Like “Songbird,” by Fleetwood Mac, “Papa Don’t Preach” by Madonna was covered on the popular television show, “Glee,” in 2009.
Author Archives: Isabel Soisson
“True Blue”
Week 5: “True Blue” by Madonna 
“Papa Don’t Preach”
“White Heat”
“Live to Tell”
“Where’s the Party”
“True Blue”
“La Isla Bonita”
“Jimmy Jimmy”
“Love Makes the World Go Round”
“Rumours”
“Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac
“Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac, was released on February 4, 1977. It was the eleventh studio album released by the British-American rock band and it had a lot to live up to. The band’s tenth studio album, “Fleetwood Mac,” which had been released two years earlier, had garnered enormous success, and living up to it was something the band had to keep in mind 
while recording.
The recording sessions of “Rumours” were marked by great emotional strife. The members of Fleetwood Mac certainly liked to mix business with pleasure and several of the members were involved romantically. According to Rolling Stone, “Stevie Nicks had just split with her longtime lover and musical partner, Lindsey Buckingham, while Christine was in the midst of divorcing her husband, bassist John McVie. Meanwhile, Mick Fleetwood’s extra-band marriage was on the rocks, leading to an affair with Nicks before the year was out.” All of this emotional tension lead to brutally honest lyrics and because of it, the “Rumours” saga is still known as one of the biggest musical scandals in rock band history.
One example of the intense lyricism on the album, would be in the song, “Songbird,” which happens to be my favorite song on the album. Christine McVie wrote, “For you, there’ll be no more crying / For you, the sun will be shining / And I feel that when I’m with you / It’s alright, I know it’s right” in the midst of her divorce about the beginnings of her relationship with her ex-spouse. Most of the songs on this album have just as much intensity in their lyrics, and the album is hailed as one of the best of the twentieth century.
“Rumours”
A TV show, “Glee,” which depicted teenagers learning to find their voice in high school despite bullying, covered the famous song, “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac in 2011.
“Rumours”
Week 4: “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac
“Second Hand News”
“Dreams”
“Never Going Back Again” 
“Don’t Stop”
“Go Your Own Way”
“Songbird”
“The Chain”
“You Make Loving Fun”
“I Don’t Wanna Know”
“Oh, Daddy”
“Gold Dust Woman”
“Abbey Road”
“Abbey Road” by The Beatles
“Abbey Road” was an album released by one of the most popular bands on all time, The Beatles, on September 26,1969. The album consists of 17 songs, and it was the last Beatles album to be recorded, according to The Beatles.com. It was the first Beatles album that did 
not feature the band’s name on the cover, just the infamous photo of the four members crossing the Abbey Road intersection in London, England. The album stayed number one on both the English and American charts for multiple weeks.
“Abbey Road” was released after an album entitled, “Get Back” was proposed, and Beatles member, Paul McCartney suggested to their music producer, George Martin that the group instead record an album, “the way they used to do it.” The Beatles had had a few tumultuous recording sessions following the death of Brian Epstein, their manager, and “Abbey Road” was their way of connecting again as a group.
This connection can be felt in the album’s upbeat, light style of music. Each of the 17 songs on the album somehow relate to reconnecting. From “Come Together” to “Here Comes the Sun” the entire album is about bringing old friends back together to make music again. Each song also, for the most part, features each of the members singing, which was different than what the group typically tried to do in their music. In the past, one lead vocal was featured typically on the album’s singles that were released. Other than “Octopus’s Garden,” each member sings a bit in each song. Many of the songs are also written in major keys, which are typically associated with and written for upbeat songs.
“Abbey Road”
“Abbey Road”
Week 3: “Abbey Road” by The Beatles
“Come Together”
“Something”
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
Me at Abbey Road! I’m very little in the pink coat.
“Oh! Darling”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
“Here Comes The Sun”
“Because”
“You Never Give Me Your Money”
“Sun King”
“Mean Mr. Mustard” 
“Polythene Pam”
“She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”
“Golden Slumbers”
“Carry That Weight”
“The End”
“Her Majesty”
“Ella and Louis”
“Ella and Louis” by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
“Ella and Louis” was a studio album released in August 18, 1956 by famed jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald and American trumpeter and singer, Louis Armstrong. The album has a total of eleven songs, all different in their composition and intonation. They are all slow and melodic and at slow or moderate tempo, however, from “Can’t We Be Friends?” to “April in Paris.” 
The overriding theme of the album is perseverance through focusing on the good things in life, such as love, friendship, and happiness.
This album is a perfect depiction of life for African Americans during the 1950s and 60s. In the wake of Jim Crow, a common theme throughout African American culture was sticking together. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) helped to protect African Americans through pursuing lawsuits against state governments and individuals who did not uphold certain rights granted to African Americans. In fact, according to Encyclopedia.com, “the turning point came in 1954 when the Supreme Court struck down public school segregation in the case ‘Brown v. Board of Education.'” The US Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
“Ella and Louis” is an album that showcases perfectly how African Americans stuck by each other during the era of Jim Crow. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s friendship was well-documented. The two were close on both a personal and professional level and their music reflects that closeness.
“Ella and Louis”