There were a few songs that were on my mind as I prepared this class: “America” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Once in a Lifetime” by the Talking Heads, and “This is America” by Childish Gambino. The lines “They've all come to look for America,” “And you may find yourself/ Behind the wheel of a large automobile/ And you may find yourself in a beautiful house/ With a beautiful wife/ And you may ask yourself, well/ How did I get here?” and “This is America/ Don't catch you slippin' now” popped into my head and helped frame the themes that I hoped we could cover together. In this assignment I would like for you to have a chance to explore the role of music in 20th century American history through NPR’s American Anthems project. To complete this assignment, select one of the 50 songs profiled by the project (link here  (Links to an external site.) ) and write 250 words about how the song helps us understand a particular historical moment, process, event or theme.