Read All About It
Emeli Sandé
Questions for Discussion
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1) 'You've got the words to change a nation' - what does the writer mean by this phrase?
2) What does it mean if you are 'biting your tongue'?
3) In the song the singer appears to be singing to someone - in the first stanza, what does the singer say their problem is? Why do you think they are like this? (There is no right or wrong answer with this second question).
4) 'You've got a heart as loud as lightning//So why let your voice be tamed?//Maybe we're a little different//There's no need to be ashamed' - Find and copy one word that means 'to be controlled'.
5) What does the singer mean by 'we're singing away the blues'?
6) What is 'airplay'?
7) In the song the singers says that 'we're finally finding our voices' - what do you think this means? And, what do you think made this happen?
8) Do you think that this song has a message, if so what is it?
9) P4C - What things make us fearful? And, what do they all have in common?
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Someone Like You
Adele
Questions for Discussion
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1) What does it mean if someone 'settles down'?
2) Who 'settled down'?
3) What does it mean if you 'turn up out of the blue'?
4) Why do you think the singer felt as though she was 'uninvited'?
5) How do you think the singer knows the person that she is talking to?
6) 'But I couldn't stay away//I couldn't fight it' - what couldn't see 'fight'?
7) 'Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead' - what do you think this line means?
8) Why does the singer eventually say 'nevermind I'll find someone like you instead'? What has made them decide to do this?
9) Why does the singer say that 'time flies'?
10) 'I'd hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded' - what did the singer hope the person would be reminded of?
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in my Hair)
Shandi Thom
Questions for Discussion
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1) The singer is was born in the 1970s - True or False. Give evidence to back-up your answer.
2) 'Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair' - which word in this line show us that the singer would like to have been alive at another time.
3) 'When music really mattered and when radio was king' - outline an adverb of manner from this sentence.
4) 'And computers were still scary' - why might computers have been scary?
5) 'ignorance could still be bliss' - explain what this phrase means with an example.
6) 'media couldn't buy your soul' - who are the media and how can they buy your soul?
7) If you met the singer in real like, what do you think their favourite possessions would be?
8) P4C - Do you think new inventions are always good?
9) P4C - If you could, which time period would you like to visit and why?
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
The Sound of Silence: Oxymorons
The Sound of Silence is a great song to get children looking at oxymorons.
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Explain to your children that an oxymoron is where words that contradict each other appear close to one another. For example: alone together; big baby; pretty ugly; same difference and so on.
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Listen to the song and get the children to see if they can find the oxymorons in the song. After a bit of discussion you can get the children to come up with their own oxymorons or write a poem using them.
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Here is an example of a short oxymoron poem (don't worry too much about rhythm, rhyme or syllables - just focus on the oxymorons):
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On the great little day,
the man came home to run away.
He saw his friend whom he had never met,
and remembered everything they would later forget.
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
A Thousand Miles: Hyperbole
Boyce Avenue (Vanessa Carlton Cover)
A Thousand Miles is a nice song through which to teach children about hyperbole.
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Explain to your children that hyperbole is are exaggerated/far fetched claims that are not meant to be taken seriously. Listen to the song and get the children to find the example of hyperbole.
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Get the children to come up with their own examples of hyperbole. Get the children to use recite.com to make their own inspirational quote pictures using their examples of hyperbole.
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea
Passenger
Passenger's 'Young as the Morning, Old as the Sea' is a great song for talking about the countries of the world.
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The song sees the singer describe the places they would like to visit around the world and what they would like to do there.
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Discuss with your children where they would like to visit and what they would like to do there and get them to use the pro forma below to create their own version of the song.
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I wanna lay by _____
I wanna walk through _____
I wanna see the _____
I wanna sail on _____
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I wanna feel _____
I wanna go to _____
I wanna see _____
I wanna walk ______
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I wanna be free as the winds that blow past me
Clear as the air that I breath
To be young as the morning
And old as the sea
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
You Fill Up My Senses (Annie's Song): Similes
John Denver
John Denver's 'You Fill Up My Senses' is a nice song for getting children to grips with smiles. Get the children to listen to the song and point out the similes. After, get the children to think of things that would heighten their senses and place these into the song in place of the similes using the pro forma below.
You fill up my senses
Like _____
Like _____
Like _____
Like _____
Like _____
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again
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Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again
You fill up my senses
Like _____
Like _____
Like _____
Like _____
Like _____
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Ends of the Earth: Descriptive Devices
Lord Huron
Lord Huron's 'Ends of the Earth' is a nice song to get your children playing around with lyrics and descriptive devices. In the song the writer characterises various geographical features and explains how he will conquer them, like in this example: 'Oh, there's a river that winds on forever//I'm gonna see where it leads//Oh, there's a mountain that no man has mounted//I'm gonna stand on the peak'. Below I have blanked out the lyrics so that your children can have a go at describing the mountains and rivers mentioned in the song and how they would overcome them. Hope this is useful!
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Oh, there's a river _____
I'm gonna _____
Oh, there's a mountain ____
I'm gonna _____
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To the ends of the earth, would you follow me
There's a world that was meant for our eyes to see
To the ends of the earth, would you follow me
If you will have a say my goodbyes to me
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Oh, there's an island where _____
I'm gonna _____
Oh, there's a desert _____
I'm gonna _____
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To the ends of the earth, would you follow me
There's a world that was meant for our eyes to see
To the ends of the earth, would you follow me
Well if you want, I will say my goodbyes to me
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Click here for a link to the lyrics.