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Think about where your favourite songs are ‘located’ and develop your understanding of setting within your GCSE and A-Level texts.

  • MUSIC FOCUS: Calvin Harris; Ellie Goulding; Maggie Lindemann; YUNGBLUD; Machine Gun Kelly.
  • ACTIVITY FOCUS: To assess why a writer might position their ‘character’ inside or outside. To decipher a relationship between the inside and the outside. To make a decision about which parts of your own story would be set inside or outside.

It’s easy to listen to the songs you’re listening to without really thinking too hard about why they’re located where they are! But it’s always important to think about setting. Our feelings, our ambitions, our understanding of the world – all of these things are fuelled by the experience of the places in which we find ourselves…

Find part 1 of our ‘Location, Location, Location’ series here.

SOUND OF PEN’S LOCATION SERIES: PART 2

ACTIVITY 1

Watch the 4 videos and think about the 4 sets of lyrics. Consider the questions carefully in advance of then moving onto activity 2…

Listen to Ellie Goulding sing: “Show you what it feels like / Now I’m on the outside / Oh oh / We did everything right, now I’m on the outside.” What does the inside represent? What does the outside represent?

Watch the video below. Putting the lyric in context of the rest of the song will help you to secure ideas.

Listen to Machine Gun Kelly sing: “Take me anywhere outside.” What does the outside represent?

Watch the video below. Putting the lyric in context of the rest of the song will help you to secure ideas.

Listen to Maggie Lindemann sing: “Staying in another night / And I’ve been talking to the walls.” What does the outside symbolise? What does the inside symbolise?

You’ll absolutely have to watch the video in order to answer this one.

Listen to YUNGBLUD sing: “I decide to come outside / You turn around and you tell me you love me / I decide to come outside / You turn around and you tell me you need me.” What does the outside represent?

Watch the video below. Putting the lyric in context of the rest of the song will help you to secure ideas.

ACTIVITY 2

Continue your plan for a piece of creative writing. You might already have some ideas about character and plot, and you should absolutely have a vision about where your story is going to be be set. Now consider how much time your character will spend inside and how much time your character will spend outside. What will the inside signify for your character? What will the outside represent?

Part 3 in the series coming soon!

Meanwhile, you can have a go at analysing darkness with Linkin Park, BMTH & Enter Shikari.