15 October 2020 (Thursday)

The second week of the new quarter. We had two students (one returning, one new) to talk about "Songs about rain, or for a rainy day."

Actually, we had a third "virtual" student: one of my former students from a few years ago sent over some songs via email on the theme since he could not participate personally this week. Hopefully he can join us from Japan in the future.

The first thing we did was learn a little about what kind of music the new student likes. He mentioned Celine Dion, Queen and The Beatles. He said his musical taste was heavily influenced by his father playing CDs of those artists at home in Taiwan.

As we were talking the FIUTS facilitator mentioned liking Afrobeats music (info). Afrobeats is a relatively new style of music, and should *not* be confused with Afrobeat (without the "s") on the end (info).

As an example of Afrobeats music, the FIUTS facilitator suggested we listen to the song "Anybody" (video, lyrics) by Burna Boy (info), who is the biggest Afrobeats artist in the world.

The FIUTS facilitator commented that Afrobeats videos show that Africa makes modern music, and that people do things that people in industrialized countries do, like go to dance clubs. This is a great point she made: too often people think of Africa as undeveloped economically, but while much of the continent is poor, it is not *all* poverty and life in villages.

Side note: I am a big fan of Fela Kuti (info), the originator of Afrobeat music. I found out after the class that coincidendally today, 15 October, was Fela's birthday!

The drummer for Fela's band, Tony Allen (info) is my favorite drummer. I had the great fortune of seeing Tony play in a small club in Switzerland once. I watched him the whole show as if in a trance -- I couldn't believe I was standing so close to this musician from so far away who I revered.

Now I asked the new student if he has a "song for a rainy day". He chose "Your Name" (video, song info) by Radwimps (info). In this song he likes the mix of piano and fluctuations of tones in the music. He finds it relaxing. He said that even when it is raining outside, a person needs to keep a positive mindset.

At this point I asked him if he has gotten used to all the rain in Seattle. We talked about the difference in rain between Seattle and Taiwan.

The student from China said that the fact that the rain in Seattle goes on for a long time -- with no rainbow at the end to celebrate the end -- is depressing.

She chose the song "Jackie & Wilson" (video, lyrics) by Hozier (info) as a rainy day song. She said that on rainy days she likes to play rock music, something with energy. 

 

 

 

 

On the subject of rock music, the Taiwanese student said the Hozier songs reminds him of Avril Lavigne (info) because she is the most popular rock singer in Taiwan. As an example of a song he knows by Avril, we listened to "Head Above Water" (video, song info, lyrics). 

In this song the student likes the high tones and the dramatic quality of the songs. He finds the song dynamic and strong.

The Chinese student noted that the style of this Avril song is different from her earlier songs, when she was more rebellious.

Now I played a "rain" song. I chose "Love Reign O'er Me" (video with lyrics, song info) by The Who (info). 

 In addition to the mood of the song being good for a rainy day, I like the way the title has a homonym for "rain" ("reign"). The word reign is used for how a King or Queen is the highest power over the people. In this case, it's like saying "love" has the highest authority. Additionally, it plays with the idea of love raining on someone, like washing over him/her. I like all these intertwined concepts. And I like the music and singing a lot, too!

A song with a similar concept about love and washing is a song by a Seattle band, Pearl Jam (info) called "Wash" (video with lyrics). The first lyric of the song is "Oh please, let it rain today", which is perfect for Seattle. But most of all I really like the idea in this song about "washing" love -- washing something which is not physical.

 

 

The next song we played was "Endless Rain" (video with lyrics, song info) by X-Japan (info). The student who chose it likes how powerful the emotion is, especially the chorus where they sing in English.

 

As our meeting for the week was coming to an end, it was mentioned that there are many songs about rain. For example:

"November Rain" (video, song info, lyrics) by Guns N Roses (info).

-- Trivia fact: the bass player for Gun N Roses, Duff McKagan (info) grew up in Seattle, and after moving to Los Angeles when he was young to make a career in a music, now lives here again with his family.

"Purple Rain" (video, song info, lyrics) by Prince (info).

-- Speaking of Prince: one of the most famous concerts in American history was Prince's peformance at the the Superbowl Halftime in 2007: it was in a monsoon-like rain storm, and yes, he played "Purple Rain". Concert + story of the day.

The last song I played was "Rain" (video, song info, lyrics) by The Beatles (info).

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we didn't play the songs my former student sent over during the class, I want to include them with his commentary here:

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Whenever I think about the songs related to rain, I always think about the scenery of rainy places. Thus my choices for this week are related to those places; specifically Seattle and Dublin. SDRE and The Script are from those two cities, and MV for The Script song was shot in Dublin. 

 

"Rain Song" (video, lyrics) by Sunny Day Real Estate (info).

"Breakeven" (video, song info, lyrics) by The Script (info)

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Those are all the "rain" songs we had time for today! 

Next week's theme: "Favorite songs from when you were in high school."