LETTS, Iowa — Music hath charms to soothe, it’s been said, but it also has a message and a meaning that can reflect serious issues in society.

Recently, students in Trent Stout’s sociology class at Louisa-Muscatine High School were asked to share their music — and the messages and meanings behind it — as part of a class project. Each student compiled a sort of “Greatest Hits of Society” CD with songs reflecting different themes. They also designed CD sleeves with original artwork.

The discs were on display Monday night when parents, students, faculty and judges gathered at the L-M High School Library to vote on the  students’ efforts.

Judges were given pop tabs to drop in a cup near each project. Each tab represented one vote.

After the votes were tallied on the three dozen displays, the top four winners were announced. The winners were:

— Haley Sprague, 1st place for her “Protest” CD.

— Samantha May, 2nd, for “Coming Down.”

— Lexie Verink, 3rd, for “Abuse.”

— Emily Luttrell and Melissa Ketcham, tied for 4th, for “Broken,” and “I Pledge,” respectively.

To develop the students’ musical acclimation, Stout played different genres and eras of music and artists, encouraging discussion of the songs in small groups and helping students understand different  perspectives.

“Music as an art form, an expression of beliefs, was also a reason I wanted the kids to create original artwork for the album cover,” Stout said. “The reflection part of the assignment was to explain why they chose what they did — colors, symbolism and design.”

Junior Sonjia Allen, 17, said, “I thought it was going to be easy; just match a song with a problem. It was challenging, you had to really think about the message of the song. I had never really listened to the Pearl Jam song ‘Jeremy’ to know that it is about suicide. It made me listen to the lyrics closely.”

Nathan Carle, 16, also a junior, chose “What if I said No?” for his album title.

“My music is country and rock and roll. The song I thought had a strong message about war was called ‘The 8th of November’ by Big & Rich. It is about a 19 year-old telling his mom goodbye as he goes off to the Vietnam War and the stuff that happens. It also tells of his life later, living with the aftermath of the war.”

Stout said his students learned how music reflects society.

“We looked at how each generation has music that speaks for them,” he said. “I encouraged the students to go home and talk to their parents about the music from their youth. What kind of music they listened to — or even listen to now — make a connection and get a discussion going.”