Since students learn or are engaged by many different medium, I plan on using music to help describe, set contexts and analysis for various historical periods and events. By relating music, especially popular songs, to historical events, it could create interest amongst students who were previously uninterested in the history, but who like the songs. I have compiled a list of some songs I have found to have historical context, and I ask the rest of you, with your various musical tastes, to please input more songs to the list. Most of the songs I found were either folk or heavy metal.
Iron Maiden: The trooper (crimean war), Run to the hills (colonization of America), Passchendaele (WW1), Alexander the Great, Hallowed be Thy Name (Salem witch trials), 2 minutes to midnight (nuclear destruction [M.A.D.]). Aces High (Battle of Britain).
Gordon Lightfoot: Canadian Railroad Trilogy (building the CPR), the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (the sinking of the largest ship on the great lakes)
Stan Rogers: The Nancy (war of 1812), Northwest Passage, Barretts Privateers (American Revolutionary War)
Neil Young: Cortez the Killer (Spanish Conquistador invading America), Southern Man, Alabama (about social conditions in the south)
CSNY: Ohio (Kent State Massacre), Woodstock
CSN: Wooden Ships (MAD)
U2: Sunday Bloody Sunday (the troubles in Ireland), Silver and Gold (the apartheid)
Anthrax: Indians (White colonization of America)
Metallica: Creeping Death (the story of the Hebrew Slaves in Egypt)
Saxon: Crusader
Corb Lund: Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier (various wars, Canada in Afganistan)
Traffic: Freedom Rider
Tragically Hip: New Orleans in Sinking (not really historical, but it predicted hurricaine Katrina in a way)
Procal Harum: Conquistador
Rage Against the Machine: Testify (gulf war)
Black Sabbath: Electric Funeral (MAD), War Pigs (Vietnam War)
Barry McGuire: Eve of Distruction (MAD)
CCR: Fortunate Son (Vietnam War)
Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA (vietnam)
Guns N Roses: Civil War (Kennedy, Civil Rights, Vietnam etc.)
Rolling Stones: Sympathy for the Devil (Various conflicts in the 20th century)
The Clash: London Calling (various incidents around 1979 such as 3 mile island)
Please add to the list.
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6 comments:
I would caution you to highly qualify why you have chosen the particular song to convey a particular event. Be sure that the students understand that you wish them to listen to the lyrics, or the overall theme, or what context the song was to be originally performed in. Make sure that it doesn't become a time to turn off their brains and just enjoy the music. Make sure it has relevance and be sure that you fully understand the song's relevance to your topic.
This is my perspective as a professional musician and soon to be music and history educator.
Roger Waters: The Ballad of Bill Hubbard (leaving a friend in no-man's land in WWI)
The bravery of being out of range (Gulf War) gets going around 1 minute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybHhq48b33Q&feature=related
Watchin' TV (Tiennamin Square) -sad and beautiful song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpz102bDzH4
David Rovics: Saint Patrick Batallion (Irish fighting with Mexicans in American invasion of Mexico)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7zZkGAvGT0
Battle of Blair Mountain (Coal strikes turn violent in the US)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_rCdNdkb_g
Jimmy Cliff: Vietnam
Peter Tosh: 400 Years
Neil Young: Pocahontas
I think having the lyrics on an overhead is essential for critical listening.
amazing post just wanted to throw it out there that the rock and roll hall of fame has lesson plans on it.http://www.rockhall.com/teacher/sti-lesson-plans/
I just my English lesson plan on peace and protest music but the lesson plan is easily adaptable to SS the lesson plan focuses on Canadian Songstress Buffy Sainte Marie's "Universal Soldier" http://www.lyricsondemand.com/s/saintemariebuffylyrics/universalsoldierlyrics.html
The song is relatively old (1964) but nonetheless it is still relevant today check it out if you haven't already.
I agree Lyrics on the overhead are definately a must, because it is often hard to understand what is being sung in songs. Reading the lyrics will allow them to be studied and analysed for meaning in a discussion after the song has been played
others that I can think of right now:
Spanish Bombs also by the Clash (civil war in Spain) (a lot of punk really is protest music)
the Dropkick Murphys do an amazing version of The Green Fields of France (about WW1 for those who haven't heard of the song). A lot of their songs would qualify as protest music too. (gee, can you detect my musical bias?)
Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane (Vietnam era, social change)
Hurricane and The Ballad of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan if you are teaching the Civil Rights Movement.
I could come up with more, but I'll spare you.
Also, I forgot to add to my post, that when I have done lessons with music I tend to hand out sheets with lyrics and questions for the students to think about when they listen. I find that helpful.
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