Children's Crusade Young men, soldier, nineteen fourteen Marching through countries they'd never seen Virgins with rifles, a game of charades All for a children's crusade Pawns in the game are not victims of chance Stewn on the fields of Belgium and France Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade All of those young lives betrayed The children of England would never be slaves They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves The flower of England face down in the mud And stained in the blood of a whole generation Corpulent generals safe behind lines History's lessons drowned in red wine Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade All of those young lives betrayed All for a children's crusade The children of England would never be slaves They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves The flower of England face down in the mud And stained in the blood of a whole generation Midnight in Soho nineteen eighty-four Fixing in doorways, opium slaves Poppies for young men, such bitter trade All of those young men betrayed All for a children's crusade Sting (from the album Dream of the Blue Turtles) ************************* Sting songs: Although the topics for these two songs (the cold war-- Russians, World War II- Children's Crusade), are somewhat outdated for pop music, they still provide some insight into the concept of lyrics being poetry set to music. I have the students read "Russians" out loud first, and then we listen to the song to get a better feel for the mood. This works well when contrasting it to "Children's Crusade" because, although they both deal with a very serious topic, the latter is set to a little more up beat music as an ironic sort of contrast in itself. With about three or four days' warning, I have the kids bring in their favorite songs, with lyrics if possible. I have them present their song to the class and tell them the following: Group Album Song Title What it's about or what it means to them. Why it is so powerful in their opinion. I've gotten everything from Country & Western to Headbanger music. Either way, it's a lot of fun.