Music , Songs and Singers 

General

You're looking for lyrics? use the search engine...enter the artist's name, the song name or the album name

Find out about your favourite artist or band

http://www.vh1.com/artists/

Popular American music

click on the period to go to 3 very well documented pages....

American Popular Music before 1900 

American Popular Music from 1900 - 1950

American Popular Music from 1950 - Present 

American songs in their historical context

http://www.folkarchive.de/history/history.html

Sold on song

Classic songs, covers ...from BBC radio 2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/

Learning or teaching English with songs

Songs in class

http://www.cambridge.org/elt/ces/methodology/songs.htm

Music in class

http://www.cambridge.org/elt/ces/methodology/music.htm

BBC

Watch the video, hear the sounds and learn the language of the hits and clubs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/music/

Rock Hall of Fame

http://www.rockhall.com/programs/plans.asp
from blues to rap , seventy themes are treated

a great adress to fish for ideas

Esl lounge

suggested activities with songs in the esl class

list of songs by alphabetical order of titles

some have suggested themes and/or worksheets

http://www.esl-lounge.com/songstop.html

Activities for using songs and texts

http://81.255.25.5/images/songs.pdf

Teach esl with songs

lyrics + activities

http://www.isabelperez.com/songs.htm

Angles online

Learn English with hits

http://www.e-cambridgeschool.com/anglesonline/music/index_music.html

Blues and country

The Mudcat Café

With over 8000 songs in the Database you're sure to find what you're looking for.

http://www.mudcat.org/

Woody Guthrie
Bound For Glory: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie 
Devoted to folksinger Woody Guthrie, this site "integrates
history, music, photographs, essays, poems, letters and
drawings." Profiles Guthrie's early years in Oklahoma and
time spent in California, the Pacific Northwest (Grand
Coulee Dam songs), and New York (Almanac Singers).
Includes sheet music for a few of Guthrie's well-known songs. 
http://www.themomi.org/museum/Guthrie/ 

Jazz

Pbs.org

explore the biographies of many of the most influential jazz musicians and listen to

 their contributions online

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/

A history of jazz music
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_roaring.htm

Interactive jazz time line

http://www.pbs.org/jazz/kids/time/

Billy Holiday : Strange fruit

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit: Using Music to Send a Message

http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/resources/lessonplans/hs_lp_billie_holiday.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/indepth/strangefruit.shtml

about the origin of the song with other interesting links on the period (lynching, Jim Crow ...)
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACstrangefruit.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit

strange fruit and protest music

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/strangefruit/

Negro spirituals

Singers and bands

The Beatles

Official site:
http://www.beatles.com

All the lyrics

http://www.beatlelyrics.com/

John Lennon : Imagine

Exploring the message of peace in popular music

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20011005friday.html?pagewanted=all

Billy Joel

"We didn't start the fire"

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~yel/Fire.html

http://www.teacheroz.com/fire.htm

http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Eighties/Fire.php

Bob Marley  

The man and the legend

Analysis of two songs: Buffalo Soldier and Could You Be Loved

http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/dorsey.html

more

http://www.bobmarley.com/life/story/

http://www.geocities.com/jamez_r1/RobertNestaMarley.html

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Arena/4464/

 The Wailers and Bob Marley.

http://www.iration.com/wailers/

http://www.thirdfield.com/

Phil Collins 

  Another Day in Paradise
http://www.reallyrics.com/lyrics/P001600040007.asp

Sting

An Englishman in New York

Lyrics + video- clip

http://www.sting.com/discography/lyrics/lyemanny.html

what is the song about :

http://www.sting.com/discography/solo_discography/songeman.html

about Quentin Crisp :http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9911/21/crisp.obit/

Urban Music

Hip hop, drum'n'base, R'n'B and garage ...

find out about why it is so popular... text + video

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/music/newsid_1782000/1782792.stm

What do you think about urban music?

read about some teenagers opinions on the subject:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/chat/your_comments/newsid_1782000/1782923.stm

Nursery rhymes

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/

List of lyrics (with music for some of them) 

http://www.kididdles.com/mouseum/allsongs.html/

Suggested activities

http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-5521.html#activities

Finger play

Over thirty poems and other fingerplay exercises.
      http://www.naturallearning.com/fingerplays.html

Folk music and songs

Folk and Traditional Music and Popular Songs, with Lyrics, Midi, Tune Information and History behind the folksongs and ballads. Irish, British and American Folk Music

http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html