a little coffee

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the Doodles, generally speaking, don’t like rock music. Most of them enthusiastically say they prefer “light” music. I think they mean soft, romantic ballads. A la Kenny G and “My Heart Will Go On” from Celine Dion, which you will hear from time to time somewhere in the streets of Anyang. 

Chris is currently sifting through a gigantic stack of papers he acquired from his students this term because next week we need to turn in our final grades. One stack is comprised of a list of notes one class gave him for a music activity he did. For this activity, the students listened to a wide range of “English music” Chris picked out and then needed to talk about the songs they heard. What did they like, not like, etc. 

This is how one of his students responded: ”I feel all the songs are crazy. All rock. I nearly can’t bear someone has heart-disease, may be to die.”

These are the songs he played. His student may have a point with Metallica, but Gary Jules’s “Mad World?” Come on!

“Fresh Feeling” by the Eels

“Map of the Problematique” by Muse

“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley

“Holier than Thou” by Metallica

“2pr” by Clint Mansell

“Benji Box” by Dangerdoom

“The Thrill is Gone” by B.B. King

“Mad World” by Gary Jules

After one week here, you’ll start hearing the same handful of poppy ballads all over the place, and I feel compelled to enlighten my students with good music because the government is obviously censoring it. But with such responses (heart disease?!) I’m afraid my campaign will fall on deaf ears.