26 February 2014 (Wednesday)

Today 6 students came to share their songs on the theme "Songs I Like But My Parents (Would) Hate".

As is custom I started by asking if anyone had any musical adventures from the past week. One student had visited a record fair on my recommendation, but he said it was mostly vinly lps, not many cds... sorry about that!!

The only other musical adventure of the week was me plus two students from class -- we had gone to the SAM Remix party at the Seattle Art Museum. It was really fun, as always. The next SAM Remix is 6 June -- I highly recommend putting that date in your calendars -- let's get a group of people to go!!

The first song chosen for our theme was "Don't Look Back In Anger" (video, lyrics, song info) by Oasis (info). The student who chose it said her parents wouldn't like it because they don't like rock band music.

Another student is a HUGE Oasis fan and he said his favorite version of this song is an acoustic version, so we watch a minute of that version (video) to see how it is different.

The next song chosen was "Seven Days" (video, lyrics, song info) by Craig David (info). The student said he likes the guitar in this song, but his parents wouldn't like that he sings too quickly: they prefer slower tempo. And the parents are also pretty traditional and wouldn't like that the song is about sex.

The next song was pretty provocative: "I Kill Children" (video, lyrics, song info) by Dead Kennedys (info). It's pretty obvious why *most* parents wouldn't like this song! Interestingly he said his parents don't speak English very well so the problem isn't that they would understand the lyrics. But if they did understand the lyrics, it would definitely be a problem! The student came to like this song once he understood the politics behind it: for this album the Dead Kennedys took the role of the bad side of US society; it's meant as a social commentary, not a true statement of what the band themselves think.

Based on "I Kill Children" I asked the class if they know the song "I Don't Like Mondays" (video, lyrics, song info). One student has heard that song. It was a big hit in the 1980's and was based on a true story in the US of a woman who lived across the street from an elementary school and one Monday just started shooting at the children across the street. When asked why she did it she just answered "I don't like Monday's". Sometimes truth is more awful than fiction.

The next song chosen was "Cats In The Cradle" (video with lyrics, song info) by Harry Chapin (info). This song is sad for how the father doesn't have time for his son. But the son wants to be like his father. And perhaps he ends up doing the same thing with his own son...

The next song was "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" (video, lyrics, song info) by Pink Floyd (info). The part of the song the student who chose it likes the most is the screaming. He told about how he was playing it at home and his mother yelled at him that he should listen to more positive music :-) 

One student hadn't received the email with the theme for the week so she just chose the first English song she ever learned: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (video, song info and lyrics).

The last song of the day was "Shoot To Thrill" (video, lyrics, song info) by AC/DC (info). I think it's obvious why her parents would not like this racket!

Something about that AC/DC song reminded of the movie Spinal Tap (info). I asked the class if they have ever seen that movie. No one had!! It's a classic movie which makes fun of rock bands. Every rock band in America and UK has watched this film numerous times and people make references to it all the time, like "Turn it up to 11!" (clip from the movie). I have watched this movie at least 20 times!

A bonus song! Last week one of the students chose "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen. It turns out that song was performed at the Oscars this past Sunday (video). Here is the Oscar's performance. But there is another video of that song that many people have been sharing on YouTube: Idina Menzel singing with Jimmy Fallon and his band playing children's instruments! (video).

I don't have a theme for next week. We'll see what songs people are thinking of!

By the way, there will only be two more classes this quarter: 5 & 12 March. We will take a break and continue again in April.