Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Part A: Theme Songs And Ending Credits

15 minutes

Part B: The Song Development Process

25 minutes

Part C: Lyric Analysis

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students understand...

how theme songs and ending credits songs add to a film.
how songwriters come up with ideas for song lyrics.
the process of developing a song for a film.
that lyrics can have powerful messages and hidden meanings.

Students can...

structure song lyrics
analyse song lyrics
look for meaning in songs and decode literary devices
explain the value of writing songs for film.

Lesson preparation

Print out the Lyric Sheet (single sided) and cut into the recommended strips. Make sure each set gets placed in an individual envelope so all groups have all the lyrics. You’ll need enough copies for each two-three students in the class.

Part A: Theme songs and ending credits

Step 1

Invite students to share some theme songs or ending credits songs from films that they can remember.

Examples could include:

Shrek 2 - 'I Need a Hero'
The Lion King - 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight'
Frozen - 'Let it Go'
10 Things I Hate About You - 'I Want You to Want Me'

Step 2

Invite students to consider this question:

What is the purpose of a theme song or ending credits song for a film?
Suggested answer: To get the audience to sit through the credits (which acknowledge the film crew), to leave the audience feeling a particular way.

Reference: https://indiefilmhustle.com/movie-credits-template/

Step 3

Invite students to select a partner or group of three to work with. Distribute the envelopes containing the cut up Lyric Sheet.

Explain to students that they have an envelope containing the lyrics of an award-winning ending credits song for an Australian documentary. They are to organise the lyrics into an order that makes sense and creates a recognised song structure. Based on the lyric arrangement they have made, they should choose a title for the song and write a summary of what it is about. They might like to consider the topic of the film this might have been written for.

Note: It would be best if you keep secret from the students that this lesson is about The Final Quarter if you want them to predict the film’s topic based on the lyrics.

Step 4

Allow pairs/groups no more than five minutes to arrange their lyrics. Then go around the class, inviting students to share their titles and descriptions of what the song is about.

Step 5

Distribute the Student Worksheet containing the lyrics of ‘Every Day My Mother’s Voice’ by Paul Kelly. Invite students to compare their version with the original and note if the arrangement of lyrics changes the meaning or impact of the song in any way.

Step 6

Inform students that this song was commissioned for the The Final Quarter documentary about the last three years of Adam Goodes’ AFL career. Invite them to discuss this question:

What do you know about Adam Goodes’ background and upbringing?

Note: You might like to play The Final Quarter Trailer before this step if students haven’t viewed the film or need to tune back into the story. You could also provide students with the Adam Goodes Profile.

You might also like to inform students that this song won the 2019 Screen Music Award for Best Original Song Composed for the Screen.

Step 7

Play this video for students:

Paul Kelly & Dan Sultan - Every Day My Mother's Voice (Official Video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3OJ0kzSXQE)

Step 8

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around the following questions:

What are your initial thoughts about this song?
What do you think about it being used in the credits of The Final Quarter?
Does it match or contrast with the film’s mood? Why?
What feeling/s might it leave the audience walking out with?
What do you think made Shark Island Productions choose to invite Paul Kelly to write a song for the film?

Part B: The song development process

Step 1

Play this video of Paul Kelly talking about the song, 'Every Day My Mother’s Voice':

Paul Kelly - Every Day My Mother's Voice (Source to Song, Studio to Stage: Episode 3) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOiXHjX_dk)

Step 2

Review this song development process with the students:

The film's director, Ian Darling, commissioned the work and wrote a brief for Paul Kelly.
Paul Kelly checked with Adam Goodes that it was OK (as a non-Indigenous songwriter) to write a song about him.
Paul Kelly watched a rough cut of the film (before the final version was ready) and did some research about Adam Goodes.
Paul Kelly considered his own knowledge of Adam Goodes and a memory of Adam’s mother at the Brownlow Medal count.
Paul Kelly started writing the song.
Paul Kelly considered the artists he wanted to work with - particularly Dan Sultan.
Dan Sultan, Paul Kelly and the band recorded the song in one afternoon.
A film clip was made for the film.

Step 3

Ask students to discuss as a class:

Why do you think Paul Kelly decided to get Dan Sultan on board with the song?
Why do you think Paul Kelly chose to focus the song on Adam’s relationship with his mother?
What do we know, or can we learn, about his mother’s life?

Step 4

Invite students to work independently to conduct some research about Adam Goodes’ mother and see what they can learn about her.

Suggested answer: Her name is Lisa May Goodes. She is a Adnyamathanha and Narungga woman (from Flinders Ranges and Yorke Peninsula regions in South Australia). She raised three sons on her own after separating from Adam’s father. She was part of the ‘Stolen Generation’, meaning she was removed from her parents and raised by an English family. She never saw her mother again. She was told that her mother had died when she was young, which was a lie. When she found out about her mother, she had already died.
Ref: https://www.theage.com.au/national/lisa-mays-tears-of-joy-20030924-gdwebf.html

Optional extension: Choose one of the musicians on the track and learn more about their background.

Once complete, invite students to talk to a partner about what they learned.

Note: Some students may have strong feelings/sensitivities about the ‘Stolen Generations’. Make sure you have read the Teacher Notes and refer to the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues factsheet if you need to.

Part C: Lyric analysis

Step 1

Explain to students that in the next activity they will be analysing the lyrics of ‘Every Day My Mother’s Voice’. Introduce students to the following things to consider when analysing lyrics:

Look out for repetition of words/phrases, length of phrases and emphasis on particular words. This will help you determine which words and phrases are the most important and are driving the story and key ideas of the song.
Consider the lyrics in context - what was the social, historical and political context at the time the song or the story was born?
Sometimes lyrics are similar to poetry - they can use similar literary devices (like metaphor etc.), so look out for those and interpret their meaning.
Consider how the lyrics interact with the music and sounds in the song.
Consider the impact of ‘voice’ - who is ‘speaking’ and what impact does this have on the audience?
Understanding how to analyse lyrics will help you write better lyrics yourself.

Step 2

Invite students to refer back to the lyrics of ‘Every Day My Mother’s Voice’ and highlight or underline any passages that stand out to them and that they’d like to know more about.

Students can then conduct a THINK PAIR SHARE routine around the following question:

What are your thoughts and feelings in response to these lyrics?

Once complete, you could invite student volunteers to share their ideas with the class. Through this process, suggest to students that how they respond to the lyrics is likely to be very individual but it can also provide clues as to the composer’s intentions, for example, what did Paul Kelly want the impact of this song to be?

Step 3

Now invite students to choose four phrases from the song and list these in the following table (also available on the Student Worksheet). They should then have a go at determining the meaning of these phrases. The following suggestions have been provided to assist you in supporting students.

Phrase	Meaning
Every day I fill my cup Stand up straight and walk through the door	This could be referring to Adam’s choice to choose positivity, to lean into challenges with a confident outlook and not cower, to take opportunities as they come.
Every day I build my life On her sacrifice	This could be referring to how Adam Goodes was influenced and strengthened by his mother and her role in his life. "Her sacrifice" could be referring to her being taken from her own parents or it could be about raising him as a single mother. In small and large ways, all mothers make sacrifices for their children.
Many roads I could have gone down Many, many ways to disappear	This could be talking about how many options Adam Goodes had for his life. He chose to keep on a healthy path, pursuing his football career and then advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights.
Now I've got a dance and I've got a song They can't take that away from me	This could be referring to Adam Goodes’ ‘war cry’ at the 2015 Indigenous Round. It describes Adam’s connection to his Aboriginal culture and history. This was something he wasn’t brought up with, but having that connection now is important and can’t be taken from him.
Every night I drain my cup Lay me down and close the door	This is a direct contrast to the lyric “Every day I fill my cup, stand up straight and walk through the door”. This lyric could mean that once the day is done, Adam Goodes is exhausted after the energy he has expended and needs the rest to recharge and go again the next day.

Step 4

Once complete, invite students to discuss the lyrics that stood out to them and help them with their interpretations. Use the examples in the table above to prompt discussion.

Through this discussion you might also like to work through some of the following points with students:

Choosing to write this song about Adam’s mother is significant in the context of The Final Quarter, because his mother is Adam’s link to his Aboriginality. This positive representation of his mother (and in turn his Aboriginal identity) provides Adam with strength and comfort. In the face of his trials and experiences of racism, this is a powerful message of hope.
The repeated use of the term ‘every day’, and Paul Kelly’s quote in his video, “I wanted to have this sort of feeling of… getting through each day”, could be referring to the daily grind of dealing with racism and challenges in Adam’s life. It also highlights how Adam’s mother was consistently there for him, day in and day out.
There are sound bites from the film used in the clip. This makes writing for film slightly different to writing a general pop song. Students might like to consider what these sound bites add to the song.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to respond to the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What are your thoughts about 'Every Day My Mother’s Voice' now you know more about it?
What does the song add to the film?
What have you learned about the value of theme songs and ending credits songs for films?
What topic might you have used if you had been commissioned to write the theme song for The Final Quarter? How would you have decided?

Differentiated Learning

Extension

In Part B, students could choose one of the musicians on the track and learn more about their background.
Students could write an additional verse of the song in line with the theme and style.
Students could undertake an investigation about the Stolen Generations by sourcing lyrics written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander songwriters.
Students could write a blog post analysing and/or reviewing the song and its connection with The Final Quarter film.

Provisions for Learning Support - In Part C, pair students who have weaker literacy skills with students who have stronger literacy skills or select only one lyric phrase for them to interpret.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

The Final Quarter - Understanding The Theme Song

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