Name ______
Directions: Choose a song to analyze using the criteria below. Complete both the questions that follow and the nutrition label. Be as thorough as possible with your written responses! 50 points total!
Step 1 choose a song
Step 2 print the lyrics and attach to the packet for binder check
Step 3 answer the questions that follow in detail!
Step 4 complete the nutrition label for your song
Lyrics Analysis Worksheet
Observation
1. Look at the title of this song. Can you tell what the song will be about from the title? Explain.
2. Look at the CD cover or illustration (if any... you can look it up online). What do you notice right away?
Responding
3. Read through the song lyrics. What are your personal reactions to the lyrics? Write at least 3 lines that stood out to you by just reading them.
4. Now listen to the lyrics as they are sung? Are your personal reactions different than when you read the lyrics? Explain. Did the three lines you would choose, change after hearing the song?
5. What emotions might this song produce when sung?
Linking to Personal Experience and History
6. Why do you think the songwriter wrote this piece? What clues do you find to suggest this?
7. Can you find information about why the songwriter wrote this song or why the artist chose to sing this song? What is the information and what source(s) did you use to find it? What does this song tell you about the songwriter’s personal experiences? Look up a biography about the songwriter and the artist. Can you make connections between the information in the biographies and the song?
8. What does this song tell you about what life was like during this period in history or in our society?
- How can you relate to this song?
Nutrition Facts Labels for Songs
Before you download the next pop hit from iTunes, check whether it is hazardous to your health. A teen panel working with the Boston Public Health Commission has set up a “nutrition facts label” rating (like that seen on food items) for songs:
“Music, like food, can feed our brains and give us energy,” said Casey Corcoran, director of the Commission’s Start Strong Initiative. “But songs can affect our health and the health of our relationships.”
The tool, patterned after common food nutritional labels, invites consumers to become song lyric nutritionists by helping them identify relationship ingredients that make up a song. Using printed song lyrics as a guide, users can tally the number of healthy relationship themes, such as respect, equality, and trust, which are present in the song. And, like fattening calories, unhealthy relationship themes – possession, disrespect, and manipulation – are also counted. The number of times these themes are mentioned also factor into to the song’s total nutritional value. Corcoran recommends consuming lots of ‘healthy relationship’ ingredients for a balanced media diet.
The model was developed by 14 peer leaders in the Commission’s Start Strong Initiative. The teens, who range in age from 15 to 19 years old, attended a seven-week “Healthy Relationship Institute” where they were trained in teen dating violence prevention and healthy relationship promotion. They also learned to look at media critically, breaking it down to better understand the healthy or unhealthy relationship messages it may contain, such as power, control, equality, and gender roles.
“It’s important to have youth involved in this effort because teenagers are the main audience of the music,” said peer leader Shaquilla Terry, age 15 of Boston. “It’s important to actually listen to and think about the lyrics of a song and not just the beat.”And which songs are (mentally) bad and good for you? Here are the Top 10 lists:
Top 10 Songs with UNHEALTHY Relationship Ingredients (2009)
Song / Artist / Score 0-501. Break Up (feat. Gucci Mane and Sean Garrett) / Mario / 45
2. Blame It (feat. T-Pain) / Jamie Foxx / 32
3. Paparazzi / Lady Gaga / 27
4. You’re a Jerk / New Boyz / 26
5. Baby By Me / 50 Cent / 25
6. Best I Ever / Drake / 24
7. One More Drink (feat. T-Pain) / Ludacris / 23
8. Be On You (feat. Ne-Yo) / Flo Rida / 22
9. Hotel Room Service / Pitbull / 21.5
10. Bad Romance / Lady Gaga / 20
Top 10 Songs with HEALTHY Relationship Ingredients (2009)
Song / Artist / Score 0-501. One Time / Justin Bieber / 40
2. Miss Independent / Ne-Yo / 30
3. Replay / Iyaz / 25.5
4. Say Hay / Michael Franti / 25
5. Knock You Down / Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West / 21
6. Only You Can Love Me This Way / Keith Urban / 20
7. Her Diamonds / Rob Thomas / 19
8. I’m Yours / Jason Mraz / 18
9. Fallin For You / Colbie Caillat / 16
10. Meet Me Halfway / Black Eyed PEas / 15