Saturday, April 5, 2008

Seniors Hate Freshmen

I am planning a concert with a 1950s theme. It's going to be alot of fun. The repertoire looks like this:

Mr. Sandman
Sixteen Candles
Bye Bye Love
Sincerely
Lollipop
Why do fools fall in Love?
Rock and Roll is Here to Stay
Rock Around the Clock

From Grease:
We Go Together
Hopelessly Devoted to You

I was hoping to include Graduation Day by The Four Freshmen once I found it.

The high school choirs will sing We Go Together as a group. This is going to be a really fun concert. They are really warming up to it. Some of them sing along with all the du wop hits of the 50s and 60s. I'm not the only one who has my car radio permanently tuned to an oldies station. Two of my boys started asking if we could sing Earth Angel. I decided it was worth looking into. I didn't find just Earth Angel, but it was a part of a medly with Graduation Day, originally recorded by The Four Freshmen in 1956 or something like that. I thought it was pretty and sweet.

Of course the line about dancing at the senior prom until three was really amusing since I think I was at the beach then went to Denny's and stayed up all night. I think I climbed in my window in my formal gown around 3 so I wouldn't wake my parents--or that was my junior prom? No idea anymore. It was also amusing about the ivy covered walls. We don't have ivy covering anything really where I live and teach. I don't think that The Four Freshmen still sing that song at their concerts. I really don't know. I was sort of seeing one of the guys from that band for a little while. (Whatever that means.) I texted him to let him know that my "kiddies" would be singing that song. He always used to text me Hope your week with the kiddies was good. He knew I taught high school. Kiddies. Whatever. He was funny that way. He used to teach high school band for a year before joining The Four Freshmen.

I didn't hear back from him. It's just as well. My kids hated the song. Not really hated--they thought it was pretty, but kind of slow. It was that Do we have to? look in their slightly glazed eyes. It didn't really hit them like the songs that they know. Maybe they were worried I would replace those songs. For graduation we will be doing You Raise Me Up with the mixed chorus and The Wind Beneath My Wings with the girls chorus. Maybe they didn't want to lose them. It's also just that those are modern sings and I did want to include something that fits our theme.

I AM the teacher, if I really wanted to, I could make them sing it. But I could also have them sing Route 66 which is also vocal jazz. They might like that better. I like to have the kids be interested in what we sing, even though they seem to change their minds alot. Suddenly they hate their Grease medly. Whatever. Kids are funny.

0 comments: