Music About Wyoming and Incorporating Lyrics Into Classroom Literature

I love to go out West. You can still see the stars at night in most places. The weather is harsh during winter, and it keeps away the suburban squatters. If you take time to meet people, they will help you out and also pay you the courtesy of staying out of your business at the same time. You got to want to go to most places there – meaning you have to be willing to log some travel miles to get to its most remote corners. Those remote corners are where the magic awaits.

Benjamin Tod writes a beautiful ballad about our least populated Western state. I love great literature. By default, I really like great lyrics. I think powerful words engage students in a way that assessment literature severely lacks. Great lyrics awaken the mind. Benjamin Tod writes these lyrics about Wyoming….

On a dusty road
And it may be sad
But so is everything that’s true
Well, if life’s a gamble, then I bet the table on a
Pair of twos

And the sun’s
Probably shinin’
In Wyoming
And the moon
She’s casting diamonds
On a low-lyin’ stream
And when my soul is
Finally set free
You can burn my body
In a prairie breeze

Below is another song about Wyoming. Why? Well, I told you that I like Wyoming. But please don’t move there. It is great just the way it is. Too Many Trees by Ian Munsick is another great ballad…

But you ain’t ever gonna leave these hills
And I wanna die where the coyote cry and the gray wolf kills
From where I’m standing, I can’t see forever with you and me
There’s too many towns and not еnough cows
And way too many trees

I love your folks like they’rе my own and I’m crazy about you
But there’s too much cowboy in my bones to be dug up by my roots
We could build ourselves a house here, but it won’t ever be my home
So let’s call a spade a spade and just stay where we belong

There is something about music and words set to music which can reach deep into a person’s soul and move them. What we teach should grab the imagination of our students in a way that leaves them with a joy in learning. Rich literature has to be at the core of any literacy program. Studying lyrics and listening to those words as they pour out of a song…that is an incredible experience.