A Day in the Life
I forgot the other thing I wanted to write about today! Right before I woke up, I was having a dream about being a teacher again. Not only that, but I was in front of a class containing a few of my favorite students, teaching my beloved "Music in History" course. The topic of that day's lesson was a short primer on the Beatles. I'm listening to someone's iTunes right now and "A Day in the Life" just played, reminding me of it.
Unfortunately for my dream school, I was awakened while trying to get students to guess the first big hit for the Beatles, which I'm pretty sure was "I Want to Hold Your Hand". I didn't even have time to get into the really good stuff they wrote, why they retreated to the studio, the love-for-the-ages of John and Yoko, and that tragic day in 1980. I miss teaching.
Every once in awhile in the real class, I would dim the lights, flash the lyrics on the overhead, and loudly play a seminal song of some sort. This was a great deal of fun and the students usually got way into it. When I taught the Beatles in the real class, I played a lot of Beatles, but the seminal song--THE Beatles song that I featured, well, what would you play? Coming up with THE song for the Beatles, or the Stones, or Bruce Springsteen, or broader musical categories like Punk . . . these were a great deal of fun to hash out and I had plenty of help with Kevin around.
I played "A Day in the Life". That song, above all other Beatles songs, is the Beatles firing on all cylinders--it's trippy, musically interesting, with dreamlike Beatles lyrics and plenty of studio wizardry.
I remember playing it for a class for the first time. It was first period and it was a very gray, rainy morning--the kind of morning that begs you to stay home in your room and listen to records. I played the song at the end of the class, and there was total silence during and after. That's what happens when you take the time to really focus on a great piece of music. The students read the words, listened to the music--I especially like the piano during the "woke up, got out of bed . . . " part--and most of them fell in love with the Beatles that morning. Song over, pause, lights on, bell rings, students linger. One says, "I just want to go home and listen to music for the rest of the day."
Sweet.
So what would you play? If you wrote a music dictionary and could only include one song under your favorite band/singer/genre, what would that song be? Just FYI, I played "Thunder Road" when talking about Springsteen and students in another setting and another state had a similar reaction to the above. For Pink Floyd, it was "Time". For punk, I played snippets of lots of stuff, but I threw up (ha) the lyrics to "Hyperactive Child" by the Dead Kennedys. The children enjoyed them thoroughly:
I'm tired of kissin' ass
I can't sit still all day
You know I know your school's a lie
That's why you dragged me here
'You're a hyperactive child
You're disruptive, you're too wild
We're going to calm you down
Now this won't hurt a bit'
Drag me to the floor
Pullin' down my pants
Ram a needle up my butt
Put my brain into a trance
'No more hyperactive child
Got too much of a mind
Wouldn't you rather be happy?
Now this won't hurt a bit'
Cameras in the halls
No windows, just brick walls
Pledge allegiance to a flag
Now you will obey...
I love that Jell-O Biafra, the brains behind those lyrics, ran for president under the Green Party label (and mayor of San Francisco, too). That's so punk rock.
So go ahead--come up with some songs!
Unfortunately for my dream school, I was awakened while trying to get students to guess the first big hit for the Beatles, which I'm pretty sure was "I Want to Hold Your Hand". I didn't even have time to get into the really good stuff they wrote, why they retreated to the studio, the love-for-the-ages of John and Yoko, and that tragic day in 1980. I miss teaching.
Every once in awhile in the real class, I would dim the lights, flash the lyrics on the overhead, and loudly play a seminal song of some sort. This was a great deal of fun and the students usually got way into it. When I taught the Beatles in the real class, I played a lot of Beatles, but the seminal song--THE Beatles song that I featured, well, what would you play? Coming up with THE song for the Beatles, or the Stones, or Bruce Springsteen, or broader musical categories like Punk . . . these were a great deal of fun to hash out and I had plenty of help with Kevin around.
I played "A Day in the Life". That song, above all other Beatles songs, is the Beatles firing on all cylinders--it's trippy, musically interesting, with dreamlike Beatles lyrics and plenty of studio wizardry.
I remember playing it for a class for the first time. It was first period and it was a very gray, rainy morning--the kind of morning that begs you to stay home in your room and listen to records. I played the song at the end of the class, and there was total silence during and after. That's what happens when you take the time to really focus on a great piece of music. The students read the words, listened to the music--I especially like the piano during the "woke up, got out of bed . . . " part--and most of them fell in love with the Beatles that morning. Song over, pause, lights on, bell rings, students linger. One says, "I just want to go home and listen to music for the rest of the day."
Sweet.
So what would you play? If you wrote a music dictionary and could only include one song under your favorite band/singer/genre, what would that song be? Just FYI, I played "Thunder Road" when talking about Springsteen and students in another setting and another state had a similar reaction to the above. For Pink Floyd, it was "Time". For punk, I played snippets of lots of stuff, but I threw up (ha) the lyrics to "Hyperactive Child" by the Dead Kennedys. The children enjoyed them thoroughly:
I'm tired of kissin' ass
I can't sit still all day
You know I know your school's a lie
That's why you dragged me here
'You're a hyperactive child
You're disruptive, you're too wild
We're going to calm you down
Now this won't hurt a bit'
Drag me to the floor
Pullin' down my pants
Ram a needle up my butt
Put my brain into a trance
'No more hyperactive child
Got too much of a mind
Wouldn't you rather be happy?
Now this won't hurt a bit'
Cameras in the halls
No windows, just brick walls
Pledge allegiance to a flag
Now you will obey...
I love that Jell-O Biafra, the brains behind those lyrics, ran for president under the Green Party label (and mayor of San Francisco, too). That's so punk rock.
So go ahead--come up with some songs!
posted by lulu | 6:56 AM
1 Comments:
Alright, here comes my lengthy contribution, which I constructed after dialing through my iPod's REM collection.
Flipper mentioned yesterday (and I concur) that "The One I Love" is the best example of REM(i). (The live version on In Timeis really great. "TOIL" is probably their most famous song from the first half of their career--as opposed to "The End of the World as We Know it (And I Feel Fine)" which is more of a tone poem or somethihg.
My choice for REM(ii) is "Everybody Hurts." It was released near the apex of the band's fame and influence and was for a time about as ubiquotous as U2's "One." Plus, it's just a beautiful song. It is probably one of the top 2 or 3 song's that most people think of when they think of REM--as opposed to the craptacular "Stand."
The other one that I thought of as a nominee was "World Leader Pretend" from Green. It captures the band as they go from indie college heros to major label musicians. It is not as popular as these others but it captures Michael Stipe's political bent--an important factor in choosing the one song to represent the band.
So, which do I choose as the best? I think I'll go with "World Leader Pretend." I think Greenis a great album and helped affix REM's rise to stardom. And that song represents many of the band's best traits. (Plus, I dig it when he punctuates the end of the song by beating on an anvil. It works great in concert.)
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