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Tunes of the Times: Historical Songs as Pedagogy for Recent US History
Donna M. Binkiewicz
California State University, Long Beach
| "OH DEAR, what could the matter be? / Dear dear, what could the matter be?" The lyrics of an old parlor tune ring out from the classroom speakers. The melody would have been familiar to listeners of the early twentieth century, although it is not readily recognizable to most of the eighteen-year-old freshmen in my Recent United States history survey. The refrain echoes once more, then answers the question: "Oh dear, what could the matter be? / Women are wanting to vote!" This grabs the students' attention. They listen and laugh as the lyrics continue to poke fun at the narrow attitude against woman suffrage before 1920: "Women have husbands, they are protected, / Women have sons by whom they're directed, / Women have fathers, they're not neglected. / Why are they wanting to vote?"1 Why, indeed! Listening to this recording just before lecture begins has already introduced my students to the topic of the day and several of the issues we will be covering in class. Moreover, it has done so in a fun and engaging way that students will remember far better than my own introductory phrases. |
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Songs are powerful pedagogical tools that enliven a classroom and enhance student learning in an enjoyable manner. Historical songs are, moreover, valuable primary sources that provide listeners with direct commentary, attitudes, and emotions expressed by real people in particular historical periods. When utilizing primary documentation, music should be included. This article will suggest some of the ways songs may be used effectively to enhance the teaching and learning of history. It will also offer suggestions on where to locate audio resources and how to use new technologies to offer students the tunes of the times most relevant to your history class. |
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Educators have focused for some time on engaging the "whole student" and "all five senses" to advance learning. Music should not be overlooked in this quest for excellence in teaching. It is a logical way to "start at the level" of the students and then draw them toward the subject and issues you wish to teach them. How many of your students walk around campus (or even come to your class) carrying ipods or MP3 players and wearing earphones? Songs are already an important part of their daily lives. According to Neilson Net Ratings, in 2005 alone the traffic in iTunes grew by two hundred and forty one percent! "Between December 2004 and 2005 the numbers of people going to the site grew from 6.1 million to 20.7 million." Furthermore, a disproportionately large number of iTunes users were between the ages of twelve and seventeen.2 As history teachers, we may utilize that interest to engage them in historical learning. Whenever I play music in the classroom, students pay closer attention. That is a great starting point for introducing new ideas or cementing more familiar concepts. |
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Melodies and lyrics are also a natural means to remember material. In a history class, many students will struggle to remember dates for major events, but will easily memorize and recite lines from a song. While memorization is not the goal, it is a tool that can be used to build learning. Instead of coming up with anagrams to learn material, students may use lyrics. For example, when I lecture on Bill Clinton as a New Democrat, I define the New Democrats as politicians who are not entirely liberal or left-wing, but centrists. Clinton displayed traditional liberal tendencies in his policies on abortion rights or health care; but when it came to welfare reform or balancing the budget, he looked more like the conservatives on the right. After so characterizing Clinton, I play a song performed by a folk group called the Foremen, titled "Do the Clinton." It invites the audience to do a Clintonesque dance: "Come on and slide over to the middle./ Straighten up and step light. / Lean it to the left a little. / Now lean a lot to the right."3 The lyrics help students to imagine and remember Clinton's various policy approaches and the meaning of the New Democrats. |
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Another example of a song I use most effectively in the middle of a lecture is "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds. Like "Do the Clinton," "Little Boxes" also employs humor to poke fun at post-war suburban sprawl and American conformity in the 1950s. Students and I share a chuckle not only at the reference to little box homes "made out of ticky tacky / and they all look just the same," but even more at the lines, "and the children go to summer camp / and then to the university / where they are put in boxes / and they come out all the same."4 Many of my students have quoted from this song in their essays about consensus American life in the 1950s because it provided them with a vivid image of conformity. |
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Sometimes, I also utilize songs to transition between topics. A simple example of this would be playing Elvis to move from a discussion of 1950s conformity to teen rebellion and the critiques of Fifties America. Students have heard of Elvis, but an increasing number have never listened to him sing. It also makes for a good contrast in discussing the attitude changes between the late 1950s, when Elvis was viewed as "vulgar," to the late 1960s when a more potent countercultural rebellion occurred. Students find it hard to believe that Elvis could have been seen as subversive when they have heard later bands like Jefferson Airplane, NWA, or Bubba Sparxxx. |
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When I play the songs in the middle of the lecture, such timing is meant to reinforce the lecture ideas and provide students with a musical tool to remember the material. I provide students with lyrics to read and/or images to view while the song is playing—again expanding on five senses pedagogy. Most often, I play the songs before and, occasionally, after class. The downside of this technique is that I cannot count on every student hearing every word because I am using time outside of the class. If I want to hold students responsible for musical material, I must use it in the scheduled class time or provide it for them via the Web as a required class resource. This notwithstanding, I have found that playing songs before class is a valuable method for drawing students into the class, setting a tone, and focusing their attention on the material to come. Most students arrive at class a bit early and will hear the tunes. Moreover, knowing that music will be played often is an enticement to get them to class early. Occasionally, I also use songs as an exit strategy. Students will often stay and listen or hear part of the song as they leave the classroom and take a last note, if you will, from the lecture with them. I certainly find myself humming tunes I have played in class after I leave the room, and many students have told me they have the same experience of "having the songs in their head" long after class. |
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While most songs are easily "read" by students, educators must tease out the subtleties that students will overlook. Historical tunes provide an excellent entrée into a deeper discussion of context. For example, George Davis' song "Death of the Blue Eagle" refers to the New Deal's National Recovery Administration's demise. "Now there's a man in Washington, / Roosevelt is his name / And now he's a-mourning o'er that bird, / It is an awful shame. / He told Hugh S. Johnson, / And Johnson said, "Mine God" / What can the miners ever do / Without their blue mascot?"5 In this case, I examine the development of the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933 (of which the NRA was one element) as part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal before I introduce the song. Then after listening to it, I lead the class in a discussion of how the song portrays certain groups in favor of the NRA or opposed to it and why. The song sets up a broader dialogue about interest group politics as well as the details of the Supreme Court's decision in Schechter vs. U.S., which declared the NRA unconstitutional. These important histories are not clear to the casual listener. |
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Songs may be incorporated directly into PowerPoint slides, in the same way as images. You may download music onto your computer hard drive or insert a CD into the computer disc drive. Then from PowerPoint, in the slide you want to add the song to, choose "Insert sound", then "Play audio track." An attachment window will pop up, which will insert the song icon. Now whenever you wish to play the track, click the icon. Our campus is equipped with "smart panels" in the classrooms, which enable me to link my laptop into the projection system as well as the classroom audio system for the best sound quality. All it takes are VGA and audio cables to turn my laptop PowerPoint presentation into a full audio-visual experience. |
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It is best to select from a variety of musical genres to keep the use of songs fresh and to highlight changes in music history itself. Students will be able to hear the differences between 1920s Gershwin, 1940s swing, 1960s Motown, 1970s acid rock, and 1980s rap. I have also had many students bring me new tunes to listen to that they find are good examples of certain historical themes or cultural styles we have discussed in class. I always welcome their input, and students enjoy sharing their wider knowledge of very contemporary music with me. |
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One cautionary note, using songs in the classroom is a time consuming endeavor. One song may take up several minutes of class time. Additionally, I guarantee that you will spend more time researching and will listen to far more music than you will actually be able to play in the classroom. To begin your music history library, you may collect songs easily via the internet for small fees. The premier Web sites from which to download music are the iTunes music store, Napster, and MP3musiq. Different sites will offer the music in either iTunes or MP3 format, so you will need to locate the songs you want in the format compatible with your computer or music player in order to play them directly. However, you may download either type of file, burn the music to a compact disc, and then upload the song from the disc onto your computer, thereby bypassing compatibility issues altogether. I have listed below some of the excellent Web sources for historical music. Now, listen, enjoy, and let the learning continue!
The following Web sites offer music, lyrics, and information about songs:
The best sources for finding and downloading music in either iTunes or MP3 player formats include:
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/>
<http://www.mp3musiq.com>
<http://www.napster.com>
<http://www.real.com/rhapsody>
This site provides links to recordings of a variety of American songs:
<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/audio/music.cfm>
Another useful site for a variety of historical music, listed by theme may be found at the Fortune City site. In most cases, there are links to lyrics and some background about the songs and performers. However, only a few of the songs have direct links to audio files.
<http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/history.html#tap>
A list of Library of Congress folk music collections, which are available on compact disc and may be purchased, are located through this Web site:
<http://www.loc.gov/folklife/rounder.html>
The Smithsonian Institution also has an excellent site called Smithsonian Global Sound, which has easily downloadable links to a variety of music from around the world:
<http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org>
The Creative Folk website provides links to subject areas, such as woman suffrage music, African American music, and more. Some lyrics and music download links are available, as are links to other Web sites, such as Amazon.com, where you may locate CDs for purchase.
<http://creativefolk.com>
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Notes
1. L. May Wheeler, "Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be? (Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?)," <http://creativefolk.com/suffrage/html> (accessed 3–25–06).
2. Neilson Net Ratings as quoted in BBC News, Monday, January 23, 2006, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4639880.stm> (accessed 3–27–06).
3. Roy Zimmerman, "Do the Clinton," by The Foremen, Folk Heroes (Reprise Records, 1995).
4. Malvina Reynolds, "Little Boxes" (1962), Ear to the Ground (Smithsonian Folkways, 2000).
5. George Davis, "The Death of the Blue Eagle" (1966), When Kentucky Had No Union Men, (Folkways Records, 1967).
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