How to train English using Heavy Metal Songs

Tuesday, December 23, 2021

Helping pupils engage with literature is a recurrent challenge for English instructors. This can be especially difficult with some of the traditional canon's more antiquated works. Although the concepts are universal, the book's archaic language and sheer richness might be hurdles. English teachers looking for a novel approach to offer these works to their pupils may find it in heavy metal.

For millennia, music has drawn inspiration from textual sources. The arts have always referred to one another. Heavy metal has maintained this trend. Metal's lyrical substance, subject aspects, and accompanying images are heavily influenced by literature. Literary allusions have ranged from verse-by-verse references to whole albums centred on a single text. Songwriters seeking adequately compelling subject matter have discovered it in the very literature that English professors are tasked with teaching.

Listed below are many pieces based on works of literature by well-known metal bands. The course subject and student interests will determine their use in the classroom. Each exemplifies the breadth of literature. This teaching technique may be utilised for individual classes and corporate English training (https://livexp.com/corporate-english-training). The usage of music in the classroom will assist kids in relaxing.

Heavy Metal Song List

Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden, from England, has numerous songs based on well-known literary works in their catalogue. For example, "The Trooper" alludes to Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade." "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a thirteen-minute composition that retells Samuel Coleridge's same-name poem. The song borrows whole stanzas from the original poetry. It gives the lyrics a dignified and passionate treatment that fits the poem's sombre tone.

Creeping Death is a song by Metallica

Metallica is one of the world's most popular bands, transcending metal circles. "Creeping Death" is a song from their second studio album that has been a live staple for decades. The lyrics are based on Exodus 12:29. The Bible is the most cited work in English, despite not being written by a single recognised author. Cultural literacy requires familiarity with its tales. Teaching "Creeping Death" may highlight the pervasiveness of literature in popular culture, especially religious texts.

Blood and Thunder by Mastodon

Mastodon, who formed in the early 2000s, provides a more modern take on metal. The entire album "Leviathan" is inspired in part by Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick. "Blood and Thunder" is only one of the album's tracks. Mastodon's songs may be less accessible to a broader audience than the other bands on this list, but their sound is appropriate for the subject matter. Mastodon's music blends wonderfully with images of a massive monster hiding beneath the waves and themes of retribution and obsession. A writing assignment on aesthetics can ask students to explain how the music fits the text.

Dante's Inferno: Iced Earth

"Dante's Inferno" by Iced Earth, like Iron Maiden's inclusion on this list, is an ambitious metal interpretation of a potentially fearsome poetry. Their choice of Alighieri's Divine Comedy as a topic demonstrates not just their literary ability but also their self-assurance. The magnitude of Hell in the poem needs thousands of lines to explain adequately. The band spends sixteen minutes chronicling Dante and Virgil's journey around all nine circles. It is still a summary due to its length. Students might use it as a model for creating their lyrical summaries of more significant works.

Sevenfold Avenged - Bat Country

Avenged Sevenfold may be more familiar to high school kids than any other band on this list. "Bat Country" is inspired by the most recent work on this list. It is influenced by Hunter S. Thompson's writings, particularly Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The book's subject may be inappropriate for a high school curriculum, but the song can demonstrate the extent to which literature inspires metal.

This list might be expanded to include classic rock bands such as Rush and Led Zeppelin and more recent bands such as Motionless in White and As I Lay Dying. Rather than merely presenting examples, an English instructor should have students search their listening for literary connections to discuss. Artistic crossovers might be used as a hook, an enrichment piece, or the foundation for a complete unit of comparative examination.