Language is a very beautiful thing, because there is no way around it. Everywhere you look there are letters forming words, forming sentences, to create a phrase we understand and use to talk to each other, because those letters, words and sentences are paired with sounds, which humans can produce with their mouth, to create a language, so we can communicate. If you look at it objectively it is a very bizarre thing, but at the same time very beautiful. To study a language and truly understand how others think, what writers mean with certain sentences, is important, it learns us to crawl inside of the mind of someone else. So, to learn about poetry and books in our language courses is of course a necessity, it is often the core of the course, the foundation of language: the written word. There, however, are a lot of students who find language dull and ‘dusty’ and even though I want to study a language next year, I can truly understand where they are coming from.

A lot of the poems have lost their relevance. Words are used that no one uses ever anymore and sentences often do not speak to the reader, because they were written a long time ago. I love those poems and stories, because they use words in a very intelligent and beautiful way, but Shakespeare and Hemingway are not the only the ones to do so anymore. No one cares about them anymore, but that does not mean that people do not like poetry or language anymore, because everyone I know, listens to music and music is the modern version of poetry. So I find it very surprising that we aren’t analysing music in our language courses.

We learn about metres and rhyme schemes and what the relation is between the metre and the poem, but what does that more perfectly than a song does? If you analyse a song, you don’t just analyse the words, you analyse every aspect. Why is the bass suddenly so loud, what kind of feeling is the artist trying to portray? Music says a lot and has a relation with the words that are being sung, which makes it so much more interesting to analyse. I get that it is a language course and that one should stick to words and sentences, but even if you take away the music, you are more than often left with a beautiful poem.

I don’t believe that you can’t call Eminem a poet. He has used more words than Shakespeare ever did, he chooses words very carefully and none are random. His lyrics ‘flow’, they speak to you, but at the same time are telling a story. And I understand that he doesn’t always use the cleanest words, but that comes with the genre, I guess. If you want to get students excited for literature, the words they are reading, should speak to them and I think Eminem speaks more to teenagers than Shakespeare ever will. Who says anyway that Shakespeare wasn’t the Eminem of his generation? Now, I understand that we can’t analyse Eminem’s lyrics in our language courses, for that he say fuck a little bit too much, but Eminem isn’t the only poet out there. In fact, didn’t Bob Dylan winning the Nobel prize for literature say enough? Music is just as much literature as books and poems are. They are often even more artistic, as the music sets a tone, just as the words do.

The point is, all these musicians write words that are more relevant to teenagers nowadays, a lot more relevant than 18^th century poetry and don’t get me wrong, this is coming from a girl who loves 18^th century poetry, but I love it just as much as Blowin’ in the wind. Not to say we should stop analysing Shakespeare and Hemingway, they are very important to understand the English language, but I find it hard to believe that Bob Dylan isn’t equally as important. I can’t wrap my head around as to why we aren’t analysing music already, but I guess it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why.