Teaching Tools: Music (Charles River)
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DIRTY WATER
Let's admit it. There is just ONE musical expression that truly captured the Charles River. That would be the pop song "Dirty Water" by the Standells (or is it the Standelles? Could one band's name have been spelled so many different ways on so many different marquees?)
Here are the lyrics (as close as we can make out, so feel free to clarify):
Dirty Water
(Ed Cobb)
(spoken:)
I'm gonna tell you a story
I'm gonna tell you about my town
I'm gonna tell you a big bad story, baby
Aww, it's all about my town
Yeah, down by the river
Down by the banks of the river Charles (aw, that's what's happenin' baby)
That's where you'll find me
Along with lovers, muggers, and thieves (aw, but they're cool people)
Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you're my home (oh, you're the Number One place)
Frustrated women (I mean they're frustrated)
Have to be in by twelve o'clock (oh, that's a shame)
But I'm wishin' and a-hopin, oh
That just once those doors weren't locked (I like to save time for my baby to walk around)
Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you're my home (oh, yeah)
Because I love that dirty water
Oh, oh, Boston, you're my home (oh, yeah)
Well, I love that dirty water (I love it, baby)
I love that dirty water (I love Baw-stun)
I love that dirty water (Have you heard about the Strangler?)
I love that dirty water (I'm the man, I'm the man)
I love that dirty water (Owww!)
I love that dirty water (Come on, come on) [fade]
Suggested Activity: Let your students listen to the song. Take them on a field trip to the banks of the River Charles. Ask them to compare and contrast.
Okay, at least play the song for the kids. But please don't steal it. Buy it. Here's a link:
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Teaching Tools: Music (Lake Champlain)
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Many Vermont libraries carry Stan Ransom’s CD’s with songs and stories about the history of Lake Champlain. Check local libraries for availability or visit <www.stanransom.com>.
Champ (words and music by Stan Ransom)
If you’re ever in upper New York State,
Whether to live or to camp
If you watch carefully,
perhaps you may see
That handsome lake monster called Champ
Here’s to our Lake Champlain monster
The king of the deep and the damp
We’ll sing one more chorus to our dinosaurus
That lovable creature named Champ
We see him come out in the springtime
As soon as the lake is unfroze
He gives us a scare
popping up here and there
After his long winter doze
Here’s to our Lake Champlain monster
The king of the deep and the damp
We’ll sing one more chorus to our dinosaurus
That lovable creature named Champ
Now Champ is a famous attraction, oh yes!
He sure is a tourist delight
They come up in droves
To examine our coves
and take pictures by day and by night
Here’s to our Lake Champlain monster
The king of the deep and the damp
We’ll sing one more chorus to our dinosaurus
That lovable creature named Champ
If you should meet up with your Champie
Now I’ll tell you just what to say
Look him straight in the eye
And smile and say hi!
We’re so glad that you’ve come here to stay
Here’s to our Lake Champlain monster
The king of the deep and the damp
We’ll sing one more chorus to our dinosaurus
That lovable creature named Champ
My Native Lake (music by Stan Ransom, words by Margaret Davidson)
Thy verdant banks, thy lucid stream,
Lit by the sun’s resplendent beam,
Reflect each bending tree so light
Upon thy bounding bosom bright,
Could I but see thee once again,
My own, my beautiful Champlain!
The little isles that deck thy breast,
And calmly on thy bosom rest,
How often, in my childish glee,
I’ve sported round them, bright and free!
Could I but see thee once again,
My own, my beautiful Champlain!
How oft I’ve watch’d the fresh’ning shower
Bending the summer tree and flower,
And felt my little heart beat high
as the bright rainbow graced the sky.
Could I but see thee once again,
My own, my beautiful Champlain!
And shall I never see thee more,
My native lake, my much-loved shore?
And must I bid a long adieu,
My dear, my infant home, to you?
Shall I not see thee once again,
My own, my beautiful Champlain?
Activities:
For grade schoolers, have them listen to one of Stan’s songs, choose a line that they like, and then draw it.
For middle schoolers and high schoolers, have them write their own lyrics to the tune of one of the songs that tells a tale about their own personal connection to Lake Champlain.
For high schoolers, print the music sheet located at the link below and have the band perform it.
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Teaching Tools: Music (Hudson River)
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Art/Music Combination Exercise
Materials: Water-based non-toxic paints, paper, easels (optional), a book of reproductions of Hudson River School paintings, a CD or tape of Alan Hohvaness’ second symphony (we like Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's performance).
Before playing the music, explain that this piece was inspired by paintings of the Hudson River Valley. Set up easels or a long sheet of butcher paper. Give each student a selection of water-based non-toxic paint.
Play a five to ten minute selection from the symphony, and have students paint whatever images the music evokes for them as the music plays.
As the paintings dry, have each child talk briefly about their painting.
Then, show the students some images from the Hudson River School of Painting book.
Now, play another five to ten minute selection from the symphony, while the students paint a new painting.
Ask students to describe the second painting. Did they use any new ideas? Colors? Techniques?
(Optional: send us some of your favorite paintings, once you get permission from parents. We love to use them in our Hudson River student showcase. Click the "Contact Us" button to find our address.)
New York State of Mind
Some folks like to get away
Take a holiday from the neighborhood
Hop a flight to Miami Beach
Or to Hollywood
But I’m taking a Greyhound
On the Hudson River Line
I’m in a New York state of mind
I’ve seen all the movie stars
In their fancy cars and their limousines
Been high in the Rockies under the evergreens
But I know what I’m needing
And I don’t want to waste more time
I’m in a New York state of mind
It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, The Daily News
It comes down to reality
And it’s fine with me ‘cause I’ve let it slide
Don’t care if it’s Chinatown or on Riverside
I don’t have any reasons
I’ve left them all behind
I’m in a New York state of mind
It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and blues
But now I need a little give and take
The New York Times, The Daily News
It comes down to reality
And it’s fine with me ‘cause I’ve let it slide
Don’t care if it’s Chinatown or on Riverside
I don’t have any reasons
I’ve left them all behind
I’m in a New York state of mind
I’m just taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line
‘Cause I’m in a New York state of mind
~Billy Joel
Materials: Copy of Billy Joel’s song, “New York State of Mind.” Copies of lyrics.
Before playing the song, ask students to be thinking about what place along the Hudson River puts them in a “New York State of Mind.”
Play the song.
Once the song is done playing, hand out a copy of the lyrics, Ask students to share, if they want, the place along the Hudson that they thought of during the song.
Ask them what about that place along the Hudson River gives it that sense of place. Have students describe the feel of the place. Is it quiet? Noisy? Clean? Dirty? Busy?
Ask the students whether they think this place along the Hudson will be around for their children to enjoy one day. If so, why? If not, is there anything that can be done to protect this place?
SAILING UP MY DIRTY STREAM
SAILING UP MY DIRTY STREAM
STILL I LOVE IT AND I'LL KEEP THE DREAM
THAT SOME DAY, THOUGH MAYBE NOT THIS YEAR
MY HUDSON RIVER WILL ONCE AGAIN RUN CLEAR.
SHE STARTS HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE NORTH
CRYSTAL CLEAR AND ICY TRICKLES FORTH
WITH JUST A FEW FLOATING WRAPPERS OF CHEWING GUM
DROPPED BY SOME HIKERS TO WARN OF THINGS TO COME.
AT GLENS FALLS, FIVE THOUSAND HONEST HANDS
WORK AT THE CONSOLIDATED PAPER PLANT
FIVE MILLION GALLONS OF WASTE A DAY,
WHY SHOULD WE DO IT ANY OTHER WAY?
DOWN THE VALLEY ONE MILLION TOILET CHAINS
FIND MY HUDSON SO CONVENIENT PLACE TO DRAIN
AND EACH LITTLE CITY SAYS, "WHO, ME?
DO YOU THINK THAT SEWAGE PLANTS COME FREE?"
OUT IN THE OCEAN THEY SAY THE WATER'S CLEAR
BUT I LIVE RIGHT AT BEACON HERE
HALF WAY BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS AND SEA,
TACKING TO AND FRO, THIS THOUGHT RETURNS TO ME:
SAILING UP MY DIRTY STREAM
STILL I LOVE IT AND I'LL DREAM
THAT SOME DAY, THOUGH MAYBE NOT THIS YEAR
MY HUDSON AND MY COUNTRY WILL RUN CLEAR.
~Pete Seeger
Materials: Copy of Pete Seeger’s song, “Sailing Up My Dirty Stream.” Copies of lyrics.
Play the song in class. Hand out a copy of the lyrics to each student. Have students guess what year Seeger wrote the song (1961). Remind students that in the 60s, the motto for the Hudson was “Once a sewer, always a sewer.” People were saying the Hudson was essentially dead.
Discuss the overall meaning of the song. Is it hopeful or not? What are the lessons to be learned based on where the Hudson is today? What more can be done? What do they think the Hudson will look like forty years from now?
Ask for students to share situations in their own lives when others told them their actions were useless, or that they should just give up. Did they give up or not? Why?
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