21 January 2021 (Thursday)

Today I was joined by three students to talk about "The first song or album you ever bought (or listened to repeatedly)".

Of those three students, one was new to our group! She is originally from Italy, now living near Seattle.

She likes likes pop music all the way from 70's, 80's to current, but doesn't like country music nor old western music. 

I asked for an example of music she likes, and she chose "Accanto a te" (video with lyrics) by Alberto Urso (info).

Because none of us speak Italian, she explained that it is a romantic song where the singer expresses his feelings for a girl. He tells her he wants to be "next to you", which means he wants to be there more often for her and put time and effort into their relationship.

The student discovered Alberto from the Italian TV servies "Amici di Maria De Filippi" (info) where young people are taught to master their singing abilities. Alberto won the series he was on.

As we talked I realized I had not seen the Lady Gaga (info) performance of the USA National Anthem at the Presidential Inauguration earlier in the week. So we watched it.

One student said he used to listen to Lady Gaga while preparing for University exams. He listened to her to get energy.

 

 

As we were watching videos on YouTube, someone noticed that in my YouTube history list was the song "Somebody I Used To Know" (video, lyrics, song info) by Gotye (info). 

I had watched that video for the first time in many years recently. I always thought it is a cool video. But in the past week I had heard the song *without* the video for the first time ever, and I realized that my association with the song is so strongly tied to the video, that I had to go back and watch the video. That is why it was in my history list.

We branched off from music for a moment as one student asked the Italian student if she has ever visited the Vatican (info). She had visited it, and told us about it and Rome in general.

I can't remember the exact reason how we got from that topic to "The Lazy Song" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bruno Mars (info), but we did. 

I asked each student when the last time they had a lazy day like this where they did nothing. The answer was, "a few days ago", with one student saying she is making a habit of having lazy days in her schedule, to consciously slow life down a bit.

 

Finally we needed to talk about first songs we bought or listened to regularly!

For one student is was the "Frozen" album (info). As an example of this album we listened to the song "Let It Go" (video with lyrics, song info). This video has over 2 billion views!!

As he told us about his memories of this song, I learned that in Taiwan, by default in movie theaters for American films, the audio is in original English with Mandarin subtitles. I was surprised to hear that they don't dub the audio into Mandarin, but this is good for learning English!

For the next student, her first album was by Blonde (info) by Frank Ocean (info).

She loved Frank Ocean's music and had waited 4 years for him to put out a new album. She bought it digitally. She was earning her own money so she could buy it. She had to pay $15 to buy it on iTunes, but it was worth the money and the wait :-)

To this day she still plays song from this album almost every other day. As an example of a song from the album, we listened to "White Ferrari" (video with lyrics). 

She explained that the whole album follows the story of his first love. This song is about driving his boyfriend to the airport in a white ferrari.

With that, our time for the day was up! 

But here's a bonus contribution, sent to me via email by one of the students who usually participates, but couldn't make it this week. This is his email:

* * * 

Here's the song from the very first album I bought with my money. It's "Catch The Wave" (video with lyrics) by Def Tech (info), a Japanese hip hop/reggae duo.

I remember me buying the album in 2006, when I was only 12. It was the time when I graduated from a grade school and entered a junior high school. Commuting time to the school has changed from 30 seconds to 40 minutes, which means that I had to use a train. It was the time when I was more free than I used to be, thus feeling more mature. For me buying a CD with "my money" was such an adult thing to do, while that "money" actually consisted of lunch money.

I was listening to the album either through my old boombox in my room or a portable CD player with cheap earphones (I didn't have a fancy portable MP3 player back then). It was my first experience of carrying around the music everywhere I go, even though the school prohibited bringing in such devices. That feeling of breaking the law also made me feel more mature.

The reason I bought the album was because I heard the song on a TV show and I liked it. I repeated the heck out of the album including the song, which damaged the CD a little bit and now some songs are unplayable. The plastic CD case is shattered and cracked as well, which is now barely functioning as a case.

Now you might notice that the song is not rock at all, but this is because I bought this album before my musical taste was solidified. After all, I don't regret those days at all; the song always makes me reminisce about summer of 2006, the good ol' time when every single experience was fresh, new and enlightening. BTW now I've been listening to more hip hop/R&B stuff for several years, so I guess people can change over time.

P.S. That 30 second thing above is true! The grade school is literally in front of my house. 

* * *

Lastly, I didn't have time to introduce the first song I ever bought during the class. I actually can't remember that far back! There were songs I loved as a child, but those were from my parents' albums. What was the first song or album I ever bought on my own?...

I think it was "Damaged" (album info) by Black Flag (info). I think I had heard the song "TV Party" (video, lyrics), which I thought was funny, on the UW radio station KCMU (info).

The album had a sticker on the cover which said, "As a parent ... I found it an anti-parent record". In my rebellious youth, I thought that was really cool.

My favorite song was "Rise Above" (video, lyrics). I like the energy with which he talks about overcoming obstacles.

The topic for next week's conversation: Songs about snow.

14 January 2021 (Thursday)

Today's topic was "Protest Songs", inspired by the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday in the US on 18 January.

The discussion turned out to be great! -- there was so much thought put into the explanations for the songs chosen! 

I was also aspecial occasion to see another former student join us! He is now back in Mexico City. But it meant that today we had participants from Seattle, Tokyo and Mexico City. While I miss the in-person conversations, I am happy that we can gather from the four corners of the world online :-)

Before we started talking about protest songs, I reminisced about watching the infamous Seahawks Super Bowl loss with the Mexican student back in February 2015. It was at my favorite "dive bar" in Seattle: Targy's on Queen Anne (website).

 

I had to explain what a "dive bar" is (definition), then the Japanese student told about us "izakaya" bars in Japan which are their equivalents of dive bars. Info on izakaya bars.

The Taiwanese student said they use the term "izakaya", but in Taiwan is it a regular Japanese restaurant with ramen and sushi; it is a place where business people go.

The students from different countries started asking each other about the types of alcohol in their home countries, especially what sake is like. We weren't talking about music, but that's ok -- the point of the group is to practice speaking conversational English!

To end this part of the discussion, I mentioned that since people in the US tend to drink a lot of alcohol during December, a lot of people don't drink any alcohol during the month of January. It's called "Dry January" (information).

Now on to protest songs!

The first song was "你敢有聽著咱唱歌 (Do You Hear The People Sing)" (video with lyrics). 

The student explained that in 2004 a soldier in Taiwan as mistreated and he died from his injuries, which resulted in the civil population speaking out for more transparency from the army. They said that if there was not transparency from the army and the government, the people would be like slaves.

Because the voices in the song are not shouting loudly, I asked the student if one can hear in their voices that the people are angry. He said, yes, you can hear that they are very angry; he said that in Taiwan slogans are more persuasive than shouting.

The next song was "American Jesus" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bad Religion (info). 

The student who chose this song likes punk rock music, which means he had many choices of songs for today's theme. He was introduced to Bad Religion by his English teacher when he was young, but he didn't understand what this song was about until he learned English better.

In short, it is a criticism of President Bush who said something to the effect that "We will win the Gulf War because God is on our side."

Often the members of punk bands are considered uneducated people just complaining, but the singer for Bad Religion, Greg Gaffin (info) has a PhD and is a professor! Bad Religion is intellectual punk rock!

The next song was "EZLN" (video, Wikipedia on EZLN).

This song is about the uprising in Chiapas in 1994 after the NAFTA treaty (info) was signed. The people in Chiapas were asking for more rice and education for the indigenous people. The army supported the uprising against the government. The army movement became a political movement; people agreed the demands were fair and this movement led to the Left government Mexico now has.

The song uses a Manu Chao (info) song as the background, with the manifesto of the army on top of it. It was not a mainstream song, but it was popular among the people who supported the army.

There are a few Manu Chao songs that I really like, but they are ones about being happy and having a light heart. But he is very respected in Latin America as an activist, not only in his solo music, but also in his previous band, Mano Negra (info), which was a very political band.

The next song was "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (video with lyrics, song info) by Gil Scott-Heron (info). This is a really great choice related to US history!

The student who chose it says she likes it because it is a call to action, rather than sitting at home. 

This song is credited as the birth of rap music; it was birthed of outrage and taking poetry and applying it to songs. Lyrically the song refers to a lot of people of the time it was written (1970), but many of the statements are still 100% valid today.

We talked for a while about how to change a political system (or even a company). Should revolution come from working inside the system, within its constraints, or should it come from outside the system. It was very interesting to hear what the students had to say on the topic.

The student from Mexico City said that the phrase "The revolution will not be televised" is often said and written in Latin America. He knew the phrase, but didn't know the song. We wondered what came first: the phrase in Latin America, or the Gil Scott-Heron song.

My choice for protest song was "Fight The Power" (video, lyrics, song info) by Public Enemy (info)  from the movie "Do The Right Thing" (video trailer). 

The film is a classic social commentary on race relations in America. I realize it would be hard for international students to understand the accents and dialogue in the movie, to say nothing of the visual  social commentary which goes to the heart of race relations in America, but this movie really is one of the best, most powerful, commentaries about American society.

And this song is a perfect audio addition to that commentary.

With that our time for the day was over. It was a really great conversation, I left the meeting very happy. :-)

Next week's topic: The first song or album you bought (or played repeatedly).

 

7 January 2021 (Thursday)

Today 4 people joined me online to discuss the songs we listened to most over the holidays.

One person was new to our group -- from Turkey, one of my favorite countries in the world! :-)

Before we talked about music, we caught up on what everyone did over the holidays. Actually, in Japan, December was basically a regular working month, so nothing exciting to report from our Japanese representation.

The first song we listened to was "隱形的翅膀 (Invisible Wings)" (video, song info) by Angela Chang (info). The student who chose it came across this song when it was put into his YouTube suggestions. The song was popular when he was in junior high school; students used to play this song on the piano during lunch time. 

It has been 10 years since the student was in junior high school and he has lost connection, and hasn't met, his former fellow students. Thinking about that time long ago and the lost connections was on his mind during the holiday period, so he chose this song.

When I was in junior high school the students were allowed to play records during lunch, and for some reason "Le Freak" (video, lyrics, song info) by Chic (info) remains in my memory to this day from one of those lunchtimes a long, long time ago. 

Note: while writing this blog, I see that "Le Freak" is considered "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the American Library of Congress. Wow!

But there is a connection of my old song with current music! The guitar player for Chic, Nile Rodgers (info) has a unique guitar style/sound, and he is highly in demand to this day. You can hear his style from Le Freak in "Get Lucky" (video, lyrics, song info) by Daft Punk (info).

 

 

 

The next song we listened to was "Good Days" (video, lyrics, song info) by SZA (info). The student likes SZA a lot, and since this song was released during December she listened to it a lot over the break.

She said she likes how SZA is evolving with her music. She is growing as a person and maturing. The student said that to her SZA sings "in cursive/italic" because the lyrics get blurred: it's more about the sound and feeling she puts across than the exact words.

 

The next song was "コバルトブルー (Cobalt Blue)" (video, lyrics, song info) by the band The Back Horn (info). This song is about kamikaze pilots in World War II. The student explained that the kamikaze pilots -- sent on suicide missions to die crashing their airplanes into American warships -- were often quite young: as young as 16 years old. The lyrics are imagining their feelings flying to death. 

But the student who chose it listened more to the instruments than the lyrics. He has loved this song since he was in high school: it gives him energy and courage when he needs to get pumped up.

The next song came from our new student, who told us that his prefered music is instrumental soundtracks. But he is educating himself on classic rock, like AC/DC and Pink Floyd.

The song he chose is from the movie "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" (video trailer). It was "Heroes" (video, lyrics, song info) by David Bowie (info). He chose this song because the timing of its use in the movie was perfect and it brings back the good feelings he had while watching the film.

We didn't talk about it during the class, but the song I listened to the most over the holiday break was "The Good Ones" (video, lyrics, Pitchfork album review) by Widowspeak (info). 

Spotify put this into one of the playlists they automatically create for me to discover new songs, and I liked it! 

I especially like the lyric "You're one of the good ones" and I like the drums + the bass melody. 

Because I like this song so much I listened to other songs by the band, but this is the only one I like by them, hahaha.

With that our time was over for the day.  

Next week's theme is inspired by the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday in the United States: Protest songs.

5 December 2020 (Thursday)

Today 5 people -- including 2 new students -- gathered online to discuss "Favorite songs of 2020".

Because we had new students, the first thing I did was to ask them about what kind of music they like.

The first person played "Bentley 2" (video with lyrics) by The Quiett (info). This choice had a few reasons behind it:

• This song is dedicated to the that brought Korean Hip-Hop to the world. Illionaire Records. But in 2020 (November 11th), they disbanded the label.
• This song is about how the label changed the world.

The student likes that this music is real, straight from the artists, not created by a producer with people playing parts. He likes that the artists on this label have the freedom to do what they want.

The other new student chose "Therefore I Am" (video, lyrics, info) by Billie Eilish (info). 

The student likes that this song is about having a positive body image, that a woman does not always need to look perfect in public. She also likes that the song is bass-heavy. Lastly, she relates to Billie since they are the same age.

 

 

Now on the favorite songs of 2020:

"I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better)" (video with lyrics) by Billy Talent (info). This song and video were recorded before anyone knew what was going to happen in 2020, but because it is such a hopeful song, the student feels it is the best song for the year.

 

The next song was "Wild Child" (video, lyrics, song info) by Enya (info). There were a couple of reasons the student chose this song:

• 2020 is the first time for him to be in the US
• It was his second pandemic experience (first time was SARS)

He said that going through another pandemic shows that in life you don't know what will happen. But when the rain comes down around you, keep going forward. He also said being in the US makes him feel wild (I guess referring to feeling free from expectations in his home country).

At this point, one of the other students said that after spending time abroad, when he returned home he appreciated his parents more than ever.

Now I played one of my favorite songs of 2020: "Blackbird" (video, lyrics) by Lady Blackbird (website). This song is a cover version of Nina Simone (info), but updated to sound current. 

The main theme worldwide in 2020 was the Coronavirus, but in the US (and which also extended worldwide) a major theme for the year was racial injustice and systemic racism in society. This song to me is fitting to that, expressing the feeling from the side of the oppressed.

The next song was "20 Something" (video, lyrics) by SZA (info). 

The song came out a couple years ago, but now that the student is 20-something herself, the lyrics resonate with her.

 

 

 

The next song chosen was another Enya song: "Trains And Winter Rains" (video, lyrics, song info). This song reminds the student of when he took his high school entrance exams. The day he took his, his mom took him for some sukiyaki (his first time eating sukiyaki). 

The day he took his exames was the day Germany reunified after the cold war, so he also thinks of that milestone. 

This song always reminds him of the hard times studying for the high school exams; it feels like yesterday.

At this point the conversation veered off from music to what people will do over the holiday break. One student will visit Oregon for the first time. He plans to buy things there since there is no sales tax in Oregon, meaning prices feel like about 8% lower. 

I mentioned that if he is in Portland, he should visit Powell's Books, which is the best (and largest?) book store in America. (website)

 

I told the group that an American friend of mine who now lives in Tokyo visited Seattle recently and he had the Mt. Fuji burger at Katsu Burger Ballard (website).

 

 

 

With that we all wished each other happy holidays for the coming weeks.

The conversation group will meet next on Thursday, 7 January at 5pm Seattle time. Topic will be "The songs you listened to most over the holiday break."