1. XIb PROJECT
Lyrical Songs
Background: What’s in a song?
What’s most important to you when you’re listening to a song? The music, the lyrics, the beat, knowing
the band, the video, the style, the singer’s voice, the musicians’ skill? Discuss with your group and see if
you share your views.
The Lyrics Have It
The Brit Awards have just announced a new category – Most Influential Lyrics. You’ve already heard a
possible contender in class, now it’s time to select more nominees. Tell your group about any songs
whose lyrics you think have something interesting to say. If you’re more of a groove-to-the-beat kind of
music lover and don’t have any favourite songs because of the lyrics, ask your teacher for some
suggestions to listen to.
Your group now needs to select one or two (no more) songs to put forward as nominees for the Most
Influential Lyrics category.
Gathering Campaign Fodder - part one
Before you start planning your campaign in support of your song(s), take a moment to discuss how you
interpret the lyrics. Consider the following:
Have you all picked up on the same message that the song is conveying?
What lines or expressions jump out at you?
Why is the issue the song deals with important to you? to people in general?
How does the song-writer get you thinking about things?
You may now want to gather some extra “evidence” of why this song is a winner.
Is there anything about the singer / band that would be interesting for others to know?
Are there any stories behind the song?

2. Gathering Campaign Fodder - part two
You now need to compile a dossier of written evidence in support of the song. Each member of the
group should do one of the following: (You may all want to write the same “task”, that’s ok, as long as
the content is unique to each of you)
* Take a line of the song and write a story which includes this line
* Tell the story of the song in a fully expanded version.
* Write an essay debating the issues raised in the song.
* Write an article on songs that deal with this particular issue.
Making Your Case
It’s time to present your choice of song(s) to the Selection Committee who will draw up the short list of
contenders. You need to carry out two tasks. These are...
... prepare a task the Committee has to do while they listen to the song(s).
This could be to answer key questions about what words or expressions are
used to describe x, what the singer means by y, or questions about the
content. Or, they might need to find certain words or expressions to match
meanings or connected to a specific topic. Create the task and present it.
... explain to the Committee why your song(s) are so great. You can include
whatever information and personal opinions you think are relevant.
You can carry out these tasks in any order. Make sure everyone on the Committee gives you some kind
of feedback on what they think of your choice of song(s)