Music related to Linguistics & Lx-Anthro?

[Harriet J. Ottenheimer]

A few quick suggestions:

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"  (often known as "you say tomato and I 
say tomahto")  The Billie Holiday version is probably the liveliest:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoUSrtw6gJs&feature=related
but there are other versions (Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, e.g.)

"Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?" by They Might Be Giants
(or "Alphabet of Nations", or lots of other peppy choices)

A classic by now, and one that has always intrigued students, is Miriam 
Makeba's "Click Song" 
Even this one can be found on youtube!!!  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxkiXALQjU

"The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis
(a kind of a pig-latin approach to playing with names)
(one example of this on youtube is here: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJLi5_dyn0&feature=related)

"Sweet Lullaby" by Deep Forest is a fascinating mix of Baka chant and 
French electronic overlay and remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPPsS4-Dsxg&feature=related
and was always a favorite of students.  It's just nice to listen to, 
even if it doesn't have any particular linguistic theme (although one 
could talk about appropriation!)

Cheers,
Harriet Ottenheimer

Richard J Senghas wrote:
> Hey LingAnthers,
>
> I am looking for music (popular, obscure, whatever) that plays with linguistic (& especially anthropological) topics.
>
> I am now teaching a somewhat large (~70 students) undergraduate, lower division Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology course.  It hits us at that just-before-and-going-into dinner hour, when students, even those interested in the topics, begin to fade as their blood sugar-levels drop, and the daylight begins to fade (especially now).  When I taught my Intro to Cultural Anthro course, I found that playing relevant, especially upbeat, music just before class started helped up the energy for the class session, and I would like to use this trick again in this course.  I also found that many of the students started to pick up on the anthropological themes I planted in these selections.  By the end of the semester, students started asking me for my sources, often asking me if they had indeed figured out the thematic connections.  (In a very real sense, this became a not-grade-related extra credit opportunity.)
>
> I plan to start with some more obvious choices (e.g., Laurie Anderson's "Language is a Virus" from her "Home of the Brave" album), but I'm looking for other pieces for later this semester.  Do you have any tracks you'd recommend?  If the topic is obscure, I wouldn't mind being given hints at the reason for your choices, though we could make it a game for this list if you choose to respond on-list.  And energetic music is preferred; we're looking to juice them up!
>
> Best regards,
>
> -RJS
> ======================================================================
> Richard J. Senghas, Professor            | Sonoma State University
> Department of Anthropology               | 1801 East Cotati Avenue
> Human Development Program                | Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
> Richard.Senghas[at]sonoma.edu            | 707-664-3920 (fax)
>
>   

-- 

2010 Annual Central States Anthropological Society Conference
April 8-11, 2010 -- Madison, Wisconsin

For the most up-to-date conference information go to:
http://www.creighton.edu/groups/csas/annualmeeting/index.php