Lesson Plan: Love and Music

Lesson Plan: Love and Music

Do you have a song that was very important to you when you were young? Why?

  1. Listen to this podcast, 0:33-4:53

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/podcasts/modern-love-teenage-mixtape.html?

Which of the following are mentioned?

  • Dancing to a song
  • Writing the words of a song on shoes
  • Remembering someone a long time after the relationship
  • Sharing a taste in music
  • Learning how to play the song
  • Making a mixtape

Details

Are the following true or false?

  • The first speaker lived in a small town
  • She recognised the love as described in the song
  • The second speaker often called the girl
  • He was happy because she knew the words to the song
  • The third speaker played the song at the same time every day
  • She didn’t pay attention to the lyrics of the verses

Discussion: What emotions did these people feel? Are these commonly felt by young people?

Language

Match the two halves of the sentences:

When I was 14 what music I Iistened to
I wanted something hugewas so deeply alluring to me.
The immensity of itI wrote the lyrics to «Ghost» on my converse high-tops
She asked meto play it every day at the same time.
I’d never feltthat would sweep me out of this conservative town.
We agreedthat way before.

Discussion: What was an important song for you when you were young? When/ why did you listen to it? Do you still listen to it? Why/why not?

Why do you think music is so important for young people?

Part 2

What songs do you associate with a past relationship, whether romantic or otherwise?

Listen to the next part 4:53- 10.33

Which of the following are mentioned?

  • Cheating on someone.
  • Overhearing a song in a cafe
  • Kissing someone while a song played
  • An unstable relationship
  • Meeting an Ex.
  • Seeing a band play live.

Details

  • Was the first speaker happy in the expedition? Whay/why not?
  • What happened when he got drunk? What happened after?
  • What was the second speaker’s relationship like?
  • What did he do while he was listening?
  • What did the third speaker do while listening to the song?
  • What happened with her relationship?

Discussion: What emotions did these people feel? How did the songs help them with these emotions? Is it difficult for young people to process these emotions, in general?

Language

Complete the following with these words:

vividly, over the moon, sorry, volunteer, black-out, Mum’s

  • I was working for a ______________ wildlife expedition.
  • I was feeling very ________________ for myself
  • I got _________________- drunk with everyone else.
  • Every time I met him I was _______________________ , and then he did something terrible.
  • I am running with my ______________ yellow Sony walkman.
  • I remember very _______________ seeing him on this stairwell.

Discussion:

What do people need to be careful about when having their first relationship, do you think? Do you think society/parents/friends can support them in any way as they do this?

Part 3: Reading

Lead-in: Do you have any love songs that you enjoy? What message do they say about love?

Reading the following three descriptions.

Which one is about:

  • High School Heartbreak
  • Never Forgetting
  • Staying Together

Girl” by The Beatles
After 55 years this song still makes me blue. And yes, I still love her, and no, she’s not here but with another man. As long as she’s happy I’m happy. She’ll be 67 in a couple of weeks and I will send her a love song. — Claude, Quebec City

You Are the Sunshine of My Life” by Stevie Wonder
In September of 1972 I was asked on my first date, by Dean. The next month this song came out, and we both fell in love with it. It ended up being our anthem. We used it at our wedding and now we have been married for 42 years. I never had another date. I never had another boyfriend. Stevie Wonder has always spoken to me about love. — Jenny Fischer, 64Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Dear John” by Taylor Swift
I was at an orchestra rehearsal after school hours. The boy in another section, who I had a crush on, told me that he had a crush on my best friend. So I left rehearsal feeling absolutely gutted. It had snowed a little bit, so when I got to where my car was parked — at the top of this hill, looking down at the school — the top was just covered with sparkling frost. I remember looking at the sparkling frost, standing in the cold and processing the sadness of this boy not liking me.

There’s this line in the song that says, “I’m shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.” And I felt like it was me. I was shining even in my sadness. — Sabrina, 28, New York City

Vocabulary

Find a word that means the following

  • extremely sad or disappointed
  • a meeting that you have arranged with a boyfriend or girlfriend or with somebody who might become a boyfriend or girlfriend
  • shining and flashing with light
  •  a strong feeling of love, that usually does not last very long
  • a marriage ceremony, and the meal or party that usually follows it
  • depressed
  • a meeting that you have arranged with a boyfriend or girlfriend or with somebody who might become a boyfriend or girlfriend

Discussion: What songs would you include in a mixtape to a friend or (potential) romantic partner?

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