【Nic先生の英語ブログを読もう！】It’s Harvest Moon time and an opportunity for English (music, that is)!

Hello (hopefully!) faithful readers! Welcome back to another blog from your friendly Fruitful English teacher, Nic.

I’ll start this month’s blog by switching things up a little bit. Are you familiar with this set phrase?

‘to switch things up’

The phrase ‘to switch things up’ has a variety of meanings, but you can probably guess the meaning with the use of the verb ‘switch’. This phrase describes changing topics or switching the current topic to something unrelated.

If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know I’ve been on the topic of music these past few days. Specifically, I’ve been chatting about Japanese music.

※前回の記事「【Nic先生の英語ブログを読もう！】Hearing Japanese music directly from the source」を見逃した方はこちらからどうぞ！

This time though, I’ll switch things up, but not completely. I’ll stay on the topic of music, but let’s talk about Canadian music!

People around the world were recently blessed with a lovely sight in the sky.

While I’m a little bit late, I’m talking about the Harvest Moon (中秋の名月) around September 29th, 2023. ‘Harvest Moon’ is the name given to the full moon that occurs around the autumnal equinox.

But, what’s the equinox?

Well, can you hear the sound of ‘equi~’ at the beginning of the word. That sounds a bit like ‘equal’ right?

Well, that gives you a big hint.

An ‘equinox’ describes the time of year when the Sun crosses our equator: the centre line of the earth. So, what does this cause? Well, during an equinox, day and night are exactly the same night.

They are equal to each other. So, we get 12 hours of (hopefully!) sunshine, and 12 hours of (hopefully!) clear skies for stargazing and looking at the moon.

‘Harvest Moon’ and music!?

But, what does this have to do with music?

Well, ‘Harvest Moon’ is the name of the one of my favourite songs by – in my humble opinion – Canada’s greatest musician: Neil Young. The song comes from the album of the same name, and it’s truly a staple of folk music. While it’s definitely not up to the level of Neil Young’s previous work, like his 1972 masterpiece of an album Harvest, that shouldn’t take away from ‘Harvest Moon’.

After all, Harvest is one of the all-time greatest albums, so not matching that level of musicality is nothing to be ashamed of. Instead, I encourage you to appreciate ‘Harvest Moon’ for what it is: a lovely album with a lovely title track. And, it might just be the perfect soundtrack for viewing the Harvest Moon in real life.

Of course, you’ll now have to wait until next year’s autumnal equinox!

Thanks for reading as always! I appreciate your comments!

Have you listened to Neil Young? What do you think of him?

フルーツフルイングリッシュで英語表現の楽しさ感じてください 。初めての方には英作文添削チケット2回分をプレゼント。
「無料英語テスト800問（解説付）」メルマガも大人気。今すぐチェック！

Nic

日本の小中学校で英語を教えるALT講師Nic先生は非常にユーモラスな先生です。台湾でも英語を教えていました。どこでも適応できるのがNic先生が自慢ができること。「肉先生」と読んで欲しいとたまに呼びかけられるかもしれません。こんなコミカルで愉快なNic先生から楽しく英語指導を受けませんか？
座右の名”The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.”