Job Discussion Forums

[nolefan]

Hey guys and gals,


I am teaching a culture and history class about the USA and Britain. I am planning to use different songs to help the kids understand the cultures and social aspects of each country but I am not too familiar with british music... I need some suggestions as to what songs I shoud use!

for the US part, I will use:

"country boy can survive" Hank Williams Jr.

"Come as you are" Nirvana

"what's going on" Marvin Gaye

"Get over it" Eagles


what do you suggest for british culture? I am thinking S e x Pistols

[Joachim]

It's cheesy as hell, but they tend to respond to the slower McCartney Beatles tracks; "Yesterday", "Here Comes The Sun" and "Hello, Goodbye"

Also, consider some female singers - do you not have female students??

"Why?" - Annie Lennox
"Here With me" - Dido
"Fell In Love With A Boy" - Joss Stone

[nolefan]

I did not notice the lack of female singers in my list... I will have to look into it a little deeper! maybe a little J. Mitchell or maybe Janis

[mjed9]

I think The Beatles - Hey Jude and I am the Walrus
Radiohead - Karma Police
Blur - anything (Boys and Girls, End of a Century, Coffe and TV)
You could try Oasis or Pulp
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Pink Floyd - Another brick
Lamb

[Slim Pickens]

X

[scot47]

Why not ask the students if they know any British musicians and take it from there ?

Proceeding from what they already know to what they do not is a sound pedagogical technique !

And having the students prsent the lyrics that they know is the only time they will be happy to do some homeweork !

[Aramas]

Do you want music that is at least vaguely representative of British youth culture or would you prefer to reinforce stereotypes? I don't recall anything by the pistols that mentions bad teeth or bad food, but Sid Vicious's rendition of 'My Way' could be interesting, particularly if it includes the video.

Fortunately the Brits have the highest signal to noise ratio of any country on the planet, so there's no dearth of candidates.

I'm an Aussie, but some of the best British songs of recent decades might include:

The Jam 'That's Entertainment'
The Cure 'Friday I'm in love' (excellent for young classes)
The The 'This is the Day' or 'Uncertain Smile'
The Smiths 'How Soon is Now?'
The Cult 'She Sells Sanctuary'
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (expat Aussies but still Brit) 'The Weeping Song'
Prodigy 'Baby's Got a Temper'
Chemical Brothers 'Out of Control', 'Alive Alone', 'Sunday Morning', etc.
Fatboy Slim 'Praise You' or 'Weapon of Choice'
Planet Funk (Italian but Brit singer) 'Who Said?' or 'Tightrope Artist'

Of course if you play those then your class might think you're cool, and we can't have that

Best stick with cliches. It's much safer and is unlikely to offend anyone

[nolefan]

I considered asking the students to bring in songs for the classroom but I did not think that the Backstreet boys, Celline Dion, or Britney would be relevant in teaching them the History and Culture of the United States of America or Britain.

"Coutry Boy can survive" showcases the early american spirit of "we are not afraid of hard work and we will take care of business" that we can still see in the south.

"What's going on?" is a way to talk about the troubled sixties, black panthers, Kennedy and MLK

"come as you are" is the uneasy feelings following the Reagan Era

"Get over it" is a showcase for the growing social denial in modern day america......

I don't think that Britney's "Hit me baby one more time" fits into this...

thanks for the suggestion though.

[Aramas]

I'd be somewhat reticent regarding covering such topics within a language course. It's difficult to open a window on a foreign culture without imparting a certain perspective to the view. Whether bleeding-heart liberal, red-faced, spitting neo-nazi or anything in between we still colour everything with our own world view. And do the students actually care about any of that stuff? I certainly don't.

Most British music in recent years has been either for the purpose of or about getting off one's face and dancing the night away in an attempt to forget how much life sucks.

[nolefan]

Again, this is not a language course!!!


it is a university level course for the History and Culture of the USA and Britain!!!

I am considering the Clash's London Calling, U2 Bloody Sunday or Children of the Revolution......any other suggestions?

[Mark-O]

Please don't shoot the messenger over this one, but have you considered any of 'The Streets' stuff? I doubt he is known at all in America, but no-one is writing stuff like him in the UK.

Personally, I think it's a pile of tink and it grates on me to hear it, but if you want something that reflects the culture of the young working class, lay-about, dole-dossing, geezer-*beep*-wideboy ... then his stuff is hard to beat.

This song should do it. You might need to ask a Brit for translation though due to all of the street talk (PM me or ask anyone else here)! In that sense, it would be an excellent choice for exhibiting modern language in the UK.

"Has It Come To This?"

Original Pirate Material
Yer listening to the streets
Lock down your aerial
Make yerself at home
We got diesel or some of that homegrown
Sit back in yer throne, turn off yer phone
Cos this is our zone
Videos, televisions, 64's Playstations
We're paring with precision
Few herbs and a bit of Benson
But don't forger the Rizla,
Lean like the Tower of Pisa
Liza, I'll raise yer,
And this is the day in the life of a Geezer
For this ain't a club track
Pull out yer sack and sit back
Whether you white or black
Smoke weed, chase brown
Or toot rock
We're on a mission, support the cause
Sign a petition, summon all your wisdom
The Music's a gift from the Man on high
The Lord and his children
Triple teenyear rudeboys
Come rain or snow the boodah flows
You don't know?
Stand on the corner watch the show
Cos life moves slow
Sort yer s h i t out then roll
Sex, Drugs 'n' On The Dole
Some men rise, some men fall
I hear ya call, stand tall now
Has it come to this?
Original Pirate Material
Your listening to the streets
Lock down your aerial
I'm just spitting, think I'm ghetto?
Stop dreaming, my data's streaming
I'm giving your bird them feelings
Touch yer toes and touch the ceiling
We walk the tightrope of street cred
Keep my dogs fed, all jungle all garage heads
Gold teeth, valentinos and dreads
Now, we were verbally slapped up
Physically tip-top, spinally ripped up
I do the science on my laptop, get my boys mashed up
Your listening to The Streets
You'll bear witness to some amazing feats
Bravery in the face of defeat
All line up and grab yer seat
Cos Tony's got a new motor
SR Nova driving like a joyrider
Speeding to the corner
Yer mother warned yer to sound system banger
Has it come to this?
Original Pirate Material
Your listening to The Streets
Lock down your aerial
My underground train runs from Mile End to Ealing
From Brixton to Boundsgreen
My spitting's dirty my beats are clean
So smoke weed and be lean
I step out my yard through the streets
In the dead heat all I got's my spirit and my beats
I play fair don't cheat
And keep the gangsters sweet
Turn the page, don't rip it out at yer age
Move to the next stage
Lock the rage inside the cage,
Like SK it's New Day
But don't take the shortcut through the subway
It's pay or play, these geezers walk the gangway
Deep seated urban decay, deep seated urban decay,
Rip down posters alight
From last weeks big Garage night
And the next Tyson fight
I cook em at 90 degrees farenheit
And don't copy the copyright
I got em in my sites, blinding with the lights
Taken to dizzy new heights
Blinding with the lights, blinding with the lights
Dizzy new heights
Has It come to this?
Original Pirate Material
Your listening to The Streets
Lock down your aerial.

[ilunga]

The Streets would be perfect but it would go way over the heads of most Chinese students, probably wouldn't be much difference elsewhere.

The slower Beatles songs would probably work best.

Live Forever or Wonderwall by Oasis would work quite well.

Yellow by Coldplay goes down pretty well too.

I could see Friday I'm in Love by The Cure working and maybe Panic by The Smiths could provoke a good discussion with University students.

It all depends on your students though.

[shmooj]

[yaramaz]

The Beautiful South's 'Dont Marry Her, F**k Me'....

[Irish Blood English Heart]

For Englishness look for the Jam, Blur, Pulp and Oasis.

Other great bands to try to show England include Morrissey, The Smiths, Dido etc.

Great new English bands are The Libertines and British Sea Power.

Id have to go for Morrissey/Smiths though, clear voice and deep and meaningful lyrics.

I'll really miss British music when im in China, its just about the only good thing about living here.