I'm planning an English lesson on Shakespeare's sonnets, and want to trace the tradition backwards, to Petrarch and also forwards, into our daily life. I want the students to listen to a pop-song written in the Petrarchan tradition, you know; the idealized (non-existent) love, with lips like red coral, with eyes like the blue heaven. I can be cheesy, I don't mind, but I need some real metaphors and comparisons in it. Any ideas?

One of the conceits that comes to mind is of the unattainable mistress. So, I'm thinking Rick James' "Hard to Get." But, it might get you fired.

Hope someone comes up with something better.

kiss by a rose? seal....

sosgemini said:

That's not a bad idea at all. Still, I'm looking for a song in which the beloved is compared or idealized even more. But I'll keep this one in mind !

UptownDeb said:

Also a good idea, but not perfect... And a bit dangerous indeed. I can't get fired, 'cause I only have to give ten lessons (still studying), but I might have to do it again in september if I shock them too much.

To give you an idea... this is the kind of Petrarchan sonnet I want to discuss, although I still think I can find a better one...

Those eyes, 'neath which my passionate rapture rose,
The arms, hands, feet, the beauty that erewhile
Could my own soul from its own self beguile,
And in a separate world of dreams enclose,
The hair's bright tresses, full of golden glows,
And the soft lightning of the angelic smile
That changed this earth to some celestial isle,
Are now but dust, poor dust, that nothing knows.
And yet I live! Myself I grieve and scorn,
Left dark without the light I loved in vain,
Adrift in tempest on a bark forlorn;
Dead is the source of all my amorous strain,
Dry is the channel of my thoughts outworn,
And my sad harp can sound but notes of pain.

And this is how Shakespeare reversed this tradition two centuries later...
Rather funny I think

SONNET 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

i have no clue what hour talking about..

but how about Constant Craving by kd lang..?




im just gonna keep throwing shit out until something sticks..

sosgemini said:

I want to become a teacher and it looks like I'm baffling along, no one seems to get my point.
However, I'll keep on going.

To make it all a bit clearer...

Petrarch was an Italian poet who introduced the sonnet, with its specific rhyme-schemen, into literature. In his sonnets, Laura was idolized, and her beauty was compared to all kind of things... her hair was like gold, her eyes were like the blue ocean, etc.

Nowadays, this has all become so cliché, whereas it was innovative in the 14th century.

I'd like to start the lesson with a (preferably well-known) recent song, and trace this idealized love-thing back to Petrarch. Then I'd like to take a look at Shakespeare's sonnet 130, which is making fun of this tradition. He says his mistress is all but beautiful, but stresses the unimportance of outward appearance.

Did I make myself clear now? This is what I'll tell those kids next week, in front of a classroom, and I have 50 minutes to do it.

MarieLouise said:

R Kelly's "You Remind Me Of My Jeep"?

R Kelly's "You Remind Me Of My Jeep"? [/quote]

Now we're getting close!


But... there's a big BUT

I only have to be in front of this particular class for 1 hour, and I really don't want to look like an R.Kelly -fan, I mean, I really don't!

Aren't there any beautiful songs? Like Prince, Joni, Leonard??? HELP !

Terence Trent D'Arby
From: Neither Fish Nor Flesh

-----

It Feels So Good To Love Someone Like You
Desert sands
Heart's homeland
'Til you

Flesh and bones
Made of stone
'Til you

Seasons never changed
Reasons never came

So it feels so good to love
Someone like you

Birds in trees
Fantasies
'Til you

Fire's cry
The embers die
'Til you

Dying on the roam
Crying for a home

And so it feels so good to love
Someone like you

i dont think that fits as a petrarchan..

sosgemini said:

'Delicate' would be better, because it's 'delicate like x'

hey, does Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover"
qualify? at least conceptually; the lyrics
aren't ripe with metaphor...

Your breath is sweet
Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth
On the pillow where you lie

from 'one more cup of coffee' Bob Dylan

Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, jolene

from 'Jolene' Dolly Parton

I'm getting more ideas by posting this. 'Jolene' would be a good example, but still not perfect...But it's a song they'll probably know, although in another version...

MarieLouise said:

yeah...i figured such after i posted it..but its such a beautiful song..screw formality..

Terence Trent D'Arby
From: Symphony Or Damn

-----

Delicate
Delicate like rain
Delicate like snow
Delicate like birds
Delicate just so
Delicate like air
Delicate like breeze
Delicate like you and me

A delicate advance
A delicate retreat
Delicately planned
Delicate like peace
Delicate like a touch
That's delicately brief
Delicate like you and me

Delicate like trinkets on her bracelet
(Like trinkets on her bracelet)
Delicate like a bracelet on your arm
(Like a bracelet on your arm)
Delicate like sweet arms around me
(Your sweet arms around me)
Delicate like me on top of you

Delicate like words
Delicate how time
So delicately runs
Then delicately dies
Delicate how eyes
So delicately breathe
Delicate like you my dear
Delicate like me my love
Delicate like you and
Delicate like me and
Delicate like
Delicate like you and me

0V3RF13ND said:

I don't know the song (and I don't have a programme to download because it always seems to bring me viruses) but I looked up the lyrics, and the concept is exactly what I'm looking for. If I would find a song with this theme, which is not too silly and which has some metaphors in it, it would be perfect !

MarieLouise said:

i'm on it, teach...

Mr. Sandman
Words & Music by Pat Ballard
Recorded by The Chordettes, 1954 (#1)

G7 CM7 CM7/6 B7
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream;

E7 A7+5 A7
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen.

D7 G7
Give him two lips like roses in clover,

C C/B Am7 Am7/G Fdim(III) G
And tell him that his lonesome nights are over.


CM7 CM7/6 B7
Sandman, I'm so alone,

E7 A7+5 A7
Don't have nobody to call my own;

Dm Dm7 Fdim(I)
Please turn on your magic beam;

C C/B D9 G7 C
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.


Instrumental Interlude:

||: C C/B Am7 Am7/G Fdim(III) G |


CM7 CM7/6 B7
Mr. Sandman (male voice: "Yesss?") bring me a dream

E7 A7+5 A7
Give him a pair of eyes with a "come-hither" gleam

D7 G7
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci

C C/B Am7 Am7/G Fdim(III) G
And lots of wavy hair like Li - ber - a - ce

CM7 CM7/6 B7
Mr Sandman, someone to hold

E7 A7+5 A7
Would be so peachy before I'me too old;

Dm Dm7 Fdim(I)
So please turn on your magic beam,

C C/B Am7 Am7/G C E7 A7+5
Mr. Sandman bring me, please, please, please,

C C/B D9 G7 C
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.
[Edited 2/18/05 8:22am]

i think you'd hit a goldmine for this project if you checked out sting's "nothing like the sun" album.

Anxiety said:

He uses the first line of Shakespeare's sonnet in a song called 'Sister Moon'. I don't know Sting that well, but I'll go to a library tomorrow.

MarieLouise said:

Years ago, I wrote a short paper on this one. I just KNEW Shakespeare's mistress was a Sistuh! What an idiot.

How about You To Me Are Everything by The Real Thing?


I would take the stars out of the sky for you

Stop the rain from falling if you asked me to.

I'd do anything for you

your wish is my command

I could move a mountain when your hand is in my hand.

Words cannot express how much you mean to me.

There must be some other way to make you see.

If it takes my heart and soul

you know I'd pay the price.

Everything that I possess I'd gladly sacrifice.

Oh you to me are everything

The sweetest song that I could sing

Oh baby

Oh baby

To you I guess I'm just a clown

Who picks you up each time you're down

Oh baby

Oh baby

You give me just a taste of love

To build my hopes upon.

You know you've got the power girl

To keep me holding on.

So now you've got the best of me

Come on and take the rest of me

Oh baby

Though you're close to me

we seem so far apart.

Maybe given time you'll have a change of heart.

If it takes forever

girl then I'm prepared to wait.

The day you give your love to me won't be a day too late

Oh you to me are everything.

The sweetest song that I could sing.

Oh baby

Oh baby

To you I guess I'm just a clown

Who picks you up each time you're down

Oh baby

Oh baby

You give me just a taste of love

To build my hopes upon.

You know you've got the power girl

To keep me holding on.

So now you've got the best of me

Come on and take the rest of me

Oh baby

Oh you to me are everything.

the sweetest song that I could sing.

(Your the sweetest song that I could sing.)

Oh baby (oh baby)

Oh baby (yes I need you baby)

You to me are everything.

The sweetest song that I could sing.

Oh baby (you are everything to me)

Oh baby (cant you see)

You to me are everything.

The sweetest song that I could sing.

(Your the sweetest song that I could sing.)

Oh baby

Oh baby (you're everything)

You to me are everything.

The sweetest song that I could sing.

Oh baby

Oh baby (your the sweetest song)

You to me are everything.

The sweetest song that I could sing.

MarieLouise said:

i thought of at least a couple of songs from that album that could work - "bestill my broken heart" and even "we'll be together", and of course the title track.

I'm not sure that this is a perfect fit for what you're describing (I always found literature class intolerable), but I think Pulp's Like a Friend has very striking lyrics that might suit your needs.


You are the last drink I never should have drunk
You are the body hidden in the trunk
You are the habit I can't seem to kick
You are my secrets on the front page every week
You are the car I never should have bought
You are the dream I never should have caught
You are the cut that makes me hide my face
You are the party that makes me feel my age
Like a car crash I can see but I just can't avoid
Like a plane I've been told I never should board
Like a film that's so bad but I've got to stay till the end
Let me tell you now: it's lucky for you that we're friends.

this doesnt really count but im posting it anyways cause they are beautiful lyrics..

It makes me want to cry
Thinking about you
“Beautiful” you said
The way you shook your head
So strange, that no one stayed
At the end of the parade

This is just another song about it
This is just another song about

Standing next to me
Imagine that it’s true
You where singing songs
About life or doom
I was singing songs to you

This is just another song about it
This is just another song about

I gave colors to you
You washed my heart
With many dreams
Dreams I’d never seen
The pain of my spirit
The pain of my heart
Don’t ever tell me
To let it all go

This is just another song about it
This is just another song about…