I try and have my fifth graders listen to songs and study song lyrics…I’m kind of looking for songs and bands that don’t do the usual “I love her/she doesn’t love me” spiel because there’s nothing to discuss there.
The only band I could think of is Rush.
Any others? I’m looking for songs from differents genres and eras.
Iron Maiden has a song or two about a prostitute, does that count? Other then that a lot of songs are about history and a lot of lit. Off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone else that I listen to on a regular basis, but I might be able to come up with something.
How about Peter Gabriel?
- Shock the Monkey is about animal rights
- San Jacinto is about a manhood test
- Big Time mocks folks who only care about material things
- Family Snapshot is about Lee Harvey Oswald
- Biko is about South Africa, apartheid and the death of activist Stephen Biko
The list goes on…
Or Fountains of Wayne?
- Bright Future in Sales is about, well, someone trying to make it in sales
- Red Dragon Tattoo is about getting a tattoo for the wrong reasons (love related, but much more about the tattoo - very funny)
It should be pretty easy to find a bunch - what about the Beatles non-love songs like Revolution? Pink Floyd - most of their stuff has nothing to do with love, per se…
Countless others…
Arthur Bremmer, actually.
A better cite, actually (and there’s only one ‘m’ in ‘Bremer’).
Unfortunately you aren’t in Australia. If you were the works of Paul Kelly would do you for a lifetime.
How about Pink Floyds “Another Brick in the Wall”? Kids love that one 
They’ve got some other good stuff too.
The Beatles have a ton, like “Taxman”, “Revolution”, “Rain”, “Nowhere Man”, “I am the Walrus”, “Helter Skelter”, the list goes on & on. And, all kids should listen to the Beatles
[Ed MacMahon]
I did not know that
[/Ed MacMahon]
You fought your share of ignorance for the day - thanks!
Very few of Assemblage 23’s songs are about love. A23 is industrial, but a lot of the lyrics are quite insightful and poetic.
The Alan Parsons Project (and Alan on his own) have a number of songs that aren’t about love. Some popular examples (many of AP’s best songs never made the top 40, but here are some that did):
“Prime Time”
“Eye in the Sky”
“Old and Wise”
“Games People Play”
They Might Be Giants have songs about all friggin’ sorts of things.
Billy Joel has been known to write a few story-type songs as well, such as “Movin’ Out,” “My Life,” “Pressure,” “Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)”, and a whole pile of others.
Elton John, same thing: “Daniel,” “Madman Across the Water,” “Burn Down the Mission,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (part 2),” and so on.
True enough. For real fun, have the kids analyze “Particle Man.” I particularly liked What the hell is Triangle Man’s problem, anyway?
Sure, lots of songs are love songs. But I bet that most of my collection has nothing to do with it. Now, how many of them would be suitable for fifth graders in another question.
How about:
“Peaches” by The Presidents of the United States of America
Something by The B-52s
Something by The Beastie Boys
“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly (sorry, I guess that’s technically a love song)
“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
Something by Johnny Cash
I’d love to see someone analyze “L’Via L’Viaquez” by The Mars Volta
The Lumberjack Song
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
Something by Simon & Garfunkel
Something by Bob Dylan
I guess I’m imagining some sort of post-modern analysis, you know, the kind of stuff that is absolutely meaningless but loaded with buzzwords and references to make the analysis seem deep. That’s probably not what you’re going for with your students, huh.
Rasputina has loads of songs not about love.
'course, some are not fifth grade appropriate.
but they’re COOL.
Please let them hear some female voices. The following songs are downloadable too. The first link is to mp3s, then the lyrics.
These first few are psychological lyrics and do pertain to children.
The Chariot - this is from the point of view of an abused child from a broken home. The non-custodial parent comes to visit (looking to the child like a god coming down the street in a chariot) and when the visit is over they fail to see the fear and pain on the child’s face. The thought of going back to the abuse is terrifying to the child, but they’re sworn to silence and just wishes the visiting parent would read their minds (not literally, just in the way that kids think parents know everything that’s going on). Here are the lyrics.
If I Ever See The Girl Again - an adult looking back and trying to speak to the shy tormented (by peers) girl she once was, chin up, this too shall pass, if I could I’d kick their asses for you. Has some violent imagry but 5th graders really need to look themselves in the mirror. Here are the lyrics.
Closer - this one might be more suited to juvie kids, but it’s an angry lashing out at abusers. Here are the lyrics.
If Wishes Were Horses How Beggars Would Ride - this is a very odd and beautiful song about the searing and heartwrenching regret felt when she had to put her beloved black cat to sleep. Here are the lyrics.
Shoot, I have to leave now (going to see Marie Antoinette) but there are tons of others and any one of them downloadable (just ask me…I have permission to share her music). If psychological lyrics interest you at all, go to http://www.ecto.org/lyrics/alphalyrics.html and just start reading.
If you have access to Kate Bush’s library, most of her songs are about interesting things, ranging from Vietnam war fighting from the point of view of a Viet Cong to a turn-of-the-century serial killer to a persecuted scientist to an abused wife finally standing up for herself to a woman floating in the ocean waiting for rescue and on and on and on. I also second/third the Peter Gabriel recommendations. Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Happy Rhodes are my favorite artists, in part BECAUSE they write interesting lyrics ABOUT things, not relying on the insipid topic of love/lack of love for their songs.
Fifth graders, huh? Guess that rules out ZZ Top!
I meant to add, before being distracted by that feeble joke, that lyrics by Peart would be great for kids to study and think about. He can write some really great stuff for discussion.
“An ounce of preception, a pound of obscure…”
How about “Ghost Riders in the Sky” by Johnny Cash? Great song, great message. Or “Hotel California” by The Eagles. And once you explain that song to your fifth-graders, you can come here and explain it to us. 
Actually, The Eagles have a lot of songs that aren’t about love. They’re depressing as all hell, but they’re not about love.
Or U2 - lots of their songs aren’t love songs. I think most of them aren’t, actually. How about “Bullet the Blue Sky,” or to really depress the little tykes and give them an insight into adulthood, “Acrobat” (“Don’t let the bastards, grind you dow-wwwn.”) Or the obvious choice from U2 - “Pride (In the Name of Love).”
How about The Decemberists? A lot of their songs are historical, or set in historical settings.
The Apology Song is an apology to a friend for letting his bicycle be stolen.
Leslie Ann Levine is a ghost song from the perspective of an unborn fetus that dies with its mother.**
The Mariner’s Revenge Song is about a boy who grows up to avenge his mother who was left penniless by a rogue.
Eli, the Barrow Boy is about the ghost of a boy who sold flowers from a barrow in a small town.
“I am dead and gone and lying in a church ground,
But still I push my barrow all the day…”
The Decemberists would make an excellent choice for school study, because their lyrics are very literate - much like Neil Peart.
Get them The Point and they’ll love you forever. (Well, they should!! The ungrateful little bas@$@%s!)
Do REM have any love songs? I know they don’t on their first several albums, which are all great.