Still waiting on the certified results to see what the vote total was. Many people have told me they voted for me in Nashville, so I am looking forward to the Davidson County totals whenever I get to see them!

 

Today, I bring you a bright and student-driven intellectual spot. Nothing too political (my brain is taking a day off from that). 

 

This week, I gave one of my applied music classes an assignment dealing with vintage music videos. In it, we watched a series of music videos from the late 70's to early 80's and they were to write about how/if the visuals of the video were driven by the music, what/if the video storyline had to do with the music, and what the interpretation of the visuals could even mean to begin with.  Nowadays, teenagers see less of the art in the videos than in videos from twenty years ago. Today, the videos mostly involve the artist singing while being surrounded by "pretty people". They are also mostly online based. It is increasingly rare to be able to find music videos on television.

 

A few of the videos we watched were your typical 80s classics...Michael Jackson...A-ha..Queen..Eurthymics...Blondie..Tom Petty..amount several others. I was impressed at the number of students who knew the music, but was even more excited and happy to see that they dove into it intellectually. Some of the classical 80s videos can be a bit of a trip to follow. Can anyone explain to me why there is a bug-like Darth Vader obsessed with Debbie Harry in "The Tide Is High"? Why does Alice get tortured and eaten by Tom Petty? Was he hungry or vengeful? Why were there cows in "Sweet Dreams? Was it all just a dream?

 

Their thoughts stimulated, I received many meaningful answers. Maybe Darth Bug had to get Debbie Harry because she was his "number one". Maybe Alice was an obsessive ex who had to be cut out of Tom Petty's life. Maybe cows were something Annie Lennox had nightmares about. 

 

These vintage videos tell a story. They are just short enough that the kids will notice every detail. It may be a short attention span generation, but with the proper visual/musical stimulation, there are some deep and intellectual thoughts in out there. 

 

Support the arts in our schools. It is what stimulates the kids the most. 

 

Next blog...Haslam cuts many programs from the Governors School For the Arts. Tennessee Arts Academy faces cuts. See where I may be going with this?