11 February 2021 (Thursday)

With Valentine's Day coming on Sunday, today's theme was "Love Songs".

Before we started talking about music, we talked about the coming snow storm headed toward Seattle. Thank goodness we had recently talked about "Songs about snow" to be prepared for this weather event, hahaha!

We also talked a little about Chinese New Year, since today is the eve of the Year of the Ox.

The student from Mexico made an interesting comment about how the public in Mexico is dealing with Coronavirus/Covid. He said the middle-income people stay home, but the low-income people must go out in public to earn money. 

Finally we started talking about love songs! 

The first song picked was "The Makings Of You" (video, lyrics, song info) by Curtis Mayfield (info). The student who picked this song first heard the Tamar Braxton version (video), then found out it was originally from Curtis Mayfield.

 

 

 

The next song was "My Love" (video, lyrics, song info) by Westlife (info). We talked philosophically about whether a love song is about true love if it's about a past relationship.

We also talked about people showing love through actions, or by buying material things, as opposed to saying "I love you" to their romantic partner.

I went around the group asking whether they would consider people in the cultures where they are from "romantic". It was interesting to hear the different perspectives, but naturally I won't go into details here.

Continuing on the discussion about love in different countries, we talked about whether people marry for romantic love, or whether it's a logical choice (or whether the parents pick for them!).

Now we went back to love songs, with an interesting twist.

The next song chosen was "Leif Erikson" (video, lyrics, song info) by Interpol (info).  The student who chose this song said he thinks it has one of the best love song lyrics ever written. 

But the lyrics are not straightforward; they are open to interpretation. The link to Leif Erikson is not clear. But the student especially likes the lyrics about keepsakes.

When he first heard this song, it wasn't the student's favorite song, but later he came to appreciate it very much.

With all the talk about love in different cultures, we didn't have time to play any more songs. Which is fine -- the purpose of this meeting is to *talk*! :-)

I do have a bonus song for the week from one student who was not able to join us: "Stand Up And Run" (video, lyrics, song info) by Billy Talent (info). The student sent me an email with his choice and explained that he really likes this lyric from it: "If the compass breaks, then follow your heart / And I hope it leads you right back into your arms".

Lastly, my choice for a love song? Oh, there are so many options to choose from! But the first one that came to my mind is "As" (video, lyrics, song info) by Stevie Wonder (info). I like how he says he'll be loving her until impossible things happen, for example, the oceans cover every mountain and dolphins fly. 

I also like the part later in the song where he talks about how hard life can get, but that love is the solution.

 (BTW, George Michael & Mary J Blige did a version of "As" with a very cool video, that I still don't get how they made it. My favorite thing in this version is the tone of Mary J Blige's voice.)

 

Theme for next week: Songs that remind you of your family.