I begin all my semester classes with a brainstorming activity to help students test the waters for their research paper selections. I find many students at this level are INTIMIDATED by research paper assignments.  Maybe they are used to being TOLD what to write; they haven’t been told they can DECIDE what to write for themselves.  Often when I introduce my research projects I get CRICKETS.  I hear like nothing back from my students, so I’ve come up with assignment to get the ball rolling.  I call it “DID YOU KNOW?”  I ask my students to share something interesting about their potential research topics on Padlet.  I challenge them to come up with a goldent nugget of information that will inspire us to read their essay.  Whatever they  post on Padlet does not have to be their final research choice, but sharing their ideas with their classmates can’t hurt.  And it’s FUN.  In my Canvas instructions, I provide my ideas for research papers on Marilyn Monroe and Frida Kahlo.

(“Did You Know” works for me. I found these exact words in a Lana Del Rey song that I integrate into my instruction. Near the bottom of this page I share my Lana Analysis for the purposes of our classroom soundtrack writing.)

DID YOU KNOW that once Marilyn Monroe reached the level of Superstardom, many of her fans recognized her from her posing in a nude calendar – this was  years before she became famous.   Studio executives who were paying her so much money in salary demanded she lie about it.  No Scandals!  DENY EVERYTHING!   But, she didn’t.   Marilyn was very poor at the time.  She needed 50 bucks to get her car back from the shop. She would only agree to the shoot if the photographer’s wife was  present. Holding back her tears, SHE TOLD THE TRUTH at a press conference.  Do you know what?  She  became more popular than ever.

Did You Know?  Frida loved to dress in bright, colorful clothing.  No matter how she felt inside, she exuded confidence on the outside.  She considered herself a rebel  When she walked down the street she may have been paying tribute to her Mexican roots.   She wore her flaming rebozos and floor-length skirts wherever she went. She spent a lot of time each morning arranging flowers in her hair.  Around her neck, she wore heavy stone necklaces. It was like every day was a performance.  I suppose you could call her a “Performance Artist.”  She turned heads.  Often people who didn’t understand her thought of her as a clown.  But she didn’t care.  When she heard of comment like this, it only made her feel stronger.

 “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd?”

According to Lana Del Rey, this is TRUE.  These words make up the title to one of her songs she wrote about her hometown.   In my current classes, my students are contributing to Jay’s Playlist – Spring 2026.  I’ve asked them to contribute a song to our class soundtrack that represents their reading and/or writing this semester. They read this in my Canvas instructions:

When you read, do you ever tap your foot? Does music ever spark an idea in your head? Can you come up with a song or an artist that blends music and literature? Joyce Carol Oates wrote one of her most enduring works of short fiction after hearing Bob Dylan on the radio.  There are no specific rules to making your choice. There is no right or wrong. I want you to reach back into your musical archives, and choose a song that brings our learning to our ears.

MY STUDENTS LIKE THIS ONE – They choose from:

• HEAVY METAL – MUSICA NORTEÑA – CLASSIC ROCK – HIP-HOP – RAP – DISNEY TUNES – PUNK – Etc., etc…

---

In  “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd,” Lana may be reminding us of the beauty we all have deep inside of us, but many people don’t see.   She wrote this song when a friend told her of the sealed-off tunnels that lay dormant under the city of Long Beach.  They are decorated with beautiful mosaic tiles that we will never have the chance to see.  Maybe the Ocean Blvd tunnels serve a metaphor for her own personl abandonment.  She may feel that few people recognize for her for who she really  is.  They can’t get past the Glitz and Glamour.  Like when will anyone get to know who she is beneath the surface. If this doesn’t happen, will she ever feel loved?  She sings, “When’s it gonna be my turn? Open me up, tell me you like it.”  This may mean she’s begging you for some human touch. 

She may feel the world  around her has become plastic and artificial.  That’s why she includes the Eagles song “The Hotel California” in her lyrics. Eagles Guitarist Don Felder has said he came up with the idea for the song “Hotel California” on a late-night drive along an L.A. freeway: “You can just see this glow on the horizon of lights and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have.”  I think Lana is trying to say her that the beauty is just an illusion.  Before you know it just disappears, and by then, it is just too late.

Lana Del Rey has become famous for writing songs about tragedy and trauma.  I know her from previous semesters when my students reseached the life and death of Marilyn Monroe.  In classroom workshops we reviewed Lana’s lyrics for her song “Born to Die.”  Soon after this song was released, Lana explained, “When I was young I was overwhelmed by thoughts of my own mortality, but I also found fleeting moments of happiness in the arms of my lover and friends. This track and the record are about these two worlds — death and love — coming together” (Songfacts.com).   Marilyn couldn’t have said it any better.  Apparently, the lives of Lana and Marilyn are deeply connected.  Lana has been a diehard alcoholic since the age of 14 (Schwanemann).   Marilyn died of a drug overdose at age 36.  Lana must have known this. I have a picture of her posed as Marilyn taken at the same time of the song release.  But, this semester I’m not writing about Marilyn; instead,  I’m writing about the Mexico City Metro system.  I see direct parallels with Lana’s song “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” with what I have researched about the subway tunnels underneath Mexico City.   Lana wrote “Did You Know” upon her discovery there were sealed-off tunnels below Long Beach that harbored beautiful mosaictile  artwork on the ceilings of the walkways.  Totally Abandoned!  According to Songfacts.com, Lana may have used the tunnel as a metaphor for her own life.  Marilyn was a heavy user of prescription drugs.  She used amphetamine-like drugs to keep her weight down and stay up with her work schedule.  She took painkillers to sleep at night.  That’s not a healthy combination.  Marilyn came from family with a long history of mental illness and suicide. Marilyn knew all about abanonment.  When she was four-years-old,  her mother was committed to a mental institution.  Marilyn never knew her father.  She never knew what it was like to have the support of a real family.   She lived her life wondering when she too would fall apart.  Lana wrote “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” at age 37.

But WHAT DO I KNOW? Sadly, not too much. That’s why I do my research. I ask my students to begin their writing with an extensive search through our campus databases that will help them justify their soundtrack selections. As part of the assignment, I require them to annotate both research articles and song lyrics. Currently, we are smack in the middle of a Mexico City Research project. This works for me, for we spent the first eight weeks of the semester writing Frida K research papers. Now, I’ve directed my students to research interesting ideas and topics for Frida’s home turf: CHILANGOLANDIA. Students are working in groups to present their topics to the rest of us on Final Exam Day: Lucha Libre, Juan Gabriel, Cine Mexicano, The 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Mexico City Street Food…

As an instructional model, I’ve chosen to write about the Mexico City Metro System. For my Soundtrack Selection, I began with a quick Google search for songs about “Trains”; “Tunnels”; and “Crowds.” This is how I came across Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd?”

But I didn’t really focus that much on her mention of tunnels; I chose Lana Del Rey for the courage she displays in the writing of her songs. Much of her music appears to be autobiographical. Like Frida Kahlo, she has found a way to convert her pain into beautiful art. She was once an out-of-control teen drug addict, but now she has risen to the status of feminist icon. She provides a voice for a lot of other young women who face challenges with depression and anxiety. But, sometimes she can be a little cryptic. She wants to come off as a strong, independent woman, but she likes to titillate us with her sex. All you have to do is look at her above in her Marilyn Monroe pose. In the article, “Lana Del Rey speaks her mind on ‘Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?’” she just can’t seem to decide who she is or what she stands for. What does she mean by saying she is “not not” a feminist? It’s like she wants it both ways. Writer Kaitlyn Schwanemann implies this wishy-washy indecisiveness fuels her critics on social media. But not for US. I mean our group “Gone Underground.” We like the way she takes a stance when few others in her position do. That’s why we remain her fans.

Soundtrack Sample Work from the Past:

In English 110, we read T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain. If students want to choose a Spanish song, that’s cool, but they will need to provide analysis in English.

In English 105 we read Susana Kaysen’s memoir Girl, Interrupted. It’s the true-to-life story of a young girl – not to far off in age from where my students are now – who was committed to a mental instutition by her own parents. It seems they could never understand their own daughter. In my Canvas instructions I urge students to create their own annotation tables. I’ve noticed closer reading of their music translates to closer reading of their research articles. I was pleasantly suprised to see their familiarity with Judy Garland. I anticipate several of my students will want to select Judy’s “Over the Rainbow” to represent their writing on Gay Rights. We will be reading a sixties novel and writing sixties research papers. Judy was a Gay Icon. She died one night before the eruption of the Stonewall Riots. The Gay Pride Flag as we know it today might be attributed to Judy’s singing of “Over the Rainbow.”

Our goal for our class playlist is to match up our muscial knowledge with our newly-developed semester reading and writing strategies. By the time we approach the end of the semester, students appear confident and engaged to extend their ideas and share their thoughts. In English 201, we read the David Hwang’s controversial play M. Butterfly. This drama is based on the classic opera Madame Butterfly, but the current version integrates homoerotic tensions between its to male lead characters. I felt challenged teaching this piece inside the classroom, but the music of Alanis Morissette made it much easier.

My students are unique individuals that come from diverse backgrounds.  In classroom workshops, my hope is for students to develop the confidence and skill to freely express themselves.  I imagine most teachers on campus are now prepping their students for a Final Exam Week. I can dig that. My students are also writing to the very end. It’s just part of their Final Exam will appear on Jay’s Spring Semester 2026 Playlist. I see that everyone is selecting different songs for different reasons. On our Final Exam day everyone will have something to talk about.