seattle on channel 5) and David Letterman (show info, in Seattle on channel 7).

I asked another new student to pick a song that he likes.  He chose "Faint" (video, lyrics, song info) by Linkin Park (info).  One of the other students said this song is very popular in Korea.  I would like to know why the song is called "faint" since I don't see the word used in the song nor do I see an obvious connection to one of its definitions. 

The last song of the day was "Another Sunny Day" (video, lyrics, song info) by Belle & Sebastian (info).  It was chosen for simply being a good summer song!




This was a good start to the summer quarter.  I am glad to see the familiar faces of my students from last quarter and I am glad to meet the new students.  See you all next Wednesday (27 June)!