(NZ Culture) Women in New Zealand Pop Music

Lead in


Who is your favourite female pop music artist?
What are their songs about?
How would you describe their music?
How would you describe their image?
How important is "image" for male and female pop music artists?
Would you describe any of the following artists as "role models"?

Katy Perry
Madonna
Taylor Swift

Beyonce
Ariana Grande
Adele
Lady Gaga
Rihanna
Amy Winehouse
Annie Lennox



What sacrifices do you think these artists have made for their careers?











If you could be a pop star, what kind of music would you make and what sort of image would you have?

Annie Lennox as Elvis





Do you recognise the names of any of these female New Zealand artists?

Ella Yelich-O'Connor (Lorde)
Coco Solid
Aldous Harding
Kimbra
Aaradhna
Anna Coddington
Nadia Reid
Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins)











Can you recognise their faces?

From the pictures what kind of music do you think they do?

Listening: 0:00 - 4:00

Discussion

1. What has APRA (Australasian Performing Rights Association) introduced?

2. Why is Jessie Moss always watching the stage?

3. What proportion of APRA members are female?

4. Why does the presenter bring up the word "visibility"?

5. What are female musicians's not supposed to have on their hip?

Discuss:

Do you think it's important that young people see someone like them succeeding in society?

Who is that person for you?

What do you think of quota systems for industries? 

Vocab:

24 collocations

Royals or Tin Foil?

Separate the parody from the original

I never seem to finish all my food

I always get a doggie bag from the waiter

So I just keep what's still unchewed

And I take it home, save it for later

But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom

Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room

We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams

But everybody's like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece

Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash

We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair

But then I deal with fungal rot, bacterial formation

Microbes, enzymes, mold and oxidation

I don't care; I've got a secret trick up my sleeve

I never bother with baggies, glass jars, Tupperware containers

Plastic cling wrap, really a no-brainer

I just like to keep all my flavours sealed in tight

And we'll never be royals

It don't run in our blood

That kind of lux just ain't for us

We crave a different kind of buzz

Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen B

And baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule)

Let me live that fantasy

From aluminum foil (foil)

Wear a hat that’s foil lined

In case an alien's inclined

To probe your butt or read your mind

Looks a bit peculiar ('culiar)

Seems a little crazy

But someday I'll prove (I'll prove, I'll prove, I'll prove)

There's a big conspiracy

Royals official video

Royals with lyrics

Aluminum Foil


What do the following personality adjectives mean?

Vivacious
Privileged
Bitter
Patronising
Naive
Blunt
Warm
Engaging
Softly spoken
Hesitant
Tongue-tied
Intelligent
Articulate
Vital
Self-conscious

Watch the following clip, decide which adjectives suit Lorde:

On Feminism - and the meaning of the name Lorde.

Kimbra - Settle Down

What do you think of Kimbra's image? How would you define it?

Before listening / watching

Read the lyrics - what's the song about?

1. Do you think they're good lyrics? Why? Why not?
2. Who do you think Kimbra's audience might be?
3. What will the music be like?
4. What might you see in the video?

I wanna settle down
I wanna settle down
Won't you settle down with me?
Settle down

We can settle at a table
A table for two
Won't you wine and dine with me?
Settle down

I wanna raise a child
I wanna raise a child
Won't you raise a child with me
Raise a child

We'll call her Nebraska
Nebraska Jones
She'll have your nose
Just so you know

I wanna settle down
I wanna settle down
Won't you settle down with me?
Settle down

Run from Angela Vickers
I saw her with you
Monday morning small talking on the avenue
She's got a fancy car
She wants to take you far
From the city lights and sounds deep into the dark

Star so light and star so bright
First star i see tonight!
Star so light and star so bright
Keep him by side!

I wanna settle down
I wanna settle down
Baby there's no need to run
I'll love you well
I wanna settle down
It's time to bring you down
On just one knee for now
Lets make our vows

After listening

1. Did hearing the song and watching the video change your mind about the song?
2. Which other pop stars does she remind you of?

Anna Coddington

Runner


Before listening - read through the lyrics

1. Do you think they're good lyrics? Why? Why not?
2. Who do you think Kimbra's audience might be?
3. What will the music be like?
4. What might you see in the video?


Runner

I’m running on empty trying to take a long view

hoping that my happiness is on my way toward you

run out of feelings, nothing left for you

I made a mess of them with somebody before you

I’ve wasted my heart throwing love down a wishing well

now I can tell when the bottom’s near

so I keep running and the further that I go

the more I love to be on my own

I’ll stick around for the fun, but baby I’m a runner

Coz you might be the one or just another lover

I’m here now for the fun, but baby I’m a runner

Coz you could be the one or just another lover

I’m running on wishes promises of all new

beginnings and everything I felt when I first saw you

running on the feeling that just around the corner

is the pay off for all of the hell I went through for ya

I’ve wasted love throwing my heart at a lost cause

and all because it seemed easier

but I kept running and the further that I got

the more I realized that it’s not

Aldous Harding


Do you like Aldous Harding's image? How would you define it?

First read the lyrics

What's the song about?

Hey, man

I really need you back again
The years are plenty
Somewhere
I have a watercolour you did
I saw you walking on the sand
In Thailand
I used to watch you from the van
It was your band
Don't let us bully you, baby
Got problems of the heart
And you're the the perfect blend

Can't seem to let you off the chain
That is our name
A few of your letters came from Limoges
She's gonna struggle day to day
But she deserves a place
You and walking in the sand
And you're the perfect man
You're the perfect man
You're the perfect blend

ode

əʊd/

noun

1. a lyric poem, typically one in the form of an address to a particular subject, written in varied or irregular metre.

   • a classical poem of a kind originally meant to be sung.

1. If this song is an ode, what does it tell you about the poet and the person to whom it is addressed?

2. What do you think the video for this song will show?

(The playboy scene Apocalypse Now)

Lorde

Nadia Reid

Do you like Nadia's image? How would you define it?

Aaradhna

Do you like Aaradhna's image?

Boney M - Brown Girl in the Ring (1979)


Brown Girl

I'm more than the colour of my skin

I'm a girl that likes to sing

All I know is what's within

Not just a brown girl in the ring

Go to school and learn their ways

Told how to think and what to say

While my mother says to pray

I pray for better days

God, please help them see

They ain't no different from me

Not above, not beneath

Teach them equality

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

I'm more than what they think of me

More than the colour tones that they see

More than urban, R&B, more than a slang that I speak

Close your eyes, don't say your word

Don't speak about what you seen or heard

Let's pretend that it's OK

Just the way the devil likes to play

Look in my eyes, look in my eyes

I can't lie, I can't lie

All these years of my life

I'm judged from the outside

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

And if you don't know by now

Time will show you what I'm talking 'bout

Said if you don't know by now

Time will show you what I'm talking 'bout

I'm talking 'bout

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

I'm not just a brown girl in the ring

I'm a girl that likes to sing

Aardanha refuses Hip Hop Award

1. What is Aardana's cultural background?

2. What song did Aardana win best Hip Hop song for?

3. Why does she refuse to accept the award?

Discuss: What do you think? Was she right to refuse the award?

Coco Solid

Do you like Coco's image?

Tiny Ruins

Quiz:

Some of the language

Song:

Winter Garden

Here's another Ode

Read the lyrics

I await the day when I work at the museum

With you across the way in the wintergardens

So young and so warm

We'll storm, we'll swarm

The parks on our lunch breaks

We'll lie on the lawn

Smile so stealthily*

Buttery and brief

We'll lie through our teeth

Shock all the cavalry

Statues watching on

Us in our time bomb

Nobody feels old at the museum

Nobody feels cold in the wintergardens

We'll roll on and roll on

Cutting it fine with the clock on

We'll persevere

Carry on working there

Me in the museum

And you in the wintergardens

*in a cautious and secretive manner, so as not to be seen

Task

Use you phone to find out more about a female NZ artist. Share what you found out in groups.