Rachel Berry had been tutoring her boyfriend Noah Puckerman in English and history for two months when she finally discovered the key to keeping him intrigued, at least when it came to studying history – no, it wasn't stripping for every right answer. Rachel found that Puck seemed to really grasp the story and the facts if there was a song out there to accompany it.
She came about this revelation when she introduced him to Astronautalis' Trouble Hunters. The song was not what one would expect a Broadway obsessed diva like Rachel to listen to but she appreciated the artist's ability to lyrically address the crossing of the Delaware River and the following battle between the Hessians and colonists at Trenton as well as to comment on the arbitrary use of the historical memory by current politicians. When Puck heard it he clearly agreed. He may not have summarized the song using the same rhetoric as Rachel, but he got what the guy was singing about. He kind of reminded Puck of a mix between Beck and Atmosphere. After he had heard the song, getting the boy to take an interest in the American Revolution was simple. During his test he actually almost got in trouble for humming the chorus; a test by the way in which he received a B- on – a huge improvement from the C- he had been averaging the year before. Miriam Puckerman, who at first questioned Rachel's musical method, quickly changed her tune (no pun intended) after that.
The next topic in world history was the French Revolution, which had obviously been inspired by the Americans. For this Rachel chose a song Puck was actually familiar with: Vida la Vida. While the song was not specifically about Louise XVI's loss of power, Rachel decided a little white lie for the sake of academics was permissible. Luckily, the the album cover seemed to support her interpretation of the song, She pointed out that the song spoke of a king whose authority had grown to become and how that power was toppled. She explained that this king was not a literal person but a metaphor for the collapse of monarchy. Puck surprised her when he pointed out that the song technically could be about that "Louise sixteen guy" because they "totally chopped his head off" and one line in the song went "Revolutionaries wait for my head on a silver plate." If the B- he scored on his last test didn't convince Rachel her technique was working, that little comment of Puck's just did. Rachel actually took Puck's test home to put on her fridge when she saw that he had gotten a B on his next test.
Puck managed to continue pulling in Bs until they got to World War II. This time before Rachel could suggest a song, Puck recommended Say Anything's Alive with the Glory of Love. When Rachel listened to it she was pleasantly pleased with the boy's decision, but before she would consent on that being this topic's theme song she quizzed Puck on why this song was appropriate.
"Oh, I've got this," Puck stated confidently. Rachel couldn't wait to hear it. It was so cute, she thought, about how excited he looked…about history!
"So, one of the major things about World War II was the Holocaust. Hitler, aka the biggest piece of shit to ever walk the planet – and that's the nicest thing I could say about the guy - tried to kill our people. In the song there are a couple of hot Jews, like us, who are in hiding because their city was invaded by the Axis power." Rachel nods encouraging him to continue.
"The guy is trying to tell his girl that he's gonna protect her from being taken to the camps - which is a big fucking promise, by the way – but they get caught and even though they're taken away to Treblinka, he lets her know that his love for her like transcends death. Pretty epic." Even though Puck's assessment of the song was laced with profanities, Rachel had tears in her eyes. Not only had Noah understood the historical references throughout the song, but he hadn't been embarrassed to discuss the love story that drove it. Rachel made an exception to her stripping rule after that study session and once more after he showed her his first A. Miriam made sure that she made a copy of the test for her fridge before Rachel once again took Puck's exam home with her to display proudly on her refrigerator.
After World War II came the Cold War. The class focused on a couple of the more well known hot battles of the era. Rachel told Puck that they would turn to Alice and Chains – Puck legit thought aliens had taken over Rachel when she said that for a second – and their song Here Comes the Rooster to help them look at all aspects of the Vietnam war. Rachel told Puck it was perfect because it allowed them to understand the confusion and misery of the soldier while in the jungles of Vietnam as well as the animosity he faced upon his return home. The song was awesome, in Puck's opinions, but he still dropped back to a B+. When Rachel saw that he was actually sadden by the slight drop in percentage she scolded him and told him that he did a wonderful job and that a B+ was an excellent grade and that he better be as proud of his achievement as she was or else there would be no more touching of her breasts. Puck immediately acted like his B+ was akin to being told he won the lottery.
Their last test was on the Civil Rights movement. Even though it overlapped with the Cold War era, their teacher felt it would be easier to handle each topic separately. Rachel's daddy Julius provided his daughter with a song when she came to him, thoroughly out of ideas. He suggested two songs: first was Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit and the other U2's Pride (In the Name of Love). Rachel decided against Strange Fruit because it always made her cry and she thought it was more about racism alone rather than the movement. She then asked her father to sing some of the other song he suggested because she couldn't recall it. After Julius sang one of the verses to her Rachel became very excited because she realized it had been used in the musical Moulin Rouge. Julius let her know the song was a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Rachel gave him a quick peck on cheek and hurried to Puck's house so that they could study. Puck got his second A that month and another strip show. Before his girlfriend unclasped her bra he thought that Mr. Berry would have probably not have helped his daughter out if he knew it would result in Puck getting her halfway naked in his room.
A/n: You should check out all these songs because they're all fantastic. Also if anyone knows any other songs that comment on history let me know because I really love those.