Working Together: Try It Out Loud

Working in a small group, choose a popular song that everyone in your group likes, or choose one of the top songs of the week on Billboard or the iTunes store. Then use one set of the interpretive question prompts in the previous section to analyze the song. If you are doing this activity during class, the class might choose a single song, and each group might choose a different set of prompts. Take turns asking questions about the song while the other members of the group try to answer them. Record your answers, noting both agreements and disagreements. Your purpose is to interpret, so don’t get distracted by whether the song is good or bad; instead, focus on its significance and implications. If you are doing this activity during class, each group should report its results to the class.

When you are finished, take a few minutes to reflect on the activity. What did you learn about different ways of approaching an analysis? Did some interpretive question prompts produce more useful or interesting results than the others? How did examining the song from multiple perspectives affect your interpretation of it?