Are you good at understanding songs?
First things first
How to improve your understanding of English songs? Sure! Listen to them more. The more you listen, the better your listening skills become! But instead of passive listening, make it active. Try the following steps.
Step 1. First Listening
Watch the video and listen carefully to the song. Try to focus on the lyrics but don’t worry if you don’t understand every word. It’s all right. Pay attention to the stressed words and get the gist of the lyrics. If you can, write down all the words you hear on a sheet of paper one by one. Keep calm if they still don’t make much sense together. They will help you with the idea of the song.
Step 2. Second listening
Work with bite-sized pieces of the lyrics: stop the song after each word or phrase and write them down. Leave space where you can’t understand the words or put them as they seem to you.
Step 3. Compare
Google for the lyrics of the song you are listening to and compare what you have written and what it’s really like.
Step 4. Read and listen
Finally, read the lyrics and listen to the song simultaneously.
Practice
Give it a go!
Now, do the part of the above technique: first, watch and listen to the video. Second, complete the gaps in the lyrics.
Human
About the song.
Here are some ideas of the song according to Genius Annotation
The narrator says that maybe the whole perspective, he’s trying to explain in the song, is foolish. He’s just another human being, too, so who is he to try to find deeper meaning and explain the humanness (the condition or quality of being human) of the human race?
Rag’n’Bone Man is also talking about how maybe he’s foolish to try to fix the problems that humanity has by explaining them.
There’s no belief in the basic goodness (kindness) of people; if they don’t have proof (evidence, demonstration) , they’re lying.
When we suffer, it is common for us to blame (accuse) each other for what we go through as a way of avoiding (escaping) responsibility and pain.
The narrator tells the listener to take a look at themselves to see their own weaknesses.
Do you see that you, as a human, are as fallible (unreliable, imperfect, likely to make mistakes) as the next person and incapable of certain feats (an act of great courage or skill) just as everyone else is, or are you deceived (fooled, cheated) and only see your own strengths?
We expect others to be able to help and cater (serve, provide) to us, but we are all imperfect beings bound (tied) by our own limitations.
Rag’n’Bone Man is stating that most people prefer a comforting lie over a painful truth. In most cases, people handle the truth poorly and often lash out at (attack someone by saying or writing angry words) those who tell it. He, in this line, is stating he doesn’t want to hear “Give me your honest opinion” only to then be shut down for it.
Answer the questions. Use the words in bold in your answers.
- Are you bound by your own limitations?
- Why do people lash out at other people? How can we protect ourselves from the anger of others?
- Are you easy to deceive? Do you sometimes deceive others?
- What character does one have to have to be able to perform feats?
- Do you agree we’re all fallible?
- Do you tend to blame other people to avoid responsibility?
- Do you believe in the goodness of people? Can you trust anybody without proof? Why (not)?
Lyrics
Watch the video and try to get as many words as you can. You can write them down if you want.
Now read the first part of the task and drag and drop the missing words in the gaps. Do the same with the second and third parts. In the last one, you have to type the missing words yourself. To do so, you might need to listen to the song again from 1:29.
Here’re the full lyrics of the song.
Happy
There are two versions of the task, without any options and with them. Try to challenge yourself with the more difficult version. In it, you have to catch the words and type them into the gaps yourself. Feel free to pause the video to type.
Watch the video
First, watch the video until 1:20 and try to catch as many words as possible. You may want to write them down.
Fill in the gaps
Now listen again and fill in the gaps with the missing words. Feel free to stop the video if needed.
How do you feel? Is it too much? Okay, try the second variant. Drag and drop the given words and phrases from the song.
Talking with music idioms
Read the explanations of the idioms and the examples.
If you change your tune, you change your opinion about something, especially because you know it will bring you an advantage. Mark wanted to quit his job, but after he was offered a higher salary, he changed his tune very quickly.
If you face the music, you accept the unpleasant consequences of your actions. Charlotte hardly studied at all. She will have to face the music when the exam results are posted.
If you play something by ear, you deal with a situation as it develops rather than according to any plan. We don’t have a plan. We’ll just have to play it by ear.
If something is music to your ears, it is very pleasant to hear. The news that Spain won the world cup, was music to my ears.
Someone who says the same thing again and again sounds like a broken record. Tom can’t stop repeating himself. He’s beginning to sound like a broken record.
If something rings a bell, you think you have heard it somewhere before. I can’t remember his face, but his name rings a bell.
If you are as fit as a fiddle, you are in excellent physical condition. Joe’s grandfather is as fit as a fiddle. He still plays tennis.
If you blow your own trumpet, you boast too proudly about your talents or achievements. We know you’re a successful writer now. There’s no need to blow your own trumpet all the time.
You blow the whistle if you report an illegal or socially-harmful activity to the authorities, and give information about those responsible for it. She saw her boss stealing money, but she refused to blow the whistle for fear of losing her job.
Fine tuning is about making small adjustments. This recipe definitely needs some fine tuning in order to make a delicious cake.
After half a day of cleaning, their kitchen was as clean as a whistle. (Extremely clean).