Lyrics and Critical Literacy I have organized my examples into the following six topics: The Environment: Tracy Chap

Lyrics and Critical Literacy
    As I mentioned in the last lecture, pop music lyrics serve as excellent texts for promoting critical literacy in the classroom. Today, I’ll show you some examples, which I have organized into six topics:the environment, United States history, economics, government policies and practices, racism and racial issues, and international events and situations.
    I have not attempted to provide an exhaustive review of song lyrics. Rather, I provide some examples to encourage educators to incorporate these into relevant lessons and to find other songs that provide students with a politically contextualized understanding of important issues.
    The Environment
    There are multiple perspectives involved in debates over environmental issues.
    In schools, we need to expose students to those perspectives within the framework of scientific inquiry. Tracy Chapman’s song "The Rape of the World" confronts us with our abuse of our environment. The use of the word rape, described in the song as "the most evil of crimes," is powerful.
    Exploration of these songs, the issues they address, and the tone each takes could promote critical conversations about the environment. Each asks the listener to consider various ways in which people have altered the environment and the consequences of those actions.
    U.S. History
    History is usually taught to students through textbooks. Much debate has occurred, especially in the last decade, over whether those sources always contain appropriate content. These debates often reflect contrasting beliefs:On one side, many believe that the histories and stories of oppressed and marginalized people, such as women and people of color, must be included in curriculum; others, however, assert that we must not revise the standard depiction of history.
    Many popular songs tell stories rarely included in textbooks. "Buffalo Soldier", written by Bob Marley, tells about the black soldiers of the 19th century—a group few of us learned about in school—who were named "buffalo soldiers" by the Indians against whom they fought after the Civil War. Marley’s lyrics intersect these freed slaves’ histories with their patriotism. He tells listeners that they have to know their personal histories to "know where you are coming from".
    Economics
    Several songs describe how the underclass—whether the homeless or poorly paid immigrant laborers—is often treated. The economic perspectives in these songs could be examined in economics or U.S. government courses, or in more general social studies classes.
    Tracy Chapman describes the homeless in "Subcity". She tells us how the poor see the relationships between government, big business, and their unrewarded efforts. She questions the assumption that poor people are after handouts, telling us that they really want "a way to make an honest living". These people have been our workers, but now find themselves out of a job with nowhere to go.
    Phil Collins’ haunting song about the homeless, "Another Day in Paradise", can be compared to Chapman’s "Subcity". It describes a female asking a man if he knows somewhere she can sleep and get out of the cold. "He pretends he can’t hear her," and continues walking. Compared to her life, we live "in paradise".
    U.S. Government Policies and Practices
    This category includes songs that question government policies and practices.
    They can be used to provide alternative perspectives of times and events portrayed in most social studies textbooks.
    Many songs from the 1960s and 1970s portray the anti-establishment perspective on the Vietnam War. What became an anti-Vietnam War anthem was written by a former Navy man, Joe McDonald, and performed by his band, Country Joe and the Fish. The lyrics confront the battle commanders whose "big chance has come at last", and large corporations who profit from the war. The chorus and the upbeat, rousing music create a mood of adventure. The repeated phrase in the chorus,"next stop is Vietnam", is an ironic commentary on war in general.
    Racism and Racial Issues
    Confronting racism is often uncomfortable. A song that can begin the conversation in classrooms is Bruce Hornsby’s "The Way It Is". The lyrics intersect racism (especially toward African Americans), welfare, jobs, and ineffective laws. The song refers to the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964. Though this law gave legal rights to people of color, the lyrics remind us that "the law doesn’t change another’s mind" when it comes to prejudice.
    Discussion of this song would easily fit in a unit about Black History Month as a way to help students understand why it is necessary to single out a group of people for yearly recognition. The lyrics would also add to a discussion of the Civil Rights Act and its time period in a high school American history course.
    International Events and Conditions
    On their album War, Irish rock band U2 performs a song written by band member Bono. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" refers to events in Deny, Ireland, on January 30, 1972, when members of the British army fired on unarmed Catholics, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The song asks, "There’s many lost, but tell me who has won?"
    Economic exploitation of developing countries by industrial nations is described in "Do You Want My Job?" written and sung by Little Village. The music implies the setting of a Caribbean island that is used as a dumping ground for spent Japanese plutonium, rendering the fish inedible. Now the inhabitants "buy Spam from the grocery store".
    In addition to studying the song lyrics, students can read textbooks, magazines, and trade books that provide more information as they explore the underlying political, economic, or science topics.