10 songs for a Spanish class health unit & “duele”

Love is amazing, but man, it can hurt.  At least, that’s what pop music says!

Indeed, the metaphors involving love and sickness, pain, and medicine abound in pop music.  That means a health unit rivals any other theme in the contest for most applicable music options!  My high school students are currently wrapping up such a unit, and one of the ways I have made my planning-without-a-textbook process easier is to explore at least one song per week (remember, I see them once a week).

What do I mean by “explore”?  Be on the lookout for an upcoming post on ways to comprehensibly and thematically incorporate a song into a thematic unit. In the meantime, I wanted to share with you the ten songs we’ve explored for our unit.

1. “Cuánto me duele” – Morat
   Music video: bizarre with a violent end
   Focus phrases:
   “Me duele más verte si no estas conmigo”
   “No sabes cuánto me duele este adiós”
2. “Me duele amarte” – Reik
   Music video: creepy stalker vibe and who’s after whom anyway?
   Focus phrase:
   “Me duele aquel abril cuanto te vi por vez primera y dije que eras para mí.”
3. “Me duele tanto” – Servando y Florentino
   Lyric video
   Focus phrases:
   “Me duele tanto hablarte, me duele tanto oírte”
   “En la verdad no me siento tan mal cuando me olvido un poco de ti”
4. “Duele el amor” – Aleks Syntek ft. Ana Torroja
   Music video: acceptable but boring
   Focus phrases:
   “Duele el amor sin ti, llueve hasta mojar…
   duele hasta matar…
   todo está tan gris…”
5. “Adiós” – Jesse y Joy
   Music video: techno-fun
   Focus phrases:
   “Duele no tenerte cerca.
   Duele no escuchar tu voz.
   Duele respirar tu ausencia, pero duele más decirte adiós.”
6. “Aunque duela aceptarlo” – Noel Schajris ft. Luis Fonsi
   Video with music only
   Focus phrases:
   “No me mires así. Prefiero llorar.”
   “Perdóname amor, sin ti yo me siento mejor.
7. “La bilirrubina” – Juan Luis Guerra
   Live concert video: You can’t go wrong with Juan Luis!
   Focus phrases:
   “Me sacaron la radiografía y me diagnosticaron mal de amores al ver mi corazón, cómo latía.”
   “Me sube la bilirrubina cuando te miro y no me miras. Y no lo quita la aspirina.”
8. “Yerbatero” – Juanes
   Music video: A tad bizarre
   Focus phrases:
   “Tengo toda clase de brebajes, plantas medicinales.”
   “Sufre de depresión, mal de amor, lleva varias sin dormir, y sus días no van bien en el trabajo.”
   (Note: the song includes this line you may want to ignore- “Y para la señora que el marido ha sido infiel, no se preocupe, búsquese uno usted también” – because artists have a hard time singing about real love…)
9. “Cariñito” – Fanny Lu
   Song video, music only
   Focus phrases:
   “Y sí señor, que dicen los expertos, que este dolor, ¡ay! se cura con caldo de mamá.”
   “Dame un caldito para amar, una poción pa’ remediar esta fiebre”
10. “A besos” – Mirella Cesa & Sie7e
    Music video: acceptable, just singing
    Focus phrases (this one is a bit more lovey-dovey than the others – if I left off one, it would be this one):
    “A besos se borra todo, todo, la cura para tu corazón.”
    “El solo fue un error que dejó un mal sabor.”

Chances are you’ll find something in these songs to jazz up your next health-related unit.  Stay tuned for more resources for a health unit, including a MovieTalk activity for the Berenstain Bears, and enjoy the journey!

Edit – Kara Jacobs has done it again! See her post for more great stuff using the song “La curandera” (Elastic Bond) and “Ay doctor” (Jesse y Joy).

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