So I'm making a music CD (welcome to the year 2000 I guess?) for the third year (year 9 ish?) classes I teach. They have a five minute period before the class where they finish up homework, ask questions and generally potter about in English. During this time they listen to English language music, so far it's been all Queen. I've nothing against queen, they have some great songs and it's not a terrible introduction to music outside of Japan. The problem is that they've heard all the songs already, not to mention that Queen is adored here and is subseuently cut into every third commercial and every fifth TV program.
As such, I feel it is my duty to introduce some easy to understand English langauge songs. Remember, the only music available to anyone in Japan is this. Or this.
They are the only options. No other music exists. This is not hyperbole, they don't have any other music. Sometimes, rarely, those over one hundred years old will listen to enka, but that's not fashionable for any other demographic.
The problem is simple. If you've only ever listened to one type of music for your whole life, all your peers know only that music, and your parents and elders know only that kind of music, there's no way in hell that you're going to like anything other than that. It would be like introducing orangina to a drought bound tribe in the deepest deserts of Tanzania, they wouldn't know what to do with it and would immediately reject it.
As such, this is not a mission to enlighten the students, even marginally, no. It's a mission to give me something interesting to listen to that has a tenuous link to the English language. That means no swearing and lyrics that are mostly audible.
To pre-empt the comments and e-mails about how awful my taste in music is, I will say this: I don't know music. I literally searched online for songs for foreign language students, and these are what came up.
ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME. New stuff and old stuff. Bizarre stuff is particularly appreciated, as long as there's a viable amount of English involved. I would love to jazz out to some Mars Volta before class, but they're Spanish (?) so no can do.
Anyway, my list so far:
Michael Jackson -> Smooth Criminal, Heal the World
Jackson 5 -> ABC
Phil Collins -> Dancing in the Air Tonight (if this one gets by the censors (by censors I mean the Japanese English teacher) I will be ecstatic)
The Police -> Every Breath You Take (I don't know why this was on that website, the owner must have been high when she added this one)
Pharrel Williams -> Happy (the theme of a 'dumb fun,' Summer animated movie, I quite like the song)
David Bowier -> Ground Control to Major Tom (this one is mine, an inspired pull from the memory banks, if I say so myself)
REM -> Man on the Moon (never heard of it)
Frank Sinatra -> Fly Me to the Moon, My Way
The White Stripes -> Seven Nation Army
Travis -> Sing
Amy Winehouse -> Rehab (This one is the wildcard, designed to throw the censors off and make them think they've done their job when they inevitably eliminate it, thereby allowing others to pass)
Coldplay -> The Scientist
Bare Nakes Ladies -> If I had a Million Dollars (added for the name of the band alone)
And that's the list so far. There's nothing particularly interesting on there, and only a couple of 'new,' songs, so any suggestions are welcome.
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