As a big fan of American Idol, I enjoyed watching La’Porsha Renae make a run all the way to the final episode last week. I was moved by both her personal story—a woman who fled an abusive husband, took her newborn daughter to a shelter and drove 28 hours to audition for the show—and her undeniable talent.
In the closing weeks, I watched her sing two songs with lyrics depicting a subservient woman begging for the love of a man. The disconnect between these songs and her story left a sour taste in my mouth and got me thinking about how many people don’t understand the lyrics they sing along to. La’Porsha understood. “I would never tell a woman to beg,” she said after openly questioning one of the songs she had been asked to sing.
Like articles and novels, song lyrics are texts, and students may need support in interpreting them, too.
Music offers an opportunity to re-energize the study of critical reading and open the door to conversations about current issues of social justice. For example, I have had great success with examining the contrast between Lorde’s take on excessive wealth in “Royals” and The Flobots’ approach to how money and big business influence people’s thoughts in “Fight With Tools.” I used this comparison as the foundation for teaching possible structures for compare-and-contrast essays. As assessments, students can present songs that best represent a certain character or moment in a play, focusing on a direct analysis of both lyrics and text. Or they can create a soundtrack for their present lives.
Whatever the assignment, there is a great opportunity to help students think about how they process the music they listen to. For many kids—and adults—listening to music is a passive activity, the beats eclipsing the message. Imagine what we could do to create a more informed and thoughtful citizenry if we managed to make that process active. Are students just nodding along to Kendrick Lamar, or are they really listening to what he has to say? Do they process the empowering message behind Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” and “Clean,” or are they just “getting down to this sick beat?” Do they understand what Beyoncé is saying in “Formation,” and are they troubled by the message of The Weeknd’s “The Hills”? Do they understand what Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” is about, or have they just giggled at the title and made some vaguely homophobic quip?
Here is a progression I have found works well in exploring social issues through a critical analysis of lyrics: First, select a pair of songs that tackle a similar social issue but present contrasting perspectives on that issue. Next, print the lyrics and hand them out to students. Typically, I have students follow a seven-step process when critically reading poetry or song lyrics.
- Read the lyrics out loud.
- Read the lyrics out loud again.
- Annotate the song based on your personal reactions. What lines did you like? What sounded interesting or cool? What connections can you make to your own life, other songs you listen to, books you have read, etc.?
- Look up words and examine the denotations and connotations of the language used by the artist. Don’t settle for the first definition, but delve into all the possible meanings and how those layers contribute to the overall effect.
- Analyze literary elements being used. Where does the artist use literary devices we have seen in our examination of other texts? How effective is the implementation of these techniques?
- Play the songs and write down notes about the music itself. Is the production loud and filled with lots of instruments, or is it stripped down? Where does the music swell, and how does that relate to the content of the lyrics?
- Synthesize. Look carefully at all of these component parts, and decide what you think the artist(s) is trying to convey in terms of a social commentary.
For many of our students, the number of albums they listen to will greatly outweigh the number of books they read. But if we can get them to see each song as a chapter, to think critically about what is being said, we have an opportunity to move critical analysis beyond the classroom and into their daily lives. Imagine the conversations that would start with the words, “Do you know what that song is really about?”
The headphones are already on. Let’s help our students really listen.
Knoll is a writer and English teacher at a public school in New Jersey.
