From the high school we believe that it is important to know a varied musical repertoire, with musical pieces from all over the world and a wide range of styles. For this reason, we decided to carry out a project called Give me a song successfully connected to a still active project Descobrim la música. The project Give me a song aims at working on the English language through songs which are played as a bell noting the starting and the ending of the class. In order to work on English, the teachers of the English Department have designed some worksheets which contain different exercises on vocabulary, specific grammar points or pronunciation as well as culture and discussing activities which raise their cultural awareness and promote their critical thinking. To sum up, this project works both as a reinforcement of the contents in the four dimensions and as a personal development for students thanks to the different topics addressed in the lyrics.
Here you have the songs which are heard in the school bell:
“Behind the Wall” de Tracy Chapman, una cançó dedicada a les víctimes d’una de les formes més comunes de violència masclista: Abús domèstic.
A lo llarg de la seva carrera al món de la música, Rod Stewart va llançar grans cançons, com ara, ‘Sailing’, una cançó que originalment va ser escrita per Gavin Sutherland de, The Sutherland Brothers Band, el 1972. Però, va arribar a la seva màxima popularitat l’any 1975 gràcies a Rod Stewart.
CHICKEN LIPS AND LIZARD HIPS is a 1986 song by Nancy Cassidy. Bruce Springsteen recorded a version of this song for the 1991 Disney charity various artists album, For Our Children.
“Ain’t Got No, I Got Life” is a 1968 single by American singer-songwriter Nina Simone, from her album ‘Nuff Said.
This song was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1966. It was intended as a children song, but it received various social interpretations at that time. It describes the life inside a submarine and how this life becomes a party. The song became very popular all over the world being one of the most known.
The Beatles played this song for the first time in “Our World” project, a worldwide TV programme. The concept of the song was born out of a request to bring a song which needed to be understood by people of all nations. The song sends a message of love and peace: what really matters in life is being happy and enjoying life. It became a popular saying in the 1960s anti-war movement. It was very successful because the lyrics were easy to remember and the musical tempo was catchy.
This Belgian singer reflects upon the love experiences he has gone through. The song tells us a specific moment of his life when he met a girl at a party, they fell in love and then moved together. Later, he cheated on her and she became angry. Finally, they split up. The singer plays with the emotions of happiness and sadness along the song.
The Irish singer Ed Sheeran wanted this song to have an Irish component. For this reason, he recorded this song together with Irish folk band Beoga and he also names Irish cities, streets, events and, even, objects. The song is about love. The singer explains how he met a girl from Galway and how he fell in love immediately. The song reached number 2 on the UK chart.
This folk song written by the Hawaiian songwriter, Bruno Mars, has a tropical vibes. It is about the importance of friendship. The song conveys a positive message on friendship: he takes care of his friends; he shares with them their sorrows and joys, their successes and failures; he never lets them down.
One Republic is an American musical band that sings mostly pop and rock music. Incidentally, the band composed this song while they were waiting for an interview with Beyonce. The song describes the promises of better things to come; however, those promises are not fulfilled and this suggests an underlying topic of disappointment, fear to failure and regret. The singer is willing to thrive, but he can’t cope with the reality of his situation and that’s why he keeps dreaming and counting stars.
The American band, Coldplay, makes a clear reference to Louis XVI of France, who lost his kingdom during the French Revolution. In fact, the song is sung by the king himself who is praying to God while seeing how his kingdom crumbles and knowing he is going to be beheaded. Moreover, the song has also a parallel interpretation. It reveals the real thoughts of the singer about religion. He shows his lack of belief in God and he even questions the existence of God. The song became a biggest hit, winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2009.
On this revenge song, the British singer lays into a former boyfriend. She is determined to give a lesson to the man who betrayed her. She is replacing her sadness for a fire growing inside her that will make him be ashamed of what he did. The singer is going to show him what he is now missing. The song is clearly a kiss-off not only to a man, but also to the pressure of being single. Adele scored the best-selling single of the year with this song thanks to the lyrics and the acoustic intensity.