Table 1
Summary of Songs and Topics to Which They Pertain

  Topics
Artist, Song Environment U.S. History Economics Goverment Policies,
Practices		 Racism, Racial
Issues		 International Events,
Conditions
Chapman, “Rape of the World” *          
Chapman, “Subcity”     * * *  
Chapman, “Nothin’ Yet”   *     *  
Collins, “Another Day in Paradise”     *      
Country Joe & the Fish, “Fixin’ to Die Rag”   * * *    
Dylan, “God on Our Side”   *   *    
Gaye, “Mercy, Mercy Me” *          
Gaye, “What’s Going On?”   *   *    
Griffith, “Trouble in the Fields”   * *      
Guthrie, “Deportee”   * *   * *
Guthrie, “I Ain’t Got No Home”   * *      
Guthrie, “Ludlow Massacre”   * *      
Hornsby, “The Way It Is”   * * * *  
Lennon, “Imagine”   *   *   *
Little Village, “Do You Want My Job?”           *
Marley, “Buffalo Soldier”   *   * *  
Marley, “Get Up, Stand Up”       * * *
Mellencamp, “Rain on the Scarecrow”   * *      
Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi” *   *      
Public Enemy, “Fight the Power”         *  
Rage Against the Machine, “Without a Face”   * *   * *
Robertson, “Ghost Dance”   *   * *  
Sainte-Marie, “My Country...”   * * * *  
Stevens, “Where Do the Children Play?” *          
Sting, “They Dance Alone”       *   *
They Might Be Giants, “Your Racist Friend”         *  
U2, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”       * * *


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From “Song Lyrics as Texts to Develop Critical Literacy” by Carol V. Lloyd.
Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted June 2003