Piano Man

Music, Students' Corner,

Sent by Mario Pelaez, one of my students. Thanks a lot, Mario.

“I’ve liked this song since I was a child” Mario says. It was released in 1973. The title track is one of Joel’s signature tracks and a seminal song in piano rock. It remains a concert standard, and is the source of Joel’s nickname, Piano man.

About the song…well, I think it’s so moving. It’s a song about people who are disappointed with a part of their lives, about people who still believe in their dreams even thought they haven’t been able to make them come true, and the central character of the song is the pianist, the “piano man”, who plays to alleviate their pain, to make them forget about their lives for a while…

Roald Dahl

Listening, , , ,

Roald Dahl was one of the world’s most beloved children’s authors. Not only did he create such memorable characters as Willy Wonka, Danny the Champion of the World and The BFG, but he also had a very successful career writing short stories for adults. Many of his stories, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, have become classics in their own time.

He was born in Llandaff, Wales. His parents were Norwegian. He did not have a very happy time at school. As soon as he could, he went abroad, first to Newfoundland at 18, and then to East Africa, to train with the Shell Oil Company.
In World War Two Dahl became a Royal Air Force pilot, fighting Italian planes over the Libyan Desert. He started writing after his plane was shot down, and the description of this adventure was so successful that he became a full-time writer in the US.
He was a successful screenplay writer, working on movies like James Bond’s You Only Live Twice. Dahl moved back to England in 1960’s.
If you want more information about this author, click here to visit his website, one of the funniest I’ve ever visited.

http://www.roalddahl.com/

There is also a listening activity which you might want to try in my website. Click here

Duffy

Music

Duffy is said to be one of the developers of what the media are calling “The Sound of 2008”, which is a combination of modern pop music with the retro sound of the late sixties.

Ironically, Duffy ,born in Wales , was asked to leave her school choir because her voice was “too big” and she “didn’t fit in” and now she has become the first Welsh female to achieve a number one pop single in the past 25 years with her single “Mercy”. So far, her album Rockferry has sold 3.4 million copies worldwide.
In my website there is an interview with Duffy with some questions about it to practise your listening. I’d recommend it for advanced students.
Here is the video for Stepping Stone, one of my favourites. Click here if you want to read the lyrics.