My question concerned finding lyrics to some current songs, lyrics that had
strong poetry elements such as imagery and metaphor. Below are the
responses. The English teacher and I will be looking at some of these for
one or two good examples. Thank you to all who sent replies.
The posts;
One song I thought of that is "crossover country" and about 5 or 6 years old
that might work: I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack. It has a metaphorical
message.
on the folky side, I would recommend Tracy Grammar and Dave Carter.
Absolutely amazing use of language. one of their songs, Preston Miller,
contains the line "he sees the stars go blinkin by like the twinkle in a
trollop's eye" which might be one of my favorite lines ever. :)
here's a list of songs kids brought in when I did this project two years
ago. Not all are recent songs, but several are fairly recent and all work
well for finding poetic elements.
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Paul Simon
Mysterious Ways - U2
Helplessly Hoping - Steven Stills
The Water is Wide - James Taylor
Get Out hte Map - Indigo girls
Born to Fly - Sara Evans
Don't Know Why - Nora Jones
Thicker than Blood - Garth Brooks
Born in the USA - Springsteen
More than a Feeling - Boston
She's My Kind of Rain - Tim McGraw
world's Greatest - R. Kelly
Love is blindness - U2
Just the Two of Us - Will smith
Father and Daughter - Paul Simon
Black Balloon - Goo Goo Dolls
If Dirt Were Dollars - Don Henley
Christie - Lee - Billy joel
Love's Recovery - Indigo girls
Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians - Mel Leven
Little Hercules - Craig Carothers
Sweet Reunion - Kenny Loggins
This is a subject close to my heart as an ex-English teacher. I used Guns n
Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine" to teach simile/metaphor. I played it loud and
shouted out "Simile!" "Metaphor" whenever Axle Rose sang one. They got the
idea! I ran into an ex-student and he commented on my simile/metaphor song.
Today's music: anything by Creed or U2-heavy with simile, metaphor, irony,
etc.
Admittedly this isn't a current song, but Simon & Garfunkel's I Am A Rock is
very good for what you are talking about. I went to an inservice years ago
where they used this song for the imagery and it stuck with me forever. It
is even more appropriate because they talk about books being enough for the
singer.
This may be a long shot. Try looking over the lyrics of Jewel.
Another possibility might be Donovan.
When I did this several years ago, I found country music, especially
WIllie Nelson had the most variety of figurative language. Try some of
the newer country stuff.
How about What If God Were One of Us (the theme song for the Joan of Arcadia
TV show)?
What timing! I was just reading the current issue of Edutopia and I saw a
recomendation for something called Vocabulary Accelerator 101 for $25.
from Defined Mind. Take a look at it at
http://www.defmind.com/index.shtml
Deborah Stafford
Gen. H.H. Arnold High School
Wiesbaden, Germany
deborah.stafford@t-online.de
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
* LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
* LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
* EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/
* LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LM_NET
Mailing List Home