There is a moment at the end of Slumdog Millionaire when the story stops being a story and turns into a celebration. The credits begin to roll, a train stationContinue readingThe Meaning of “Jai Ho” (Slumdog Millionaire)

There’s a moment in the history of movies when a single voice, one human voice, rolls out over a darkened theater and everybody in the room gets goosebumps at theContinue readingThe Meaning of “Circle of Life” (The Lion King)

Every December, a small and terrible ritual unfolds in offices, classrooms, and living rooms across the English-speaking world. Someone starts singing about a partridge in a pear tree, the restContinue readingThe Meaning of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

Some songs are written, and some songs are found, like old coins turned up by a plow. “Guantanamera” is the second kind. Nobody can quite say where it began, whichContinue readingThe Meaning of Cuban Folk Song “Guantanamera”

You’ve probably heard the story, and you probably heard it from someone who delivered it with a dramatic whisper. Ring Around the Rosie is about the plague. The rash, theContinue readingThe Meaning of the Song “Ring Around the Rosie”

Here’s a fun fact that tends to surprise people: “Edelweiss” is not an Austrian folk song. It feels like one. It sounds like something that has been sung in mountainContinue readingThe Meaning of “Edelweiss” (The Sound of Music)

Let’s get something out of the way: “Kumbaya” has a PR problem. Somewhere along the way, a song that began as a sincere cry for help turned into a punchlineContinue readingThe Meaning of the Song “Kumbaya”