The Fall Quarter is coming to an end -- only one more class after today before breaking until January -- and many students have finals to prepare for. Only 5 students came today, although one was new!
One of the students had told us a few weeks ago that he had bought an acoustic guitar. This week he brought it to class! Naturally we asked him to play his favorite song!
First he played "Tears In Heaven" (video, lyrics, song info) by Eric Clapton (info).
Then he played the John Lennon (info) version of "Stand By Me" (video, lyrics, song info). You can contrast the John Lennon version with the original version (video) by Ben E. King (info).
It was great having the student bring his guitar in and play for us, thank you!!
Someone mentioned that Pearl Jam (info) was playing a concert in Seattle this week. So we talked for a while about Pearl Jam and the Seattle music scene in the 90's. (Here's a review of the concert.)
Then we watched "Stray Heart" (video, lyrics, song info) by Green Day (info). I had never heard this Green Day song. That bass line reminded me of a hit song from a long time ago, but I couldn't place it!
Someone suggested it is similar to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" (video, lyrics, song info) by Jet (info), but that wasn't it exactly...
During class I could never figure out the song I was looking for with the similar bass line but after class one of the students emailed me with the song: "You Can't Hurry Love" (video, lyrics, song info) by Phil Collins (info). I'm so glad she solved that question for me, it was driving me crazy!
Back to the bass line of "Stray Heart"... it reminded me of an old song by a classic American band from the 1980's: "Stray Cat Strut" (video, lyrics, song info) by the Stray Cats (info).
As I wrote this blog post I found out that the bass line for "Stray Cat Strut" was inspired by a cartoon about a guy who can't get rid of a cat: "The Cat Came Back" (video).
A student recognized *that* bass line in *another* Green Day song: "Hitchin' A Ride" (video, lyrics, song info).
The next song chosen was "Wake Me Up" (video, lyrics, song info) by Avicii (info). The student who chose this song likes every single lyric in the song!!
Speaking of lyrics which mean a lot, the last song chosen for the day was "My Grown Up Christmas List" (video with lyrics, song info) by Kelly Clarkson (info).
With that class was over for the day. Next week will be the last class before we day a break for a few weeks. Theme for the last class: Songs about winter or Christmas. Or any current favorite song.
I didn't assign a theme for today. Only 6 students came.
The first song was "River" (video with lyrics in the notes, song info) by Joni Mitchell (info). The student who chose this song discovered it by reading reviews of how great her album "Blue" (info) was. As we talked about last week, at first he didn't like her voice, but now he does.
Because this week was the Thanksgiving holiday in the US we talked about family gatherings in the students' home countries and whether the students enjoy spending time with the family or whether it is stressful.
Somehow that conversation got me to thinking about how children get money and I asked each student if they got an "allowance" (money the parents give their children each week or month) when they were young. And I asked if they had to work for their allowance, or if it was just given to them. It was interesting to hear their stories.
Back to music: the next song was "Empty" (video, lyrics, song info) by Ray Lamontagne (info). The student who chose this song knows it from the movie Detachment (info). The song was used in the movie in a long scene that makes it like a music video.
I noted that the two songs we had listened to so far were sad songs. I mentioned that I like sad songs. And that I like the Smashing Pumpkins (info) song that has the lyric "I'm in love with my sadness"; "Zero" (video with lyrics, song info).
The theme for the day was now "sad songs" so the next song was "Fade To Black" (video, lyrics, song info) by Metallica (info).
This was followed by "The Fletcher Memorial Home" (video, lyrics, song info) by Pink Floyd (info). This song is depressing and also a political statement of the times. The student who chose it feels that rock bands should often be political and anti-government.
Because we had talked so much about family holidays and the tradition of children getting an "allowance" that was all the music we had time for this class!
The theme for today's class was "songs used in commercials or on tv". 11 students came.
The first song was "Mermaid Song" (video) by Sarah Khider, which the student had first seen in this Chivas Regal commercial.
The next was an Asahi beer commercial, with the song "Aerial Life" by Tomoya Nagase (info). Unfortunately I can't find a clip of the original song. So just enjoy the 15 seconds of it with the guy expressing his enjoyment of the beer by yelling. By the way, none of us could understand why the guy in this commercial is eating an tomato before taking a drink of beer. But since it obviously makes the beer taste so much better (judging by the guy's reaction), I am going to start eating tomatoes with my beer.
Trying to find the song of Tomoya Nagase I ended up watching him on this tv show. I don't really get the humor and it kind of looked like torture for the poor guy.
The next song was "Change The World" (video, lyrics, song info) by Eric Clapton (info). We weren't sure exactly which commercial this song had been used for, but it's been used for more than one.
Speaking of Eric Clapton, one student said he first heard one of Clapton's most famous songs, Layla (video, lyrics, song info) in a commercial for Mitsubishi cars.
The next song was by "I'd Rather Be High" (video, lyrics, song info) David Bowie (info), which was used in a Louis Vuitton commercial, starring Mr. Bowie himself. I mentioned to the class that my goal is to look as good at 60 year old as Bowie did.
Speaking of Bowie, not aging and commercials, he did a commercial using his song "Never Get Old" for Vittel bottled water which clearly played off his youthful looks (he was 56 at the time).
The next song was "Yesterday Once More" (video with lyrics, song info) by The Carpenters (info). Unfortunately I can't remember the connection of the choice of this song to a commercial. I did mention at the end of this song that most Americans consider the Carpenters as a very cheesy group.
My "cheesy" comment inspired a student to ask if I think the song "Take My Breath Away" (video with lyrics, song info) by Berlin (info) is cheesy. Well, in my opinion it is *not* cheesy. Others may dispute that position, however ;-)
As an example of a cheesy song I chose "My Heart Will Go On" (video, lyrics, song info) by Celine Dion (info), which drew gasps of indignation from the class: apparently they love this song!
But hey, I'm not the one who decides which songs are cheesy and not cheesy in the world! :-)
Next I did an experiment: I played a song I thought one student would like -- "Wuthering Heights" (video, lyrics, song info) by Kate Bush (info). No one liked it at all! I guess I can understand that. I told the class that when I first heart Kate Bush I *hated* her voice, but at some point I understood it's quality and now I love Kate!
I didn't play this song in class but I think this is one of the sweetest love songs: Kate wrote it for her son, Bertie (video with lyrics in the notes, song info). You can feel from the lyrics, especially the last stanza, how much she loves that boy!
I had the same initial reaction to Tom Waits (info) as to Kate Bush -- I couldn't stand to hear his voice at the beginning, but now I love it. As an example of a Tom Waits song I played "16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought Six" (video, lyrics, song info).
The next song was "Money" (video with lyrics in the notes, song info) by Pink Floyd (info). Apparently those distinctive first notes of this song are used in many Japanese tv shows.
Somehow we got onto the topic of what is "soul music". It's very hard to define "soul music"! Here's how Wikipedia defines soul music.
One student suggested the song "10,000 Reasons" (video, lyrics, song info) by Matt Redman (info) as a soul song. That's true -- he is singing from his heart and soul!
And with that class was over for the day.
9 students today.
As usual I started by asking if anyone had any music-related adventures this past week. One student had gone to a used CD store and bought a lot of CDs, but no one had seen any live music.
Speaking of live music I mentioned that on Saturday I was going to see a concert by Andy Allo (website), who has played with Prince (info). I actually don't know her music and played the first clip of her I could find: "People Pleaser" (video). That's a cool song, but the concert I was going to was just Andy playing solo with an acoustic guitar, more like this: "Yellow Gold" (video).
One student said he is really excited that Paul Simon (info) will play a concert, opening for Sting (info) in Seattle on 19 February 2014.
I can't remember why we played a Sting song at this point rather than a Paul Simon song, but we listened to "Shape Of My Heart" (video, lyrics, song info).
The next song chosen was along the theme of the day: "One hit wonders". The song was "Look At You Girl" (video, lyrics, song info) by Chris Ledoux (info). I think it's cool that international students can hear American music with fresh ears and without any judgement. Many Americans tend to have a love-or-hate relationship with country music. Many Americans just don't like country music. It's hard to explain why; here's a blog post which tries to explain it. It's very common in Seattle for a person to say "I like every kind of music except country and opera." Sounds like a quote from me...
The next song chosen was "Have A Nice Day" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bon Jovi (info). The student who chose it likes it because it's about loving life.
The next song was another one-hit-wonder: "There She Goes" (video, lyrics, song info) by The La's (info). The student who chose this song likes it because The La's influenced many of his current favorite bands. The La's only released one album, but he (and many music fans and critics) feel it's a great album.
The next song was "Enter Sandman" (video, lyrics, song info) by Metallica (info). Most people in the class already know this song so I asked why it's a "one hit wonder" for her and she said she doesn't know any other Metallica songs, she only knows this one. Which is fair enough -- for her it's a one hit wonder!
Because "Enter Sandman" is about nightmares I asked around the class if anyone has dreamt in English. Some have, some have not. I asked what the situation in the dreams were where they were dreaming in English. Very interesting answers!
The next song was "Bad Day" (video, lyrics, song info) by Daniel Powter (info). The student who picked this song said the song and the lyrics pick him up. He mentioned it was used in a Japanese commercial.
Speaking of commercials, that reminded me that Sting had a hit with the song "We'll Be Together" (video, lyrics, song info) but he had originally written the song as a "job" for Kirin beer: the company paid him a ton of money to write a song that included the lyric "together", so he wrote the song, made a lot of cash from Kirin *plus* had a hit single in the charts. That Sting sure knows how to maximize his writing talent! Here's the Kirin beer commercial that was shown in Japan for the song.
The next one hit wonder was "What's Up" (video, lyrics, song info) by 4 Non Blondes (info). That's a perfect choice for the theme! I mentioned that the singer for 4 Non Blondes, Linda Perry (info) is now very influential from producing hit records by Christina Aguilera and Pink among many other female artists.
If you've been reading this blog for the past weeks you are asking yourself "Why wasn't there a Wiz Khalifa song this week?" Well, there was: "Roll Up" (video, lyrics, song info). This was the first Wiz Khalifa (info) song our friend ever heard by his favorite rapper.
With that we ran out of time for the day. I like the theme of "songs used in commercials or on tv" so that is the theme for next class.
10 students today, + 1 song sent in by email!
Today there was no theme -- I just asked students to share the songs they have been listening to lately.
As usual I started class by asking if anyone had any "musical adventures" during the past week. One student said she heard one of the most beautiful songs she has ever heard played by the piano player at Nordstrom. The song was "Chuckanutt Drive" (video) by Joseph Rojo (Facebook page).
I asked the student what items she was shopping for and she said her friends were shopping for shoes. I told the class that as a guy, I just don't get womens' obsession with shopping for shoes and bags...
The next song was from our friend who always chooses a Wiz Khalifa (info) song. This time it's the song Wiz does with Miley Cyrus (info): "23" (video, lyrics, song info).
I mentioned something about Miley's father and most of the class did not realize her father, Billy Ray Cyrus (info) had a big hit back in the 90's: "Achy Breaky Heart" (video, lyrics, song info). This song had a cheesy dance that went with is (you can see it in the video). It was a one-hit-wonder, which means he never had any other hits in his career. But he did have Miley, who is keeping America entertained [groan].
The next song was "Counting Stars" (video, lyrics, song info) by OneRepublic (info). Nice song! The student who chose it has simply been listening to it a lot lately. We talked about how this song is about being young and wondering which path a person's life will take.
The next song was "Cool Guys Don't Look At Explosions" (video, lyrics, song info) by The Lonely Island (info). The students were laughing before I played this video so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it is a funny parody.
That parody inspired the next choice: "The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)" (video, lyrics, song info) by Ylvis (info). The student who chose this song had heard it while driving in the car and he used Shazam (website) to find out the name of the song. It cracks him up (="makes him laugh a lot").
The next song chosen was "Angel" (video, lyrics, song info) by Sarah McLachlan (info). The student who chose this song had also heard it in her car for the first time. She was driving home and the song came on and she loved it so much she kept playing it over and over, driving around her neighborhood, not going home. This song is kind of the opposite part of life from "Counting Stars" by OneRepublic.
The next song was chosen by a student who was not in class today. He had sent me an email before class saying he couldn't attend class, but he wanted to suggest a song. So we played it: "Just The Way I Am Feeling" (video, lyrics, song info) by Feeder (info). I read his explanation for why he chose it to the class. Here it is:
"There are two reasons why I'm listening to this song. The first reason is simply because I found out this band recently (specifically, about 2 months ago, before I came to Seattle). The second reason is because I thought this song is perfect. The harmony of melody, lyrics, vocal and backing chorus seemed to be so beautiful and perfect for me. These kind of songs are really good refreshment for my ear, which frequently listening to fast, loud and noisy music!"
The next song was "The Breeze" (video, lyrics, song info) by Dr. Dog (info). The student who chose this song said he likes it because the lyrics are very poetic, the harmonies are great, like the Beatles, and the song picks him up.
The next song was from one of the new students today: "Open Arms" (video, lyrics, song info) by Journey (info). The student who chose this song said he sang it once in a talent competition! Very impressive! I mentioned that there is a movie out about the new singer for Journey, who is from the Philippines. The movie is called "Don't Stop Believin'" (info). I'd like to see it some time.
The next song was "Whatever Happens" (video with lyrics, song info) by Michael Jackson (info). I had never heard this song, but I like it!
The last song of the day was back to Miley Cyrus, this time "We Can't Stop" (video, lyrics, song info). Today's class gave me enough Miley Cyrus to last for a year.
Inspired by Miley's father, the theme for the next class is "one hit wonders" -- bands that only ever had one hit. An alternative is "songs where I like only this one song from this band, all the others I don't like". As always, of course, you can share any song with the class that you have been thinking about lately.
The day before Halloween -- today's theme was "candy" and "scary songs". Spoiler alert: the last video we watched was Thriller! 5 students today -- a small class.
I started the class by playing a couple of American "classic" Halloween songs: "Monster Mash" (video, lyrics, song info) and "The Time Warp" (video, lyrics, song info). The latter is from the movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (info), which is an underground favorite of young people across America. People love that movie and it is traditionally shown at midnight in a theater and the audience come dressed like the characters in the film. I have always wanted to take my students to see it, but haven't been able to coordinate it yet. One day I'll show my students this uniquely American experience!
However, none of the students today were very impressed with either of those two songs. So I quickly asked them which songs they had in mind.
The first song was the "Piano Duet" (video, song info) from the movie "The Corpse Bride" (info). That was a good choice!
It reminded me of the animation in the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (info), which is by the same director. We watched the song "This Is Halloween" (video, lyrics, song info) from that movie.
We then talked for a while about traditions in the students' countries for honoring dead relatives.
I asked the class if they like scary movies. Most of the class are not big fans of scary movies. But they said Japan makes great scary movies, like Ring (video, info). The Japanese movies are scary because they build tension, which is a different kind of scary than American movies which seem to rely on blood.
The next song chosen was "Cemetery Gates" (video with lyrics, song info) by The Smiths (info). The student who chose this song said he likes how it is about the lives of all people in a cemetery, as opposed to being sad they are no longer living. I personally love visiting cemeteries for that reason: I think of all the lives there within my sight.
The next song was "Beheaded" (video with lyrics, song info) by The Offspring (info). This was a great choice for Halloween! But it's pretty gross! I only know the hits by The Offspring (ex. "Pretty Fly For A White Guy" (video, lyrics, song info) and didn't know they had such a hard song.
The last video of the day was, naturally, "Thriller" (video, lyrics, song info) by Michael Jackson (info). We've all seen that video a thousand times and the beginning can be a bit boring so we skipped to the zombie dance, which *never* gets boring! :-)
With that class was over for the day. I look forward to hearing what adventures the class had over Halloween. Theme for next week's class is... no theme -- let's just listen to any songs you have been listening to lately!
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