There are many genres of music I like and artists and bands that I enjoy listening to and support; however, whenever this question is posed to me, my first and instinctual response is: Dave Matthews Band. I am a HUGE fan of Dave Matthews Band. I love the organic feel of their music and enjoy the underlying political messages – probably because I agree with them. I have been a fan of Dave since middle school, even before I was old enough to really appreciate the music for all of its aspects; yet, it is something I have grown into and still love! My fondest memories are of going to outdoor Dave shows at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin - eating and drinking with my friends before the show as the hot summer sun sets behind us, and then going in to see an amazing show by DMB under the stars.
I chose to share the video “Don’t Drink the Water” by Dave Matthews Band and incorporate it into a lesson because I actually began thinking about this a couple of weeks ago while tutoring in AVID at Plymouth Middle School right before Thanksgiving break. The students were talking about Thanksgiving, pilgrims, Native-Americans, and of course, Christopher Columbus. Even though I am sure they are being taught (at least hopefully they are!) the truth of how Native-Americans were treating when colonists came to North America. The song is an homage to how the colonists poorly treated the Native Americans and I think could fit perfectly when paired with a multi-cultural text with a Native-American protagonist (such as True Diary of a Part-Time Indian). I think it is fantastic when English classes are paired with Social Studies classes, so this could create a fun and new approach to feeling the pain of the Native Americans through lyrics and music. If you listen to Dave Matthews sing, his voice is full of emotion and anger as well as addressed in the lyrics.
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