Media in the classroom

Growing up my mom was a big fan of Tina Turner. Though I found her life to be somewhat interesting, I was not a big fan. My younger sister though felt differently then me and she and my mom would often belt out Tina Turner tunes out of nowhere. I would roll my eyes and be grateful they didn’t pull that prank in front of my friends. They were such big fans they even travelled a good distance to see this “legend� in concert. Again, I shared this with no one - what an embarressment. Still, makes me wonder why, when I hear her music I can sing along and often find myself doing so. I will smile a big smile as I imagine my mom and sister dancing like goofballs to Private Dancer. I never really got it - or her - but it became a fun childhood memory. For some reason, when I looked over this assignment I couldn’t get the song “We Don’t Need Another Hero...� out of my head. I listened to the song and was amazed by how many of the words I actually knew AND that there was a bit of a meaning to the song that I had never noticed or cared to think about before. This was actually kind of fun and interesting and I almost want to call up my mom and sister and tell them - I kind of get it. I won’t though, it is too good of a family memory and allows for too much friendly banter that I don’t like her or her music and they do.
Anyhow, on to the assignment.
“We Don’t Need Another Hero./We don’t need to know the way home/All we want is life beyond - Thunder dome.� is the chorus to Tina Turner’s hit song and soundtrack lead to Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome movie starring Mel Gibson. WIthout really listening to the lyrics one could just recall the chorus and assume this is a piece about people being self-sufficient and in some ways they would be right, that is part of the song. There is more to this song though when one looks deeper. The song covers many emotions that listeners can relate to and understand that one may not get at first glance.
As Ann Powers states in her article Bread and Butter Songs: Unoriginality in Pop, it isn’t just seeing that music can move people but, “The next step, even harder, was figuring out why.� In Turner’s song the why could be because it offers, “...a way not just to feel but to better grasp the structure of feeling� and “because those emotions can be overwhelming, sometimes they’re most palatable when framed within something familiar.� The lyrics covers the emotions of moving beyond where one currently is (ALl we want is life beyond... Thunder Dome) with Thunder Dome possible being representative of any place one may feel trapped or stuck. The chorus, after the first verse, is even sung by the innocent children trapped in their circumstances due to reasons beyond their control. The lines “Looking for something we can rely on...There has to be something better out there...Love and Compassion - that day is coming...what can we do with our lives...� etc speaks to many people. The message is generic and can relate to any person in any situation that they are trying to improve or leave. Everyone in the world wants love and compassion, they want to know there is a better life, they want to be able to rely on someone or something - this song relates to the masses and offers hope. All these things stated in this song take possibly strong emotions people may be feeling and puts them in a form - song - that is familiar, making the song applicable to their lives and safe.
This song helps music critics investigate, “what music people like and the role it plays in their lives,� as David Sanjek states. This idea that the role music plays is more important than possibly originality, authenticity, or god Vs bad is, in my opinion an important topic. Music, like literature, creates a dilemma when critics try to categorize and rate. There are so many genres, styles, and writers in both that that alone makes defining music difficult. Then, when you add the variations in the audience and the fact that, “Audiences are more than simply passive targets�(Beach 35), it becomes even more complex to categorize music and create a true “Top Ten� list of either.
In the language arts classroom, students are introduced to numerous pieces of literature. Never will a teacher find a piece that all students enjoy and gain knowledge from; no matter how hard a teacher tries and no matter their love for Shakespeare or Keats, they will never convince all their students that there is value in that author. Music is the same. No matter how many times someone listens to Pop, if they are not a fan, they are not going to like it. When it comes to taste, people can generally not be convinced to change theirs. So, how can we use a song like Turner’s to teach? We use the message and allow students to use their identity to frame it.

Students may not know what Thunder Dome is, but that is OK, especially if each student is allowed to identify their own personal Thunder Dome. Turner had long been separated from her abusive husband Ike when this song came out. This can be used as an example though - her THunder Dome could be her husband. We Don’t need another hero, Ike was her hero at one time. He took her from a no name dreamer to an incredibly successful artist. We don’t need to know the way home, when she left him she had no idea where she was going to go or what she was going to do without her “creator� her husband/manager/controller. All we want is life beyond....Thunder Dome, but all she knew is she wanted a life beyond Ike Turner. What is your Thunder Dome? Continuing on with the lyrics, Looking for something we can rely on, because she cannot rely on her current Thunder Dome - Ike. Has to be something better out there, obvious. Love and compassion, that day is coming, again obvious. Castles built in the air. Here she refers to Henry David Thoreau and having dreams in the clouds and the next line is to build the foundations underneath them. She had her castle in teh clouds and Ike was her foundation but now that foundation does not exist - what is the student’s foundation? I wonder if we are ever going to change. An honest question regardless of where listeners are in life. What can we do with our lives? Another great question for listeners because the possibilities are endless once out of Thunder Dome.

Another thing to look at in this song is why she would have the children sing the chorus. This could be easily answered by students and listeners - children represent youth, innocence, endless possibilities. Children do not have to be trapped. They can be who they want to be. Who wouldn’t love this idea, especially young adults who feel trapped into a role put on them by school, friends, parents, others. 

Having the audience, in this case the students, analyze a song like We Don’t Need Another Hero and applying it to their lives and their identities can create the opportunity for analysis of text and self. This would engage students because all could apply it somehow to their lives. Also, this forgotten song from a forgettable movie could breath new life into its audience as they do the same to the song. Fitting to the lyrics...