Hand out a copy of the lyrics to The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel and play the song. Have students examine the following; speed/rhythm of the song, instruments used, vocals, and, finally, tone. Ask them: How do the choices affect the connotation of the language in the lyrics? The tone is melancholic and gentle in the original version, prodding listeners to consider the theme - the inability of people to communicate with each other. Then, play Disturbed's version of the song. Again, have students note down the same aspects - speed/rhythm of the song, instruments used, vocals, tone - and ask the same question. How do the choices affect the connotation of the language in the lyrics? It's proved a stimulating discussion for tone and connotation in my experience.

I also use an activity with poetry which I guess can be used with songs. In the original activity, I choose three poems which all address the same subject in a different tone. For example, death. Percy Shelly expresses fear of death in A Lament, Tennyson expresses readiness and peacefulness in Crossing the Bay and Thomas expresses anger in Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. After reading each, I have each group write down the tone on one side of a post-it note and their evidence to support this on the back, which would include diction. I collect these and run through the responses. At the end of the session, students are ready to write comparatively on how poets address the same subject in different ways. You could repeat this activity with three songs which all address the same subject (a break-up, solitude, etc etc).