Why Teach (revised)

1. Keith Chrisman
Fall 2013
“Why I Chose to Become an English Teacher”
Special Methods of Teaching English
53-526
Professor Clish
With All Your Power... What Would You Do?:
Why I Aspire to Teach English
Wayne Coyne is a weirdo. If there was a certification process necessary to wear
the designation, he would be grandmaster of the determining organization. The
architectural design of his home has labels for “bath pod” and “fountain egg.” His band
has released a 24-hour song on 13 actual human skulls which operate as USB drives.
He is the main vocalist for The Flaming Lips, a psychedelic-rock band from Oklahoma.
While Wayne Coyne isn’t the leading candidate for many secondary education jobs and
it may not even be wise for me to cite him as an influence in an interview, he has
undeniably inspired me to pursue a career in education.
“The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)” is not the most palatable song
by The Flaming Lips but by asking listeners to question their intentions and consider
their level of authority, the song addresses key components of the teaching profession:
recognizing the opportunity to stand for something and being conscious of our ability to
influence. Coyne poses questions like, “If you could make everybody poor just so you
could be rich, would you do it?” and “If you could watch everybody work while you just
lay on your back, would you do it?” behind a chorus of “yeahs” (yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah...) before suggesting, “We cannot know ourselves or what we’d really
do/With all your power/What would you do?” The tone of the song evokes a sense of
humility and an acceptance or understanding of misdirected values... Wayne Coyne
doesn’t inject feelings of guilt as much as he strikes an intuitional chord. Just before the

2. listener begins to feel guilty, the composition creates an overwhelming feeling of
empowerment as he asks the listener what he/she will do with all of his/her power.
Perhaps this effect is caused by Coyne putting words in the listener’s mouth; he gives
power by asking one to consider what they are doing and will do with theirs.
===
The most recognizable song by The Flaming Lips is “Do You Realize??” I have
heard it licensed for a Range Rover commercial. The Official Rock Song of Oklahoma
is Wayne Coyne’s most accessible attempt at writing a song dedicated to remembering
how precarious our whole existence is. Lyrics are offered as reminders of truths; “Do
you realize we’re floating in space?/Do you realize that happiness makes you cry?/Do
you realize that everyone you know someday will die?” If I try to take one word away
from this song, I end up with “perspective.” Consider what you may not have
considered before. “We are not the experts of our own behavior,” declared my
Anthropology professor on the first day of class. Many times an outsider’s observations
about our behaviors will illuminate things we had never paid attention to. This
phenomenon makes literature exciting for me. Language Arts provides the opportunity
for a person to escape his/her individual wormhole of consciousness and encounter
and/or consider another’s path. Evaluation of a different perspective is easily connected
to the evaluation of one’s own perspective, making the study immediately relevant.
“Do You Realize??” ends on a more positive note than stressing the
impermanence of life. Coyne sings, “...instead of saying all of your goodbyes/Let them
know you realize that life goes fast/It’s hard to make the good things last/You realize the
sun don’t go down/It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning ‘round.” Wayne

3. Coyne expresses a perspective. One considers it. In doing so, he/she evaluates his/her
own.
===
Through these two songs, written and performed by a certified weirdo, I identify
my motives for becoming an English teacher. I want to use my position of power to
empower younger generations. By valuing curiosity and promoting exploration, an
instructor can cultivate interests, passion, and confidence in a group of students. I want
to engage in the exploration of different perspectives with a community of learners. I
want to realize encounters with difference and recognize opinions as opinions in the
search for truth. I want to teach to learn.