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Making sense of public issues with songs

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 Social Studies Research and Practice
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Making Sense of Public Issues with Songs

James B. Howell
The University of Southern Mississippi

Cory Callahan
The University of Alabama
Arguments surrounding public issues are not always expressed in writing; they often take visual
and auditory forms. In recent years, scholarship encouraging teachers and students to think
deeply about songs—music and lyrics—has increased. Historical analysis of songs from the past
can help students develop critical listening habits useful for interpreting contemporary songs.
We share an inquiry-based, research-into-practice lesson centered around the following question:
Was the US justified in pursuing nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II?
We highlight a public issues approach where students use historical content and analysis as
evidence to defend a chosen public policy.
Key words: Public Issues, Music Literacy, Historical Thinking, Inquiry-Based
Instruction, Civic Competence

Like many living in America, we grew up playing instruments and listening to an eclectic
mix of music: jazz, hard rock, pop, hip-hop, country, etc. In the searching times of adolescence,
we were drawn to musicians who used their considerable artistic abilities to comment on social
issues. Metallica’s One (Hetfield & Ulrich, 1989) invited us to explore returning home mangled
from war, Arrested Development’s Mr. Wendal (Todd, 1992) compelled us to consider
homelessness in our communities, and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit (Cobain, Noroselic, &
Grohl, 1991) challenged us to rethink conformity and social acceptance.
Students of all ages are likely to have similar experiences, with an important exception:
today, songs are far more accessible. Whereas we had to wait for a song to cycle through its
rotation on the radio or visit a store, students can now access almost any song within seconds.
Music stars release singles via well-known multimedia software applications and amateur singer-
songwriters upload high-quality original creations on social media. Digital music is available for
near-instant download across multiple platforms, all of which are available at students’
fingertips. This availability may partially explain why teenagers (and tweens) now listen to
music an average of 2.5 hours per day, an increase of nearly 40% from a decade ago (see
Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010).
Students tend to listen to songs delivering powerful messages and providing commentary
on popular culture (Buckingham, 2003; Luke, 2000), and it is often through listening to those
songs that students construct opinions on social issues (Mangram & Weber, 2012). It seems
reasonable, therefore, that independent participation in our increasingly digitized democracy
requires increased media literacy to help establish a healthy distance from powerful influences
(Silverblatt, Smith, Miller, Smith, & Brown, 2014). Competence in media literacy would afford
citizens agency to choose which media to access, the ability to interpret their selections, and the
reflective judgment to evaluate them (Brkich, 2012; Wineburg & Reisman, 2015). In this article,
we describe how thinking deeply about the powerful messages found in songs from the past can
help students develop critical listening habits useful for interpreting contemporary songs. We

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also suggest situating the analysis of songs from the past in the context of a persistent public
issue (Saye & Brush, 2004) increases the likelihood students will grasp the modern significance
of their analytical findings.
In contrast to their lives away from school, adolescents in social studies classrooms rarely
explore social commentaries built from music and lyrics (White & McCormack, 2006).
Teachers’ classroom practices tend to exclude potentially powerful instruction featuring songs as
primary sources (Root, 2005). We believe students can develop the disposition to transfer skills
of critical audio consumption (e.g., sourcing, contextualizing, constructing arguments) by
interpreting historical and contemporary music (White & McCormack, 2006, see also Wineburg,
2003) within the context of persistent social issues that intersect both time and space (Saye &
Brush, 2004). Historical music, in particular, may create much needed cognitive space for
students to explore questions about the past while recognizing artists’ assumptions about the
world. Historical songs can 1) present opportunities for students to question truth claims, 2) add
contextual depth to help students make sense of the past, and 3) help students recognize that tone
and rhythm often buttress social arguments made through lyrics.
A Public Issues Framework
Social studies approaches that implement songs as historical artifacts tend to develop
students’ interpretive skills or students’ understanding of under-represented perspectives (see
Heafner, Groce, & Bellows, 2014). Surely, these goals should be considered. We seek to tie the
examination of historical songs to a public issues framework, thus aiding students in developing
civic competence (see Oliver & Shaver, 1966). Research over the past 30 years has consistently
suggested teaching social studies within a public issues framework can help students refine the
skills, knowledge, and dispositions needed for a productive civic life (Hess, 2002; Oliver,
Newmann, & Singleton, 1992; Parker, 2006; Saye & Brush, 2004). Active democratic
citizenship requires an understanding of cultures, politics, economics, and attempts to manipulate
one’s personal decisions (Peck 2005). Students who develop the skills associated with civic
competence—the knowledge, intellectual processes, and democratic dispositions required of
students to be active and engaged participants in public life (National Council for the Social
Studies, 2010)—may be better prepared to critique information regarding complex issues and act
according to their well-informed consciences.
In advocating for the examination of historical songs within a public issues framework, we
sought to provide students with experiences in reasoning through social issues and conflicts
typical of democracies. Students need practice analyzing the competing perspectives and
evidence inevitably arising when working through controversial public issues in a democratic
society. Students also need practice making and defending reasonable resolutions to these
issues. We suggest music and lyrics hold educative potential beyond making social studies
classes more engaging (White & McCormack, 2006) or helping “students learn to think like
historians” (Library of Congress, 2015, para. 1). Songs can be used as resources to develop and
hone powerful analysis tools for negotiating auditory data (i.e., music and lyrics), weighing
value-conflicts, and deriving solutions to public issues.
We featured a lesson employing historical songs as evidence that students analyzed and
used to address a public issue. We situated the lesson within a post-World War II unit asking an
authentic question upon which reasonable people of good will disagreed: Was the US justified in
pursuing nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II? The question’s
pedagogical significance hinges on the word justified; rather than asking students to explain how,

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it asks whether the nation acted justly. The question required students to identify and explore
historical evidence as a means to an end: making value judgments as to the justness of foreign
policy decisions immediately after World War II. The authentic question is also a manifestation
of a larger, more enduring societal concern: What actions are justified when securing the welfare
or security of a community? (Newmann, 1970; Saye & Brush, 2004). We suggest the use of this
persistent question within our curricular materials brings more contemporary significance to the
examination of Cold War era historical songs. By calling for students to justify actions, both
questions encouraged reflective inquiry that moved beyond transmitting historical content or
practicing the tools of inquiry embedded within the social science disciplines (see Barr, Barth, &
Shermis, 1978). The questions also asked students to explore justice-oriented themes by
analyzing collective strategies that attempted to resolve social issues (see Westheimer & Kahne,
2004).
We also designed an advanced organizer (Appendix A) to carefully scaffold students’
interpretation of historical songs. To create the handout, we synthesized research-based
suggestions for 1) recognizing, deconstructing, and “evaluating” an argument (see NCSS, 2013,
C3 Framework, Dimension 3, p. 18), 2) thinking critically and historically about evidence from
the past (see Wineburg, 1991; Wineburg, Martin, & Monte-Sano, 2013; Wineburg, & Reisman,
2015), and 3) thinking deeply about songs’ “unique artistic characteristics” (Library of Congress,
2015, para. 1). Appendix B is a completed scaffold that may be a useful resource for teachers as
they facilitate students’ historical thinking.
An Exemplar Lesson: Reactions to Nuclear Proliferation following World War II
The lesson featured below was nested within a unit designed to help students decide if the
US was justified in pursuing nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II. Each
of the unit’s lessons worked to assist students in developing the knowledge and skills required to
answer the unit central question in a culminating activity. At the end of the unit, student-groups
prepared and delivered a persuasive presentation to the American people within the historical
context of SALT I negotiations taking place between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Throughout instruction, we used technology to address anticipated obstacles students would
encounter related to studying history within a public issues framework. In the lesson below, for
example, we added contextual hyperlinks within our digital presentation of each historical song
to provide historical expertise and metacognitive aides to students’ thinking (see Land, 2000;
Saye & Brush, 2004).
During an initial introductory lesson grabber concerning value conflicts surrounding a
modern military dispute, we emphasized that the skills to be sharpened during the unit were
essential for thoughtful 21st century civic life. We reminded students there are people or groups
who intentionally use auditory messages (e.g., songs, anthems, jingles) to influence their
decision-making. We shared with students that they would soon think deeply about songs, using
them as evidence to hypothesize about the past. We stressed our hope was for students to
develop the disposition to transfer those newly honed skills and use them to improve their lives
away from school. We then introduced an authentic, real-world scenario framing the unit’s
culminating activity: student-pairs had been hired by an U.S. special interest group to develop an
evidence-based, persuasive speech to convince the public of their position on the question of
nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II. We emphasized that persuasive
speechwriters usually address their opponents’ arguments; therefore, analysis of multiple
perspectives was crucial.

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Next, we provided foundational knowledge of the early Cold War years through an
interactive lecture. Topics we covered included: the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, post-
World War II peace conferences, the Marshall Plan, NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the nuclear arms,
the space race, and a very brief overview of several Cold War proxy conflicts.
Then, we directed student-pairs to complete an online song analysis activity using four
Cold War songs as historical sources. We selected songs based on their 1) musical and lyrical
richness, 2) human interest, and 3) ability to provide divergent views on the question of nuclear
proliferation. Two songs supported U.S. efforts to develop and use nuclear weapons following
the end of World War II; two different songs highlighted the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
Because of space limitations, below we feature and discuss only one song from each perspective.
Our unit was conceptualized using the unit framework advocated by the Persistent Issues
in History (PIH) Network (see Saye & Brush, 2004). The PIH Network is a community of
skilled teachers who engage their students in problem-based historical inquiry (e.g., critically
weighing evidence for historical claims, using content knowledge generated from sound
historical analysis to inform decisions about enduring societal questions). The PIH unit
framework encourages teachers to plan backwards by identifying a persistent issue question and
a related topic-specific, unit central question before then conceptualizing an authentic
performance assessment that creates opportunities for students to defend answers to both
questions. We created this lesson online within the PIH Network website (Persistent Issues in
History, 2015) and used the site’s authoring tools to assist students in their analysis. We
provided hyperlinked scaffolding to accompany each song’s lyrics. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate
scaffolded web-interfaces we created for students. We also distributed to each student an
advanced organizer (Appendix A).

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Figure 1. PIH Network scaffolded interface design for “Atom and Evil.”
Just before encouraging students to begin their analysis of the historical songs, we
reviewed the following logistical steps. We asked students to:
1) plug in their headphones and independently listen to the songs while reading
along with the lyrics,
2) pay careful attention to the tone, melody, and word-choices (lyrics);
3) re-read the lyrics with their partner, making use of the embedded scaffolding;
and
4) complete the advanced organizer as they worked through each song and after
analyzing each set.
Students first analyzed the songs opposed to nuclear proliferation following the end of
World War II: Atom and Evil (Zaret & Singer, 1947) and Atomic Sermon (Hughes, 1953). Here,
we feature Atom and Evil, performed by The Golden Gate Quartet, an African-American gospel
group. The song is metaphorically grounded in the Judeo-Christian allegory in which Eve
convinced Adam to eat fruit from the forbidden tree against God’s will, resulting in humanity’s
fall from grace and the origination of sin in the world (Genesis Ch. 3, New Revised Standard
Version). The song portrays Atom (i.e., the atomic bomb) as innocent, but warns humanity

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would be destroyed if Atom were to unite with an unspecified Miss Evil. In this sense, the bomb
is portrayed as an amoral object by itself, yet dangerous and evil when placed in the wrong
hands. By the conclusion of the song, the quartet calls for society to prevent the atomic bomb
from getting into Evil’s hands because doing so was the only way to prevent human destruction.
Musically, The Golden Gate Quartet uses a jubilee style with close harmonies and restrained
singing but with strong musical technique. It seems the singer-songwriters wanted to appeal to a
broad audience and thus juxtaposed the serious, almost spiritual, lyrics with a playful tempo and
tone. Students who analyze Atom and Evil should grasp its warnings against nuclear
proliferation and infer that the song likely reflected the sentiments of the quartet’s similarly
concerned contemporaries (see Appendix B for a complete analysis of the song with anticipated
student responses).

Figure 2. PIH Network scaffolded interface design for “When They Drop the Atomic Bomb.”
Students next analyzed the two songs supporting the development or use of nuclear
weaponry following the end of World War II: When They Drop the Atomic Bomb (Howard,
1951) and Dawn of Correction (Madara, White, & Gilmore, 1965). We feature When They Drop
the Atomic Bomb. Very little is known about the song’s singer, Jackie Doll. He recorded only

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six songs before disappearing from the music scene. The song, however, calls for the destruction
of America’s communist enemies, using any means necessary, including nuclear weapons, and is
among the clearest appeals for the use of nuclear weapons during the Cold War (i.e., the Korean
conflict). The song champions General Douglas MacArthur, commander of UN operations on
the Korean peninsula. It describes an U.S. atomic first-strike that would destroy the communist
North Koreans while simultaneously sending a strong message to Joseph Stalin that he would not
be allowed to expand Soviet influence. Musically, the song has an upbeat, country-western
tempo and tone that one might expect to find at a barn dance (a genre popular at the time). In
this sense, the musical setting seems to minimize the overtness with which the singer-songwriters
call for preemptive use of the atomic bomb to stop the spread of communism. Students who
analyze When They Drop the Atomic Bomb should conclude that it represents a more
conservative Cold War perspective and that the song was likely intended to strengthen the
position of those U.S. citizens who favored strong action in North Korea (see Appendix B for a
complete analysis of the song with anticipated student responses).
Throughout students’ efforts to analyze the songs, we worked to scaffold their
understanding by prompting student pairs for more details, by problematizing trivial thinking,
and by providing students with additional historical context to consider. During these
spontaneous conversations, after students had first independently considered each song’s music
and tone, we used soft scaffolding to introduce additional details about the musical genres
reflected in each song. We also identified gaps in students’ advanced organizers, corrected
ahistorical assumptions, and invited students to revisit the songs for additional details. After the
student-pairs analyzed and discussed the songs, we asked them to tentatively address the unit
central question. We encouraged students to pool their foundational knowledge from the lecture
and song analysis, then offer evidence-based answers to: “Was the US justified in pursuing
nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II?” We facilitated a whole-class
discussion that encouraged students to draw from their contextual knowledge of the time period
presented in the lecture and the competing historical perspectives embedded in the songs. To
close, we reiterated how the media literacy skills practiced in the lesson (i.e., thinking critically
about auditory data) had great value in students’ everyday lives as democratic citizens. We also
reminded students of the culminating activity and indicated that their speech would require them
to recognize perspectives (Barton & Levstik, 2004) before arguing their evidence-based view on
the unit question.
Conclusion
Arguments surrounding public issues are not always expressed in writing; they often take
visual and auditory forms. In recent years, encouraging students to think deeply about the latter
expression, in the form of music and lyrics, has increased (see Brkich, 2012; Heafner, et al.,
2014; Heafner, Groce, & Finnell, 2014; Mangram & Weber, 2012; Pellegrino, Adragna, &
Zenkov, 2015; Soden & Castro, 2013). While many social studies teachers use music to engage
students, they tend to underutilize songs as powerful pedagogical resources (Heafner, et al.,
2014, p. 265). The Cold War lesson we presented offers the opportunity for students to use
information from the past to better understand an enduring societal concern. Students’ efforts
were scaffolded to include critical and historical analysis of songs from the era in order to
construct a more robust understanding of the context surrounding the use of nuclear weapons. In
particular, the analysis of Cold War songs provided students with an understanding of multiple

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historical perspectives that students are to first assess and then use in support of a position on an
overarching authentic, public issue.
We contend that analysis of historical songs within a public issues framework encourages
students to question truth claims while adding contextual depth to help students make sense of
the past. In our lesson, students analyzed songs presenting competing perspectives on a public
issue: whether the US was justified in pursuing nuclear weapons following the conclusion of
World War II. Students were not given a single, celebratory narrative covering U.S. Cold War
actions but were asked to use historical evidence to take a position on an important policy issue
from the past that emerges even today. The competing perspectives built into the lesson were
offered by musicians and represented important attempts by artists to persuade the wider U.S.
public on the appropriateness of developing and using nuclear weaponry. We argue the
musicians’ efforts to persuade or inform were made more palatable for the public through their
use of easily recognizable tones and rhythms. In the songs featured, for instance, we suggest that
the songwriters used popular country-western and jubilee musical settings to appeal to a wider
public audience even as they sung about serious societal concerns.
We hope the research-based lesson presented further encourages wise use of songs:
framed by disciplined-inquiry, contextualized within a public issue, and marked by critical and
historical thinking. We believe this lesson will help further develop the skills necessary for
students to become active citizens.

References
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Barton, K., & Levstik, L. (2004). Teaching history for the common good. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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Georgia Social Studies Journal, 2(1), 1-9.
Buckingham, D. (2003). Media education: Literacy, learning, and contemporary culture. Polity
Press in association with Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Cobain, C., Novoselic, K., & Grohl, D. (1991). Smells like teen spirit. Nevermind [CD]. Santa
Monica: CA. DGC Records.
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(pp. 243-267).
Heafner, T., Groce, E., & Finnell, A. (2014). Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A.: Promoting
historical inquiry through music. Social Studies Research & Practice, 9(3), 118-138.
Hess, D. (2002). Discussing controversial public issues in secondary social studies classrooms:
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Hetfield, J., & Ulrich, L. (1989). One [Recorded by Metallica]. On And justice for all [CD]. New
York, NY: Elektra Records.
Howard. (1951). When they drop the atomic bomb [Recorded by Jackie Doll and his Pickled
Peppers]. On When they drop the atomic bomb / Get me a ticket on the Wabash
Cannonball [LP]. Mercury Records.
Hughes, B. (1953). Atomic sermon [Recorded by Billy Hughes and his Rhythm Buckeroos]. On
Atomic sermon / Beside the Alamo [LP]. Space Records.

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Land, S. M. (2000). Cognitive requirements for learning with open-ended learning environments.
Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 61-78.
Luke, C. (2000). Cyber-schooling and technological change: Multiliteracies for new times. In B.
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futures (pp.69-105). Melbourne, Australia: MacMillan.
Madara, J., White, D., & Gilmore, R. (1965). Dawn of correction [Recorded by The
Spokesmen]. On The dawn of correction [LP]. Decca Records.
Mangram, J., & Weber, R. (2012). Incorporating music into the social studies classroom: A
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National Council for the Social Studies. (2010). National curriculum standards for social
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National Council for the Social Studies. (2013). The college, career, and civic life (C3)
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Days in the Life Of... [CD]. London: EMI/Chrysalis Records.
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Wineburg, S. (1991). Historical problem solving: A study of the cognitive processes used in the
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Wineburg, S., Martin, D., & Monte-Sano, C. (2012). Reading like a historian: Teaching literacy
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Web-based References
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Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/tools
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from http://pihnet.org
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olds. A Kaiser Family Foundation study. Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED527859.pdf

Appendix A
Advanced organizer for students to complete during the lesson

Your Tasks: Listen for common conventions artists use to convey their message: pace, volume, tone,
and mood as well as its use of alliteration, imagery, simile/metaphor, parallelism, repetition, rhyme,
hyperbole, symbolism, and choice of language. Remember we are making sense with songs to help
answer the central question: Was America justified in pursuing nuclear weapons following the
conclusion of World War II?

The Golden Gate Quartet Jackie Doll. (1951) When

(1947). Atom and Evil They Drop the Atomic Bomb

Source
 What does the song’s Date
suggest?
 Who are the song’s Creators
and why might they be unable
or unwilling to be fully
objective (Bias)?
 What important allusions or
connotations are found in the
Title?

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Context
 List three aspects of the song
that seem important.
 What role does the music
play? Is it loud, soft, flowing,
clunky?
 After experiencing the song,
how is the audience supposed
to feel?
 What do the above findings
suggest to you about the
song’s purpose?
Corroborate & Think Deeply
 How do these songs work
together?
 Why are there similarities or
differences?
 How they help us begin to
answer the central question?

Appendix B
Completed Advanced organizer for teacher
Was America justified in pursuing nuclear weapons following the conclusion of World War II?
The Golden Gate Quartet (1947). Jackie Doll. (1951). When They
Atom and Evil Drop the Atomic Bomb

Source  The song was released after World
War II but before the Soviets
developed their own nuclear bomb.
 The song was sung by a popular Black
quartet. They may have been most
interested in selling records.
 The title refers to the story of Adam &
Eve in the Bible. The whole song is
grounded in that Biblical narrative.
 The song was released during the
Korean War, a Cold War conflict.
America was at war.
 Little is known about the
performer but as a country-
western artist, he may have had
traditional, or conservative views.
 The title is “when” they drop the
bomb, not “if.” The “they” is the
United States so it seems like the
title approves of using the bomb
to root out communism.

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Context  The song warns that Atom and Evil  The song clearly supports General
should not be united – that the atom MacArthur and his fight against
bomb should not get into evil hands. communism. The song paints
It is clear that humanity’s fate rests in communists as evil and violent
ensuring close control of atomic who need to be destroyed, even
bombs. The song doesn’t offer any with atomic weapons.
way to ensure its aim.  The song is upbeat and has a
 The music is jubilee style with close country-western theme. The
harmonies and technical singing in the playfulness of the music seems to
context of a spiritual with a rhythmic soften the harsh tone taken against
beat. The seriousness of the lyrics is communists and its endorsement
made more palatable by using a for preemptively using the bomb.
playful tempo and tone that would  The song might have been
resonate with broader audiences. intended to strengthen
 The song might have been intended to conservative support for
warn people against nuclear MacArthur in Korea or as
proliferation but in a way that didn’t propaganda against the
scare the audience. communists.
Corroborate  The songs provide opposite perspectives on the atomic bomb. These
& perspectives probably reflected two sides in American public opinion.
Think  The similarities are musical – they both seem to soften the seriousness of the
Deeply lyrics by using playful music. The differences are lyrical, which might be due
to the intended audiences for each song.
 The two songs work together to explore the pros and cons to developing
nuclear weapons. On the one hand, the bombs strengthen America’s position
against the communists. On the other hand, they kill innocent people and
could destroy the world.

Author Bios

James Howell is Assistant Professor of Secondary Education at The University of Southern

Mississippi. His research interests include lesson study professional development with in-service
social studies teachers, problem-based geographic and historical inquiry, and the culture of
schooling. Email: james.b.howell@usm.edu
Cory Callahan is Assistant Professor of Secondary Social Studies Education at The University
of Alabama. His research interests include educative curriculum materials, public issues, and
historical thinking about various historical texts including historical photographs and songs.

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