Monday, August 3, 2009

Weekly Geeks - Music Match

I honestly thought this would be a no-brainer for me. I teach music, I love to read, how hard could it be? Ummmm, I admit, I stumbled. Read on and then I'll explain:

Music is a pretty amazing thing. It can take us back to the past, make us want to dance, put us in a romantic mood, or simply lift our spirits. But sometimes, music does something a little different for me: it reminds me of a book.

Yes, there is nothing more geeky than to be riding down the road listening to the radio and suddenly thinking "That song matches [book title] perfectly!". But that is exactly what happens to me sometimes. For example, whenever I hear Phil Collins' song 'Can't Stop Loving You,' I immediately think of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South. To me, it is exactly the kind of song that describes the two main characters' relationship.

So, my fellow Weekly Geeks, your challenge this week is to come up with at least one song-book match. It could remind you of a theme from the book, a specific part of the plot, or even one of the characters (a sort of theme song, if you will). Be sure to include samples of the lyrics and the reason why that song reminds you of that book. If you can provide a link to a recording of the song so that other geeks can hear it that would be great as well. (One good place to look for links is last.fm, there are others, too).

Rock n' Roll!!


I kept hearing songs and found no book match. I thought of books I loved, but no song was coming to mind.
There was one book-song match that kept coming back to me and it's one I use in teaching. I will read the book "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister to my primary students, while playing "Aquarium" by Camille Saint-Saens in the background. Aquarium is from Carnival of the Animals. It's a gentle, beautiful piece of music that accurately represents life under the sea. I find that the music helps draw in the kids enhancing the story even further. The story itself teaches the kids about sharing and friendship. It has spawned a whole set of books and an animated TV series.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That seems a perfect match... involving a happily ever after and everything! Good on you :)

Anonymous said...

Wow. While the rest of were mired in rock and roll, you went the classy route and shamed us all. Thanks a lot. ;) No, really, thanks a lot. :)

I did try a little bit of class myself, though, with Coltrane to cover up the Black Adder piece I put in earlier.

Amat Libris said...

I remember this book from my own primary school days ... we never got musical accompaniment, though.