The first category I clicked on while looking at Wikipedia's Songs by Theme page was that of Humor Songs --> Weird Al Yancovic. Immediately, I was lost in a land of nostalgia and thinking about my childhood and the songs that helped define it. Many of those songs were, in fact, written and performed by Weird Al. What a great entertainer, as annoying as he was! He took popular songs whose lyrics often made my mom raise her eyes and parodied them in a way that was so funny, I didn't mind not being allowed to listen to the original. In truth, my music wasn't too censored by my parents as they're both big music buffs and they remember what it felt like to be censored by their parents. My father's mother actually broke the Bob Dylan vinyl containing 'The Times They Are A-Changin' on it because of the lines:
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
It almost breaks my heart to think of how my dad must have felt when she did that. Clearly it had an effect as he wasn't too keen to censor my music, though my preference (gangsta rap at that time... who knows why?) had many more swear words and offensive themes. But Weird Al offered the option to those parents who were concerned and to those parents and children who just wanted a laugh. I have a lot of fond memories from throughout my childhood in which a Weird Al song is playing in the background. Though I'm nowhere near the music buff that my parents are, nor do I have a talent for remembering lyrics or creating the ultimate play list for any occasion, it is clear to me that music has profoundly affected me over the years.
I got to thinking about my autobiographical soundtrack and what would be on it. The following songs jumped out at me during a brief but extremely enjoyable walk down memory lane:
Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus (Ugh, I know. I was 7 and I heard it on a juke box at a bar near my cabin in Wisconsin, I was having the time of my life playing pool and eating a snickers bar that my father bought me... I was vulnerable and Billy Ray took advantage. Nonetheless, I loved that song and spent all of my money playing that song on the jukebox for the rest of the two week vacation, much to the chagrin of EVERYONE else in the bar).
Dreams by Gabrielle (This is from the first CD I ever owned. I can still sing the whole song. I do so frequently when no one else is home and I'm feeling particularly bored. This was my absolute favorite song - a distinction I can no longer make as I like too many songs at the same time - until I was 12).
All Cried Out by Allure and 112 (Here I am in middle school and my favorite song is All Cried Out, how appropriate. I didn't have a particularly angsty middle school experience as this song title may suggest, nor had I ever loved and lost as the lyrics might suggest, but I did adore this song! My friend and I would sing it on the playground of our school during recess. We'd alternate who sang the female parts just to be fair).
Maria Maria by Santana (In between middle school and high school I went through a 1/9th life crisis and reinvented myself. For some reason I no longer wanted to be associated with gangsta rap or 'the hood' or anything like that, I wanted to be alternative and punky. It all seems silly to me now, but I cleaved onto Santana and learned a lot about guitar and thought about taking lessons. I settled for dating guitar players. This song is associated with my freshman year of high school in an inseparable way).
Ignition (Remix) by R Kelly (Oh, senior year of high school! All of a sudden I was back to R & B and Hip Hop, but especially dance music that was played in all 18+ clubs that I snuck into (as a 17 year old): R Kelly, Sean Paul, Beyonce, 50 Cent, etc., etc. This stage stayed with me throughout undergrad).
Summer Love by Justin Timberlake ("This just can't be summer love" - alas and alack, it most certainly was just summer love. I was so enamored with my boyfriend at the time that I thought JT was singing directly to us. Now that I am engaged to someone else, I'm pretty glad he was not).
At Last by Etta James (I know this last one might seem out of place as it is not a chart topper from the last 20 years, but it is a classic and I have the feeling that Etta is singing about me! As I make the move to Mexico and start teaching my OWN class, I can't help but think: AT LAST! Here I am! This is what I have worked for! It's the song I'll walk down the aisle to, which will unquestionably cement this song's place in my heart and on the play list of my autobiographical songs by theme website).
My point here is simple: Music is powerful! It affects everyone in a different way, but it is often something that brings us together, in good times or bad. Music needs to be a part of our classrooms because it is a part of our lives (consciously, or unconsciously as in the case in my life) and the lives of our students. I'll be teaching English as a foreign language in Mexico starting August 4th and never has my conviction to use music in the classroom been stronger. This class has convinced me that pop culture is not only a good tool for the classroom, but should be an important part of the curricula if we hope to be comprehensive, engaging teachers who connect with our students and the 'real world.'
*** While linking all of those songs, I've had a brain storm! Ask students to write their own autobiographical soundtrack! They'll need to find appropriate songs and explain why they are important to them and how they fit with that particular period of their life. It'd be a great way to get students to practice reflection and autobiographical writing. It would also be a really interesting project and students could compile mix CDs and design CD covers/booklets! They could get as fancy as they wanted, creating a presentation of some sort or using digital technology to enhace their projects. All sorts of objectives could be met with this kind of project! Aaaah, thanks CI 5150, I'm totally going to do this with my kids! ***
About Me
- Leyah
- I am 23, finishing up my Masters of Ed in Second Languages and Cultures and promptly moving to Mexico to teach English at a private high school. If I were staying here, I would absolutely work in ESL as I feel that our local immigrant population is far too forgotten and are so much fun to work with. I went to Madison for undergrad and became a die-hard Badger fan, but have a soft spot for the Gopher baseball team! Also, I really like the Packers, but am a Twins fan to the end!
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4 comments:
Hi Leyah,
It was a lot of fun reading about the songs that reminded you of periods in your childhood. I couldn't help but think back to where I was in mine when these songs came out. All Cried out was also a prominant song on my cd player in middle school just after I "dumped" my first boyfriend. You are right. Music is so poerful. It can ispire us to do amazing things. And it can also encourage us to do not so amazing things. I guess part of our job as educators is not to decide what the students should listen to, but help them understand the influential power that music has so they will understand when they are being affected by it...?
It was great reading your thoughts about songs that defined your childhood. It made me think about what songs I would have on my own autobiographical CD. You're right, music is a part of almost everyone's lives, and it is a really easy way to connect to things. I like your idea of having students create their own autobiographical CD, and giving rationales for why each song would be on there. This would be a really interesting introduction project also, and students would be able to get to know each other a lot better. I would also be able to tie in art to the cover designs :)
Leyah, you've brought up some really interesting points! I would love to do this with my students as well, maybe as an introduction to a media literacy unit. It's so true that music really does have such a big affect on every part of our lives (and similarly, I was a dorky 5th grader rocking out to "Amish Paradise" as well). For this project, I focused on "Idenity" as the theme of songs I would like students to look at to write their own lyrics, but it would be interesting to see how they could incorporate this as part of their musical identity as well. It's definitely true that in adolescence, when students are at such a crucial identity-forming age, that the music they identify with has to do with more than just musical tastes, but dress, attitudes, and behavior as well. Interesting....thanks for getting me to think!
Wow, what an interesting post! I like the direction you took with this one. I'd have to concur with you on the freedom of music growing up. I had two older sisters, and by the time I was in middle school, my parents were pretty desensatized to everything. However, I remember one time my oldest sister had the single for "Skills," where one line of the song said, "she wants to lick me like a lollie pop." I loved the song so much (I was probably 11 at this time and had no idea what it meant. I stole it from my sister's room and played it in the car as my mother and I drove down to the grocery store. She didn't say anything to me, but scolded my sister for letting me listen to it. That is the only memory I have of music I listened to being censored.
I also think the "Soundtrack to your life" is always a fun project. I'm glad this class made you think about it / create it. Someday I hope to take the time to do that. Good luck in Mexico; I'm sure you'll love it!
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