Whats does it all mean?

Most songs usually have a meaning behind them and the majority of pop songs that we hear today mostly have a direct meaning – we don’t necessarily have to think much to understand the artist’s point. On the other hand, there have been amazing songs written over the years and  if we dig deeper into the lyrics there is a whole different representation of what we originally thought.

One classic example of this is Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill. For me it’s truly fantastic, a timeless song. I’m pretty sure Gabriel is trying to tell us something – but what?

The original

On tour a few years back

There is definitely something underneath the surface of these lyrics that grabs people’s attention. I believe that Gabriel intended these words to have a different meaning to different people. Even when I listen to this song, it may represent something one day the next time I listen to it, it could represent another.

People’s representation of this are varied, from meeting Jesus to first encountering aliens. From a representation of World War 2 to the song just being a metaphor for him leaving Genesis.

There's a discussion on this web board

Lyrics:

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night

He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
I had to listen had no choice

I did not believe the information
Just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom, boom
"Son," he said, "Grab your things, I've come to take you home."

To keeping silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut

So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
'Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut

I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey," he said, "grab your things, I've come to take you home."
Yeah back home

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free

Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes, but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me

Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey," I said, "You can keep my things, they've come to take me home."

Gibberish

Totally unrelated, but I thought I post this. Kinda fun!

Italian artist, Adriano Celentano wrote this song to show how non English speaking foreigners hear the language. Complete gibberish.

It’s quite old, think it first came out in 72, although this video was done in the late 70’s.

Now have a look at this one with subtitles



Brilliant!!

Week 3 Readings

So for the readings this week I did what was brought up in class. I read the abstract/introduction and conclusions and kind of skimmed through the middle parts trying to pick out relevant details.  I must admit that this is not a skill I’ve perfected yet and still struggle to get the whole gist of the readings by this method. I suppose practice will help.

Anyway from what I did read, I thought that Jo’s paper wasn’t that interesting and had no real point to it.  It just kind of explained what most people know in Korea about the education system with a few stats thrown in here and there. I suppose it could be interesting to someone completely new to Korea who would like to know a little more about the education system.  She only managed to write a couple of paragraphs about English education which what I thought was the main purpose of the paper.  It was way off remarkable and she only had 4 references to back her work up. That’s nothing compared to shins paper where they must have had close to 100 references and definitely seemed a lot more thorough. This paper got me thinking more and questioning myself as a teacher in Korea.  I began to compare myself to what sort of a teacher I would have been if I stayed in England and taught there! I would be different for sure.

First blog ever!!

Right then, so this is my first blog ever!!!!

Might take me a wee while to get use to it!

First I'll just post a clip on what was mentioned in class last week about teachers being replaced by robots…. Although after seeing this clip I have a gut feeling it will never ever happen!!