Note to Teachers: The programs viewed in conjunction with these lesson plans may include references, consistent with the eras portrayed, to substance abuse, violent acts, and topics of a sexual and/or political nature. Because this may be considered inappropriate for classroom use in some communities, you are encouraged to review the programs before presenting them to your students, and if necessary, choose those sections that enhance your lesson and are acceptable for use in your classroom. VH1 Storytellers: Pearl Jam VH1 Music Studio Cable in the Classroom Lesson for Music Classes, Grades 7-12 Lesson 3 Objectives: * Students will examine the nature of their own generation by looking at current events and music styles. * Students will update old lyrics with new ones that are more relevant to current times and express a truth about their own generation. * Students will perform their updated lyrics and support their choices. National Standards for Music Education: 1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. 7. Evaluating music and music performances. 8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture. Materials: * VHS VCR Player * Television * VH1's Storytellers: Pearl Jam (Cable in the Classroom edited version) * Web-based lesson materials * Blank paper (students) * Chalkboard * Pens/Pencils (students) Prior Knowledge: * Students should have a basic knowledge of the elements of music - melody, harmony, form, rhythm, and color/texture. Procedures: 1. Cue the video to Segment 4 of VH1's Storytellers: Pearl Jam. Watch the final segment of the show. Engage a class discussion about what the students think their own generation will be known for in fifteen years. What current events will be remembered? How might the music of their generation influence future generations? (see below for a weblink to VH1 music charts) As with stories, genres have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Are there any emerging musical genres that express the nature of their generation? 2. Divide the class into groups of three. Tell the students they will be updating the lyrics to a song of their choice to reflect a TRUTH about current issues and/or culture. Provide a few copies of each of the Pearl Jam songs previously examined, and web links to other artists and lyrics. Tell the class that content source(s) for lyric revisions is up to them - newspaper clippings, personal experiences, memory, imagination, etc. They should attempt to revise as much of the song as possible, or at least two verses and the chorus. 3. Invite each group to perform their updated lyrics for the class - spoken, a cappella, or with accompaniment. Ask each group: What truth does your song tell? Supplemental Resources: * Main VH1 website: http://www.vh1.com/ * Official Pearl Jam website: http://www.pearljam.com * Sonymusic Pearl Jam website - another excellent source: http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/PearlJam/ * Current Music Charts: http://www.vh1.com/artists/charts/ * Search for music artists and links to their lyrics: http://www.vh1.com/music/ * Singer-songwriters - source for song revisions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer-songwriters National Standards for Music Education 1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments. 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. 5. Reading and notating music. 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. 7. Evaluating music and music performances. 8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture. These standards-based materials are provided through a partnership with MENC: The National Association for Music Education. This lesson plan was created by MENC, Jennifer Wilson, Composer, Author, Music Educator, Los Angeles CA. "Gone" 2005 Pearl Jam No more upset mornings No more tired evenings This American dream I am disbelieving When the gas in my tank Feels like money in the bank Gonna blow it all this time Take me one last ride For the lights of this city They only look good when I'm speeding Gonna leave em all behind me Cause this time I'm gone Long gone This time I'm letting go of it all So long Cause this time I'm gone In the far off distance As my tail-lights fade No one thinks to witness But they will someday Feel like a question is forming and the answers far I will be what i could be Once I get out of this town For the lights of this city They have lost all feeling Gonna leave em all behind me Cause this time I'm gone Long gone This time I'm letting go of it all So long Long gone, I'm letting go of it all Cause this time I'm gone If nothing is everything If nothing is everything, I'll have it all If nothing is everything If nothing is everything, I'll have it all I am gone "Alive" 1990 Pearl Jam Son, she said, have I got a little story for you What you thought was your daddy was nothin' but a... While you were sittin' home alone at age thirteen Your real daddy was dyin', sorry you didn't see him, but I'm glad we talked... Oh I, oh, I'm still alive Hey, I, I, oh, I'm still alive Hey I, oh, I'm still alive Hey...oh... Oh, she walks slowly, across a young man's room She said I'm ready...for you I can't remember anything to this very day 'Cept the look, the look... Oh, you know where, now I can't see, I just stare... I, I'm still alive Hey I, but, I'm still alive Hey I, boy, I'm still alive Hey I, I, I, I'm still alive, yeah Ooh yeah...yeah yeah yeah...oh...oh... Is something wrong, she said Well of course there is You're still alive, she said Oh, and do I deserve to be Is that the question And if so...if so...who answers...who answers... I, oh, I'm still alive Hey I, oh, I'm still alive Hey I, but, I'm still alive Yeah I, ooh, I'm still alive Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah "World Wide Suicide" 2006 Pearl Jam I felt the earth on Monday. It moved beneath my feet in the form of a morning paper. Laid out for me to see. Saw his face in a corner picture. I recognized the name. Could not stop staring at the. Face I'd never see again. It's a shame to awake in a world of pain What does it mean when a war has taken over It's the same everyday in a hell manmade What can be saved, and who will be left to hold her? The whole world,... world over. It's a worldwide suicide. The whole world,... world over. It's a worldwide suicide. Medals on a wooden mantle. Next to a handsome face. That the president took for granted. Writing checks that others pay. And in all the madness. Thought becomes numb and naive. So much to talk about there's. Nothing for to say. It's the same everyday and the wave won't break Tell you to pray, while the devil's on their shoulder Laying claim to the take our soldiers save Does not equate, and the truth's already out there The whole world,... world over. It's a worldwide suicide. The whole world,... world over. It's a worldwide suicide. Looking in the eyes of the fallen You got to know there's another, another, another, another Another way It's a shame to awake in a world of pain What does it mean when a war has taken over It's the same everyday and the wave won't break Tell you to pray, while the devil's on their shoulder The whole world,... world over. It's a worldwide suicide. The whole world,... world over. It's a worldwide suicide. "Here's to the State of George W." Here's to the judges of William Rehnquist, Who wear the robe of honour in their phoney legal fort. Oh, justice is a stranger when the partisans report, When the court elected the president it was the beginning of this war. Whoa here's to the land you've torn out the heart of, William Rehnquist, find yourself another country to be part of! And here's to the government of Dick Cheney, With criminals are posing as advisors to the crown And they hope that no one sees the sights and no one hears the sounds 'Cause the speeches of the president are the ravings of a clown Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Dick Cheney, find yourself another country to be part of And here's to the churches of Jerry Falwell, Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust And the Sunday morning sermons pander to the fear of men in lust Heaven only knows in which God they can trust Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Jerry Falwell, find yourself another country to be part of And here's to the laws of John Ashcroft, Congress will pass an act in the panic of the day While the Constitution is drowning in an ocean of decay And freedom of speech is dangerous, I've even heard them say Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of John Ashcroft, find yourself another country to be part of And here's to the businessman of George W., Who want to change the focus from Halliburton and Enron And their profits, like blood money are spilling out on the White House Lawn TO keep their hold on power they're using terror as a gun While the bombs that fall on children don't care which side that they're on Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of George W., find yourself another country to be part of *** "Here's to the State of Mississippi" Here's to the state of Mississippi, For Underheath her borders, the devil draws no lines, If you drag her muddy river, nameless bodies you will find. Whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes, The calender is lyin' when it reads the present time. Whoa here's to the land you've torn out the heart of, Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of! Here's to the people of Mississippi Who say the folks up north, they just don't understand And they tremble in their shadows at the thunder of the Klan The sweating of their souls can't wash the blood from off their hands They smile and shrug their shoulders at the murder of a man Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of Here's to the schools of Mississippi Where they're teaching all the children that they don't have to care All of rudiments of hatred are present everywhere And every single classroom is a factory of despair There's nobody learning such a foreign word as fair Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of Here's to the cops of Mississippi They're chewing their tobacco as they lock the prison door Their bellies bounce inside them as they knock you to the floor No they don't like taking prisoners in their private little war Behind their broken badges there are murderers and more Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of And, here's to the judges of Mississippi Who wear the robe of honor as they crawl into the court They're guarding all the bastions with their phony legal fort Oh, justice is a stranger when the prisoners report When the black man stands accused the trial is always short Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of And here's to the government of Mississippi In the swamp of their bureaucracy they're always bogging down And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns They're hoping that no one sees the sights and hears the sounds And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of And here's to the laws of Mississippi Congressmen will gather in a circus of delay While the Constitution is drowning in an ocean of decay Unwed mothers should be sterilized, I've even heard them say Yes, corruption can be classic in the Mississippi way Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of And here's to the churches of Mississippi Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust And the Sunday morning sermons pander to their lust The fallen face of Jesus is choking in the dust Heaven only knows in which God they can trust Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of Mississippi find yourself another country to be part of