Resources for Educators
Song: “Three Little Birds” (mp3) by Bob Marley and the Wailers on the albums, Exodus (CD), or, Legend (CD).
Lyrics: Safe.
Topic: Safe. The speaker tells of waking up to find three birds perched on his doorstep. He personifies them or imagines their song is telling him everything is going to be alright.
Theme: Hope and optimism.
Recommended Age: Any.
Genre: Reggae. Upbeat dance music.
Year: 1977.
Video: No official music video.
I have collected over one hundred songs to play in my classroom. I also ask students each year to make requests and then carefully listed to the lyrics, so I can tell if the topic and the words in the song are safe for my eighth grade language arts classroom. Rather than keep this list secret, and so I can double-check the songs, I’ve decided to do annotated posts on one song every few days.
You can read all the reviews at: http://www.heyerlearning.org/category/classroom-safe-music/
Since I’m not just giving a big list, you are able to look into characteristics of the songs such as topic, theme, genre, etc.
Song: “I am the Highway” (mp3) by Audioslave on the self-titled album, Audioslave (CD).
Lyrics: Safe.
Topic: Safe. The speaker tells of being taken for granted and getting away from it.
Theme: Relationships.
Recommended Age: Any. Most appealing to middle school and older.
Genre: Rock.
Year: 2002.
Video: No official music video.