Cold War Pop Songs: Understanding the Historical Significance of the Cold War through Music

Cold War Pop Songs: Understanding the Historical Significance of the Cold War through Music

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to define the key-word Cold War and identify its historical significance through popular music.

Introduce the learning objective and let the students know what they should expect to learn by the end of the lesson.

What do you already know about the Cold War?

Defining the Cold War

The Cold War was a political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from 1947 to 1991.

Explain the main characteristics of the Cold War and provide a brief historical context.

Cold War Pop Song #1

Elvis Presley's 'If I Can Dream' (1968) was written in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the ongoing Vietnam War.

Play the song for the class and encourage them to listen for lyrics that relate to the Cold War.

Cold War Pop Song #2

David Bowie's 'Heroes' (1977) was inspired by the Berlin Wall and the political division between East and West Germany.

Play the song for the class and ask them to reflect on how it relates to the Cold War.

Cold War Pop Song #3

Sting's 'Russians' (1985) was written at the height of the Cold War and expresses the fear of a potential nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Play the song for the class and ask them to share their thoughts on the lyrics and themes.

Analyzing the Songs

Now that we have listened to three Cold War pop songs, let's discuss what we have learned about the historical significance of the Cold War from these songs.

Lead a class discussion on the themes and messages of the songs and how they relate to the Cold War.

Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on what you have learned about the Cold War from these pop songs. How do you think music can help us understand historical events?

Encourage students to think critically about the role of music in understanding history and to share their thoughts with the class.

Conclusion

Today, we learned about the Cold War and its historical significance through popular music. We discovered how music can help us understand complex historical events and themes.

Summarize the main learning points of the lesson and emphasize the importance of using multiple sources to understand history.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.