Completely Moved

"John,

Thanks so much for getting back to me. I have been talking with my student about contacting you and apparently my school email was putting your messages in a spam folder. Regardless, glad we are in contact now.

I use the song ["Ophelia"] every year when we act out Hamlet in class. I play the song at the beginning of the unit and the kids usually say something like, "That's a pretty song," and don't quite get the meaning behind it. Then, after the play, I play the song again and they give a collective, "OHHHH" and appreciate the song so much more. We then talk about everyone's hermeneutic and explain that our perceptions of things are determined by the lens through which we view the universe. Specifically with reference to your song, we say that one reason "smart English people" are "smart" is that they know Shakespeare and the universality of the author facilitates their connections to so many other texts.

After doing this lesson for two years and having about 200 students listen to the song, I can say confidently that about 95% of 16 year olds in Michigan love the song. The other 5% probably won't like anything that a teacher gives them. :) I will be sure to share the motivation of your junior HS English class with classes in the future.

I found your music from listening to Acoustic Long Island. I love that podcast. My wife listens to it once in awhile and she does not have a very large appreciation of music of different genres, much unlike her husband. However, when we go on trips, she always says, "Play that one Ophelia song."

Do you ever play in the greater Detroit area? Have any other teachers contacted you about using your music in class?

Thanks again for the contact.

Aric"