Max Stearns
Dear Readers:
When teaching Constitutional Law, I often make musical references that connect to various themes in the case law or to notable current events. Although I have been doing this for a long time, I have come to appreciate that for most of my students, these musical references are increasingly dated. So this year, for the first time, I started something new. Each week in which I include musical references, I follow up with an email to my students with my weekly youtube playlist.
What follows is not this past week's complete list. Some songs related to specific constitutional doctrines. The songs below are the ones I mentioned in class inspired by current events with which my readers are certainly all familiar. I have kept the original email language to my students, but the message is appropriate to a general audience. I hope all my readers take appropriate precautions and stay healthy!
Inspired by Super Tuesday:
Ode to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has since dropped out of the race, endorsing Vice President Joe Biden:
Beatles, Can’t Buy Me Love
Ode to Senator Bernie Sanders, whose Super Tuesday performance went a bit less well than expected:
Beatles, Revolution
As I mentioned in class, please keep in mind that vaccines only work for the very specific virus for which they are intended.
Here is another Beatles song that I happen to like:
Beatles, Fool on the Hill
The following song might help you remember some CDC recommendations on avoiding the coronavirus risk:
Ode to the Corona Virus:
Weeknd, Can’t Feel My Face
(Note: Like the Corona virus itself, this song is deadly serious, involving a tragic cocaine addiction.
See https://www.popsongprofessor.com/blog/2015/07/28/what-does-cant-feel-my-face-by-the-weeknd-mean).
Finally, as I told the class, the most important thing, always, is your health and the health of others, including those in this community. If you are debating whether to come in as a result of how you are feeling on a particular day, that almost certainly means you should stay home. Of course, my sincere hope is that the coronavirus does not affect our community and that our class continues to meet through the end of the semester.
So let’s close with this (honestly unplanned) ode to our class:
Beatles, Come Together
Enjoy! Stay well, wash your hands, don’t shake hands, and, please, don’t touch your face. I hope to continue seeing you all through the end of the semester!