People forget things; that's why I have selected thirty songs for which I will bring the lyrics to class for students who forgot their own to use. I hope not to have to use them, but it's entirely possible that I will.
The students will feel more of an investment to the lyrics if they choose the song themselves; I am not sure exactly how students who use lyrics of my choosing will react to the exercise. Part of the point in this exercise is to de-centralize my authority as teacher--largely a definitive authority--by allowing other voices to come together and be treated as authoritative English language users, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins for instance. Should someone choose one of his songs for the exercise, she or he is also choosing Billy Corgan to be an authority from which to learn. Also indirectly, the students choosing their written role models might develop an empowering sense of agency with the written word: they can choose who is "right," whose lyrics are the most pleasing, and then can proceed to analyze the writing and ferret out the words that they think are important. Within this agency is the desired result for the classroom: though indirectly the students have engaged with an "authoritative" source of writing (other than their teacher), their teacher is now able to proceed with the nouns and verbs discussion alluded to in a previous post.
Unfortunately, the classroom must proceed directly instead of indirectly. If I had my druthers, we wouldn't do the exercise until each student had found a song to dissect. There aren't that many hours in the week, though, and we have lots to cover. Directly, then, the following list of songs should prove helpful in greasing the classroom wheel and leading a helpful and (hopefully) fun classroom activity. More musings anon.
Here is the List:
Metallica: Whiskey in the Jar (several bands have done this song), Hero of the Day, The Day that Never Comes.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Zephyr Song, Californication, Snow, Otherside.
The Smashing Pumpkins: Zero, Disarm, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, The Everlasting Gaze.
Journey: Wheel in the Sky.
Stone Temple Pilots: Interstate Love Song
Green Day: J.A.R., Waiting.
Black Sabbath: War Pigs.
Ozzy Osbourne: See You on the Other Side, Black Rain.
The Cranberries: Zombie.
Nirvana: Come As You Are, All Apologies, Heart-Shaped Box.
System of a Down: Prison Song.
Jay-Z: Empire State of Mind, Hola' Hovita.
P. Diddy (Puff Daddy, Puffy, Sean Combs...): I'll Be Missing You, Come With Me.
Oasis: Wonderwall, Morning Glory, Champagne Supernova.
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