Ready to listen to the hit of the moment?I have little doubt that "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk will be particularly cherished by teenagers as well as disco music lovers because it is quite catchy, easy to understand and fresh, isn't it?
Level: beginner
Grammar focus on: present simple vs. infinitive
Activity: fill-in with the correct form of the verbs given between brackets
Get Lucky
Lyrics taken from: http://www.directlyrics.com/daft-punk-get-lucky-lyrics.html
Video:
Linguistic aspects: today I'd like to recommend you this significant site: http://www.idiomeanings.com/idioms/raise-the-bar/ where you will find the sense of the idiomatic expression "let's raise the bars", meaning that you are inviting someone else to set higher standards than the expected ones. An other interesting aspect is related to the expression: "I'm up all night to get lucky", used to say that you are eager to have an occasional sexual intercourse with someone you have just met.
Jazz and swing notes are clearly "tangled up" in today's song. Caro Emerald is a Dutch singer and her hit "Tangled Up" just gives a taste of what her second album "The Shocking Miss Emerald" (released last 3 May) look like. Let's put our thumbs up then for the success of this young talent!
Level: pre-intermediate
Grammar focus on: compound forms (phrases and phrasal verbs).
Activity: reorder the words given between brackets
Tangled Up
Lyrics taken from: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Tangled-Up-lyrics-Caro-Emerald/2B87BBC5D937F01B48257B1700390F9F
Video:
Tips for teachers: after the listening activity, why don't you ask your students to form small groups and look up in the dictionary for the compound forms met?Subsequently they can write down all the synonyms found by their peers.
Linguistic aspects: in reading the lyrics I run into the phrase "playing with your string" which I suppose should have a special meaning here. I meant it as it would say "taking things too far with you", but honestly I am not so positive about it. Therefore any suggestion will be greatly appreciated from you!
Today I end this post with the verb "to lance" meaning "to affect someone strongly and immediately".
If you love fresh and innovative music, please keep an eye on Mr Asaf Avidan. His cosmopolitan upbringing along with the years spent travelling around the word are extraordinarily reflected on his "Love It or Leave It", which I am sure you will enjoy a lot!
Level: beginner
Grammar focus on: present simple vs. present continuous
Activity: fill in the gaps (with base form of the verbs provided between brackets)
Love It or Leave It
Lyrics taken from: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/asafavidan/loveitorleaveit.html
Video:
Linguistic aspects: why don't we brush up our knowledge on idioms today? This song is perfect to learn and practise some of them. Let's start from the title "Love It or Leave It" : elsewhere you can also find "Take It or Leave It", quite the same expression to be used when you have to accept or turn down an offer without any possibility of compromise.
Secondly, you bite your tongue every time you have to refrain yourself from saying something unpleasant or annoying towards someone else.
Thirdly, you roll up your sleeve if you decide to get down to work or do something, therefore activating yourself.
In addition to this, there are also several verbs used metaphorically: a) you thunder your cries in case you say something with an angry or loud tone of your voice, b) reasons are strung if you mean that your intentions were not successful and to conclude c) waters are streaming any time you realize that events in your life are unfolding very fast.
This week we listen to a great heart-rending ballad sung by Bruno Mars, "When I Was Your Man", the latest hit released from his lucky "Unorthodoxy Jukebox". Here I decided to work on conjunctions but the lyrics can be also useful if you wish to teach or learn phrasal verbs, US colloquial English, present continuous and so on.
Level: elementary
Grammar focus on: conjunctions
Activity: fill in the gaps exercise (non prompts provided)
When I Was Your Man
Lyrics taken from: http://www.lyricsboy.com/b/bruno-mars/bruno-mars-when-i-was-your-man-lyrics-video/
Video:
Linguistic aspects: let's take a close look at the verbs and at the phrasal verbs that you find in the song. Firstly, talking of you tears me down is an other way of saying that talking of you makes me feel very sad. Broadly speaking, this verb is referred to a structure or a part of it collapsing down.
Secondly, I should have given you all my hours is to say that I wish I had devoted myself to you, i.e. a regret expressed for something that wasn't done in the past.
Thirdly, someone walks out of your life when he/she leaves you alone and goes away perhaps even when you need him/her most or you grapple with a difficult situation.
Fourthly, if a friend suggests that you should clean up the mess, he is clearly telling you that you should put your life into order.
We conclude by quoting "it haunts me every time I close my eyes", where the verb haunt means that the very thought of my ex-girlfriend is always on my mind.
As stated by Robbie Williams himself, "Be A Boy" is definitely "a song of empowerment". Everytime I select one of Robbie Williams' songs, I have to puzzle a lot over the meaning of his lyrics and sometimes, even after a long time, I really enjoy reading teachers' comments whether it is a good idea or not to propose them to teenagers. Honestly, I think that it is a personal choice based on their audience and more specifically, they have to ask themselves whether their students are already well motivated or not. And what's more they need to consider if their pupils are sensible and mature enough to deal with spicier topics...so let me know!
Level: pre-intermediate
Grammar focus on: reported and direct speech
Activity: fill in the blanks exercise + turn reported into direct speech
Be A Boy
Lyrics taken from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/robbie+williams/be+a+boy_21042611.html
Video:
Linguistic aspects: I would like to say only a few words about this song, starting exactly from bout, usually used as a noun to refer to a very short period that someone can devote entirely to himself. Here I guess it is a colloquial form for "about", but I am not so sure!
Secondly, you carve your name into the street when you become very important and a whole street is named after you!Yet, in English you can also say that a plan, idea or suggestion is carved in stone or on tablets of stone if it has been fixed and cannot be changed for any reason.
Finally, the expression it takes a big man to be someone is probably a quotation of an other saying or song that means that without someone who is very rich and powerful at your back, you cannot become famous.
This duet is in for a treat! As all the followers of this blog already know, we always relish lyrics sung by Pink and FUN so that now their "Just give me a reason" proves one clearer evidence of our devotion to them!
Level: pre-intermediate
Grammar focus on: adjectives about feelings and quality
Activity: fill in the gaps (items provided)
Just give me a reason
Lyrics taken from: directlyrics
Video:
Linguistic aspects: A few words to exaplain the meaning of idioms. To start with, it is written in the stars is used to say it is certain to happen or it is meant to happen that....
Let's consider then Your head is running wild again which sounds like You are behaving like you want and no one can control you.
Besides we are collecting (or gathering) dust is an expression that compares ourselves to books, because as long as they remain unused, they are covered with dust.
What's more, a very interesting idiomatic phrase is our hearts are not broken but just bent, which clearly defines the fact that after suffering so much, we are still in love with each other.
In conclusion, let's talk about two verbs (deriving from nouns): to duct and to rust. In the first case tears are ducted, i.e. they are conveyed through the eye tube. While your feelings can get rusted if they are damaged and you dont' feel like falling in love anymore.
What are we up to today?A breath of fresh air is filling our lungs, thanks to "Pompeii". This is the latest hit released by the new British band, Bastille. Just out of curiosity, the band was named after the Bastille Day, i.e. the day Dan Smith (frontman and songwriter) was born.
Level: intermediate
Grammar focus on: vocabulary
Activity: word order, fill in the grid with words related to prepositions, -ing form, wh-questions and find opposites
Pompeii
Lyrics taken from: www.azlyrics.com
Video:
Linguistic aspects: a short guide today to highlight some aspects.
First, I was left to my devices: here it is to say that I was alone and I was allowed to fool someone else.
Secondly, days fall away every time you realise that time goes by, but that is almost insignificant to you. You can also say that a poster can fall away, in case it breaks off from the thing it has been fixed to. Otherwise a piece of land falls aways when it slopes down. In a figurative way, if you examine that sales have fallen away recently, you get to the point that shops have sold less products lately. In addition to this, in literary British a sound (or feeling) falls away as long as it becomes weaker (see Macmillan Dictionary for further information).
Thirdly, you reduce something to rubble anytime you destroy it completely. Literally, a rubble is any piece of broken stone.
In the end, the expression: "Let the dust settle" is an excellent tip to give whenever you suggest that a person needs to calm down, after a violent outburst or breakdown.
