Listening to songs in English is an excellent way of consolidating structures and improving both pronunciation and intonation. It also helps you acquire new vocabulary. However, you must choose your songs carefully because in many cases the lyrics (words) are just too poetic and can be difficult to understand.
Let me illustrate how useful this technique can be with a song that was popular in the sixties.
[It's from the West End musical, Pickwick, based on Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers. In the context of the stage musical, the song is sung by Samuel Pickwick when he is mistaken for an election candidate and called on by the crowd to give his manifesto.-Source Wikipedia]
The song 's title is "If I ruled the world". It's a very good example of the Second Conditional and is a really good opportunity to practise this relatively difficult grammatical structure (If I had a car I would drive to Rome)
Video:
Lyrics: http://www.lyricsdepot.com/tony-bennett/if-i-ruled-the-world.html
Now, compare it with "If I ruled the world" by Nas (Different song, much more difficult, rap style)
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMn2cCBwH18
Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nas/ifiruledtheworld.html
By the way, the first version is by Tony Bennett. Sir Harry Secombe's version is far better, but I can't find it anywhere. HELP!
While we're at it, What would Trini do if he had a hammer? and what would Topol do if he were a rich man? Answers below!
Video - Trini: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyTO5vcFWuw&feature=related
Lyrics - Trini: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/trini_lopez/if_i_had_a_hammer.html
Video - Topol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc
Lyrics - Topol: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/fiddlerontheroof/ifiwerearichman.htm
If you found this method useful let me know by e-mail or by posting a comment below. I would then include some more songs.
Enjoy!
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33 comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X37DeztMC0k
Harry Secombe's version.
Thank you so much for this valuable contribution. This is a recent addition to the already immense store of songs on youtube. I shall post it later on this month.Yhanks again.
Joe
Greetings im new to this forum i hope i will be able to help and give something back here because iv learned a great deal myself.
Thank you
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I don't know if you still want it, but I found Sir Harry's version of If I ruled the world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfs1HGk8DEs
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