TeachRock

1. Have each student write down the title of a song that he/she hears on a regular basis. Go around the room and ask each student to share his or her song. Ask students to raise their hands if the songs they chose have lyrics dealing with love or relationships.
2. Ask students the following questions, encouraging discussion:
   • Why might love be a common theme in songs?
   • Is music as a medium particularly effective in establishing a romantic mood? In other words, can it influence mood in ways that other media (like paintings or films) cannot?
   • What are some different kinds of feelings about relationships that could be expressed in songs? (Longing, hope, loss, etc.)
3. Break the class into small groups of about three students. Ask students to collaborate on a list of features that a good love song might have. (Imagery, instrumentation, tempo, etc.) Select a representative from each group to share their list with the class.

1. Distribute Handout 1 – Love Song (Excerpts), which contains excerpts of lyrics used in this lesson. As a class, watch the video of the Doo Wop group the Flamingos singing the song “Would I be Crying?” (1956), and discuss:
   • Whose point of view is expressed in this song? (The singer’s/songwriter’s)
   • Whom is being addressed? How do you know? (Note use of pronouns like “you” or “she”)
   • What kind of message or story does the song have? What do you imagine has happened to the singer and the person he is singing to?
2. Discuss the musical qualities of the song. What does the music sound like?
   • Is the music happy or sad? What makes it sound that way? (Tempo, melody, etc.)
   • What instruments are used in the background?
   • How do the performers present the song? Do they act out the lyrics in any way?
   • In what respects does this song match your list of good love-song qualities?
3. Play the video of Dion DiMucci (a singer-songwriter and leader of the Doo Wop group Dion and the Belmonts), “Music as a Way Out” starting at 1:34.  Ask students:
   • What does Dion say about emotional songs like the Flamingos’ “Would I Be Crying”? What is his “secret”?
   • Why might it be easier to sing rather than speak about emotions like love or heartbreak?
4. Ask a volunteer to read  the lyrics of “Would I Be Crying” out loud from the handout. Ask students:
   • Does adding music to these lyrics change your experience of listening to them? How do you think music helps to create or enhance emotions?
5. Ask a student to read the lyrics to “Communication Breakdown” from the handout, but do not identify the band.
6. Ask students to describe what kind of emotion is being expressed in these lyrics, and what they think the corresponding music should sound like. (Tempo, volume, instrumentation, etc.)
7. Next, play the clip of Led Zeppelin performing the song (the second verse begins at 0:48). Discuss the performance:
   • Did the music meet students’ expectations? Why or why not?
   • How does this song compare to the students’ list of love song features? Is it loud or soft? Fast or slow?
   • How does “Communication Breakdown” compare to “Would I Be Crying?” by the Flamingos?
   • Does using the instrumentation of a Rock and Roll band (electric guitars, drums), along with the fast tempo and high volume, make this seem more or less like a song about romance?
8. Tell the students that the Hard Rock style of bands like Led Zeppelin developed in the late 1960s, more than a decade after the Doo Wop style of the Flamingos was popular. Ask students:
   • How might new and different styles of music produce different kinds of love songs?
9. Explain to students that the kinds of lyrics used in love songs can change over time, too. To illustrate, tell the students that they are about to hear two songs, one of which was written in the 1950s, before the feminist movement of the 1960s began, and one that was written at the beginning of the movement. Play clips of the following two songs: “With My Eyes Wide Open, I’m Dreaming,” performed by Patti Page, and “You Don’t Own Me” performed by Lesley Gore. Ask students which song they think is from which era, and why. (Patti Page made “With My Eyes Wide Open I’m Dreaming” into a hit in 1950; “You Don’t Own Me” was popular in 1963 and subsequently became an anthem for the feminist movement.)

1. Ask students to return to their small groups from the beginning of class and revisit their list of love song features. Is there is anything they would like to add to their lists after listening to the songs in this lesson?
2. Have the groups imagine that a music producer has come to them and asked them to compose new music for Led Zeppelin’s song “Communication Breakdown” in order to make it sound more like a romantic love song from the 1950s (like “Would I Be Crying” or “With My Eyes Wide Open, I’m Dreaming”). What changes would they make to the original version?

Ask students to write their own love song lyrics, using the songs in this lesson as models. First students must decide who will be speaking and to whom or what the song will be addressed (a boyfriend/girlfriend, family member, friend, pet, even a place). After writing the lyrics, they should write a short description of the music they imagine might deliver the message of the song: is it loud or soft? Fast or slow? What instruments might the musicians use?

1. Have students compile playlists for a hypothetical school dance with a Valentine’s theme and write a journal entry or short paper explaining their selections.
2. Listen to and compare Sam Cooke singing the songs “Wonderful” and “Lovable.” “Loveable” is a secular love song based on the earlier Gospel song “Wonderful.” What stays the same between the two songs? What changes? Students can also read Barney Hoskyns’s article “The Soul Stirrer: Sam Cooke” from Rock’s Backpages and discuss why turning a Gospel song into a love song would be controversial.
3. Have students compare and contrast the following three love songs, all from the mid-1960s: “You’ve Really Got Me,” by the Kinks; “She Loves You,” by the Beatles; and “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter,” by Herman’s Hermits. These three songs demonstrate different perspectives on relationships. Students should answer the following questions about each song:
   • Who is speaking?
   • To whom are they speaking, and what about? (Pay attention to nouns and pronouns.)
   • What perspective on the relationship in the story does the speaker have?
   • How does the music set the mood for the conversation taking place in the song? Is the song fast or slow? Soft or loud? What instruments are being used?