Text by Diogo Tomaz
We are going through a very complicated moment in Brazilian education, not that we are unique in the world, but, with all the difficulties already existing, the distance learning imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic has amplified numerous difficulties, both for teachers and students. If in normal times of face-to-face classes it is already difficult to get a student's attention for 50 minutes, imagine now having the competition of social media, your – now more than ever – inseparable cell phone, your warm bed, online games…
I've been searching for new ways and ideas to make my History classes more enjoyable for some time now. I use games that address historical themes, films and series, YouTube videos, comic books… and music! The study of past societies and their events doesn't function as a key that opens a treasure chest full of answers to all our questions. Our daily lives are permeated with history, and that's why I bring events from their daily lives to my classes.
Iron Maiden fan since I was 8 years old, it's obvious that I wouldn't miss the opportunity to use their lyrics, which address various historical themes. I used the songs "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Montségur" to explain to my 10th-grade students how the Catholic Inquisition persecuted, imprisoned, judged, and sentenced the Cathars. To explain how we arrived at the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I used the songs "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" with my 9th-grade class , where I took the opportunity to explain the Manhattan Project. These "different" lessons – as many students have dubbed them – are requested and anticipated by all the classes I teach. Therefore, in this text, I discuss how I historically analyzed the song "The Longest Day" with a 3rd-year high school class.
THE LETTER
Among the various historical subjects addressed in their lyrics, military themes are very common, especially after the album A Matter of Life and Death , which even addresses a warlike theme on its cover. Historical battles and acts of heroism during World War II can be explained by the fact that vocalist Bruce Dickinson has a degree in History and is a great aviation enthusiast (Bruce has been a licensed commercial pilot for over 20 years, is an Honorary Captain in the Royal Air Force (RAF), and usually pilots Ed Force One, the plane that transports the band on world tours. In addition, Bruce is a radio broadcaster, writer, businessman, speaker, radio presenter, fencer, master brewer and, alongside bassist Steve Harris , the band's main lyricist).
"The Longest Day," the fifth track on the 2006 album A Matter of Life and Death , addresses in its lyrics the Allied landings in Normandy during D-Day in World War II. Representing the first step of a campaign officially named Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944, the song vividly portrays the approach and landing of the amphibious troops on the beach and the ensuing confrontation.
Everyone yearns for the tool to build the machine
, to turn men of flesh and blood into steel,
paper soldiers in bodies beneath the shores
of summer sands in the Apocalypse.
Overlord is their master, not their God.
The enemy coast dawns gray and foggy.
These unfortunate souls vomit, trembling with fear
, to be shot by those who sent them here.
The world is fine, the cliffs erupted in flames.
There is no escape, grenades rain down without remorse.
Men drown, with no chance for a warrior's destiny.
A suffocating death, enter the gates of hell.
Never in history has there been a military operation as complex and grand as D-Day: 10,000 aircraft, 6,000 ships, 160,000 soldiers, and hundreds of vehicles were mobilized. The Germans did not believe that the Allies would attack by air and sea under dark clouds that foretold a storm. However, Operation Overlord was put into practice during that early morning, changing the course of the conflict.
In the darkness, the storm that forms diminishes in intensity.
On the boats, piercing eyes await
a call to arms to break down all the gates
, to blow them up and cast evil to its own fate.
The weather was a crucial factor for the landing, and although May had been pleasant, June was not. The choice of date was not only correct, it was miraculous. The day before, the weather was terrible, with strong winds and heavy rain along the French coast. Captain JM Stagg was betting on a "truce" in the bad weather. And he succeeded. If the Allies had not crossed the English Channel on the 6th, their plans would have had to be postponed for two weeks to find another break in the weather, and even then, it could have coincided with the worst storm the channel had seen in 40 years.
We slip and slide, only fear beside us,
until we reach the edge of the cables
, and we throw ourselves into the tide.
Oh, the water turns red
with the blood of the dead
, but I am still alive, I pray to God to survive.
How long will this longest day last
until we finally survive this?
How long will this longest day last
until we finally survive this?
The dead increase in number, their faces swollen.
They have already been comforted, the living await their turn.
Your number has been chosen, the bullet has your name written on it.
You still go on, going back and forth from hell.
By the end of the 6th, 133,000 Allied soldiers had landed and another 23,000 arrived by parachute. The campaign lasted almost 90 days and cost the lives of 445,000 people (soldiers and civilians) until the Allies reached Paris in August. The defeat in France cornered Hitler's armies and brought the war to an end. Today there are 27 war cemeteries in the Normandy region, with approximately 110,000 dead buried there (not just from D-Day). The total number of heroes includes 77,866 Germans, 9,386 Americans, 17,769 British, 5,002 Canadians, and 650 Polish soldiers.
It's worth mentioning that the song's title is inspired by a 1962 film of the same name (which was inspired by Cornelius Ryan's 1959 bestseller, also titled * The Longest Day*). The film is almost three hours long and was a grand attempt to show the Normandy landings from the soldiers' point of view. The production not only captures the military operation but also features a star-studded Hollywood cast, including Henry Fonda , Richard Burton , Robert Mitchum , and John Wayne . What I sought to present here are excerpts from the song that can be used with students, trying to bring a tool – music – into the classroom, a tool that is normally associated with entertainment. The elaboration of this text allows us to perceive the enormous potential that the use of songs can have as a historical document and as a didactic proposal. It was an alternative way to diversify pedagogical practices in the school environment of 3rd-year high school classes.
*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.
