What I Learned in High School

what i learned in high school

i was impelled to reminisce about my high school years upon hearing on NPR that todays high school curriculum's were so diverse across the nation
that it was difficult to devise a test to fairly measure the knowledge of potential college applicants. the story went on to say that until the counter culture flourished in the late 60's and early 70's what was taught was very similar across the nation. i guess the black power, women liberation, cultural relativism and the peace movements forever altered the landscape of high school studies.
consequently i came up with the idea of creating a cd compilation of music i listened to and excerpts of books that influenced me during my high school years(1962-1965).
included are cultural influences both inside and outside of school from church to tv and the movies.

the playlist:

1 charles dickens - it was the best of times(A Tale of Two Cities) : 58
2. The Beatles -- Yesterday (2 05)
3. mark twain -- jim bakers blue jay yarn (1.27}
4. Sha Na Na -- The Birds and the Bees (2:10)
5. john howard griffin - black like me (1:28)
6. Bob Dylan -- Blowin' in the Wind (2:49)
7. mark twain -- huck finn (:37)
8. harper lee -- to kill a mockingbird (3:10)
9. Paul Robeson -- Ol Man River (4:19)
10. robert frost - stopping by the woods (:58)
11 Gerry & The Pacemakers - Ferry Cross The Mersey (2:25)
12 shakesphere -- caesar eulogy (2:30)
13. The Mamas & the Papas -- California Dreamin' (2:40)
14. mary chase - harvey (3:31)
15 Petula Clark - Downtown (3:05)
16 Judy Collins - Amazing Grace (4:07)
17. st. matthew - sermon on the mount (2:09)
18. The Lettermen --1 Believe (2:11)
19. victor hugo --les miserables (2:17)
20. Shirley Jones -- You'll Never Walk Alone [From Carousel] (1:45)
21. edward fizgerald - rubaiyat of omar khayyam (1:44)
22. The Beatles -- Michelle (2:42)
23. The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love (2:12)
24. george eliot -- silas marner (1:43)
25. Jackie DeShannon - What The World Needs Now Is Love 3:08
26. Barbara Lewis - Baby I'm Yours (2:33)
27. Barbara Cook - Till There Was You [From The Music Man] i2 4cigh
28. The Rolling Stones -- (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (3:44)
29. shakesphere -- hamlet soliloquy (2:14)
30. Peter & Gordon - A World Without Love (2.40)
31. leo tolstoy - war and peace (1:30)
32 Barry McGuire -- Eve of Destruction (3:36)

Several of the books were assigned readings and some were mentioned in classes but many were discovered by unfettered curiosity outside the confines of
the school. Most of the music was heard on top-forty radio or on albums. I was especially fond of a record by the Lettermen of show tunes. Though musically
inept I was sometimes allowed to sing in the church choir at Parkview Baptist Church where I learned many hymns. My favorite being Amazing Grace. My senior
year my class did a performance of The Music Man by which I was amazed. It made a lasting impression.
Though I entitled the compilation What I Learned in High school it's not so much what i learned but what i experienced and had a lasting educational effect.
Its what was thrown up against the blank canvas of my mind and stuck like the splashed hues of a jackson pollock painting. A fragmented abstraction of memories
in a quilted undecipherable pattern.
In the 9th grade I remember reading Hamlet in Mr. Hadley's English class and the challenge of struggling to make sense of the weird words and then
the feeling of satisfaction in understanding and enjoying the rich language. In the summer after my sophomore year i read To Kill a Mockingbird as i laid
in bed with bronchitis coughing my way thru the pages emotionally engrossed. It was in high school i developed a love of film. Largely due to TV and
Saturday Night at the Movies where I was exhilarated to watch War and Peace with Henry Fonda as Pierre. It inspired me to read thre book my senior year.
There was also The Vikings with Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas, Spartacus, and the Mountain with Spencer Tracy. There was of course the Beatles. my younger
sisters played their music continually after they were on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. (which we watched every Sunday night).
There are many moments that I cringe to remember. It was four short years long ago, four years largely wasted during which I abandoned any dreams of
fame or fortune and all ambition to be anyone special. It was then I realized that I was just your average bloke. With a bit of torment i reluctantly accepted my
fate to be unique just like everybody else. That's just the way life is i learned. That's the way the snowflakes fall, that the way the cookies crumble.
I suspect that your compilation would be much different than mine even if you were my classmate but if you are so inclined and make one I'd love to see it.

If you would like a copy of my cd let me know- Normally its $99.99 but if you call now you can get the entire cd for only $9.99 (only 999 1 penny payments)
but wait... theres more....