The Meaning of a Song Project

Written Assignment Due: Friday, April 11

Presentations Begin: Monday, April 14. Click here for order.

Get ready to write and speak about a song that means something to you. Click the image below for the project description.

Mr. Lee's Example 1
Song: Karma Police
Performing Artist: Radiohead
Songwriter: Radiohead
Click for lyrics and song
Description:
Karma Police hits me deep in my stomach. As soon as I hear the sound of the A minor chords from the piano, guitar, and bass, I feel like I'm falling down a gorgeous hole in a dream. I first heard the song while travelling in Europe and would hit rewind constantly on my Sony Walkman (this was before the iPod and MP3s). I'll never forget the feel of being on a bus in Ireland, looking out the window at the Irish rain and bright green rolling hills, with Thom Yorke singing "I lost myself" over and over again. I believe the song is about the joy of being different and not fitting in, and how horrible it is when people try to force you to be something you are not. The lines about a girl with a "hitler hairdo" and a man who "talks in maths" appear to make fun of them, but I believe the song is trying to express their beauty. Karma Police is a song for outsiders who don't fit in and don't mind.

Mr. Lee's Example 2
Song: Killing Me Softly
Artist: Fugees (originally performed by Roberta Flack)
Songwriter: Charles Fox and Norman Gimble
Click for lyrics and song
Description:
There may not be a singer in the world like Lauryn Hill. Her voice feels high, low, and in-between to me. It expresses joy, sadness, and anger all in the same breath. I heard this song for the first time while walking through a shopping mall. I remember thinking, "What is that voice? It's giving me an intravenous hit straight to my veins." The funny thing about this song is it's a song about loving a song. It's almost like Lauryn Hill is singing exactly what you're feeling about her while she sings it to you. Although there have been many versions and covers of this track, including Roberta Flack's great original, I love this one best because of the addition of some fresh hip hop beats and flavour. It's a song you can lie in bed and cry to, or drive your sleek sports car to on the freeway

Mr. Lee's Example 3
Song: Live it Out (acoustic version)
Artist: Metric
Songwriter: Metric
Click for lyrics and song
Description:
Metric's "Live it Out" can be listened to in both their electric and acoustic versions. The great thing about both is how different one sounds from one another. My favourite one is the acoustic because you can hear the melancholy in the song much more definitively. It's not too hard to figure out what this song is about. To me, the track is a call to arms to everyone in the world. Emily Haines wants us to live our lives to their fullest and to not have any regrets. This song always reminds me to do that in my life. I love the lines "No concrete adversity/Only traps of our own actions" which always makes me think about the importance of not letting your fears rule your life, to avoid trying to make your life perfect and comfortable, and to seek passion and challenges instead. It's also a special song for me because it makes me contemplate the love I have for my wife and family when she sings "But I don't want to live it alone". "Live it Out" makes me want to reach for the stars and climb every mountain with the ones that I love.

When you are ready, use the form below to hand in your assignment. If you have trouble seeing it, click here.