English in Music (bonus episode)

I’m hooked on English and I’ve told you that time after time. And to my students who don’t feel like doing anything, well, you’d better shape up. As you can see there’s loads of English to be learned when we listen to music  and take a look at the lyrics. It’s never been easier to learn English and have fun as you get down to the beat. So let’s get down, to business. We’ll learn English from music on this week’s episode of FYI!

Transcript

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[Music][Applause][Applause][Music] hello hello hello and welcome to this the bonus episode of this week's FYI on English in music and I was just thinking about how easy it is for kids to learn through music I see it with my daughter I've even seen her do Chinese songs she learns the dance moves and then she does the watchi watchi hoochi ho hatcha haa in the end you're just imitating and if you do it perfectly you're singing and speaking of the watchi watchi watchi watchi what is this Wu Wu because you Spanish people hear Wu Wu in every song I'll prove my point Love Is in the Air watch you watch you watch see there you go well I have an answer I have solved the Wu mystery Wu watchu is what are you what you going to do what you going to do when they come for you bad boys bad boys what you going to do what are you what you going to do what you going to do this weekend what you going to doesn't even sound like English does it but that's how we say it let's listen to the[Music] song were you singing along I bet you were so when you're hearing what you in a song is what are you what you going to do what are you going to do all right let's see if you guys were able to figure out the six songs in the intro the first one is called Hooked on a Feeling the group is blue suede probably one of the most iconic begin of a songa chakaa chakaa the next one that was an easy one time after time by Cindy loer number three was Lazy Song by Bruno Mars the fourth one was Grease You're the One That I Want the fifth one was Jungle Boogie by cool in the gang which was from the movie Pulp Fiction and the last one was DJ T and the business did you get all six of them nice job if you did you really know your music we're going to play a little game now where I give you a song and you have to correct the grammar are you ready the first one is a classic from the Rolling Stones and it's I Can't Get No Satisfaction did you say I can't get any satisfaction correct we can't use double negatives in English or you could say I can get no satisfaction but you can't say can't with no the Rolling Stones do whatever they like it's called poetic license and it just wouldn't sound the same I can't get any satisfaction that pause is everything I can't get no pause satis faction you don't need that extra syllable that any would give you all right the next one this one's not so much incorrect but it sounds like uneducated English I always tell my students to avoid the word ain't so let's see if you know what he's really saying Ain't No Mountain High Enough well first we've got ain't no so there's a double negative again but it should be there isn't any Mountain High enough or there ain't any mountain high enough but you can't say ain't and no just like in the song ain't no sunshine when she's gone and she's always gone away ain't no you should say there isn't any sunshine or there is no but you can't use that ain't which is a negative again I would avoid using the word ain't unless you're writing songs it doesn't sound like an eloquent word let's put it that way your next one is a beetle song she's got a ticket to ride but she don't care my baby don't care did you say she doesn't care good job Persona the next one is Gwen Stefani from the group no doubt and she says if I was a rich girl what's wrong with that sentence well technically since it's a conditional you have to say if I were a rich girl now most Americans would say if I was but just so you know if you're going to take the Cambridge exam you wouldn't say if I was you you would say if I were you however if you go to the United States you'll see that we all say if I was you either way if I was you or were you I wouldn't correct a native speaker even even native speakers their mistakes are native mistakes another native mistake that comes to mind is when people say you should have came and I said no you should have come you should have went no you should have gone again these are native mistakes they remind me of your limos Justin Bieber does it as well in the song boyfriend he says if I was your boyfriend technically if I were your boyfriend all right this one's going to be really tough from the James Brown classic I feel good I knew that I would n well technically and we're splitting hairs here it's technically I feel well so you know when people say hey Alberto how are you doing and I say I'm good I really should say I'm well because I'm good means I'm well means Wellness again a lot of native speakers use them interch changeably but I'm just telling you guys so you know the difference and you can make your own decisions and just be careful with that verb feel I've had so many students make mistakes with feel and fall I've heard students say I felt in Love no I fell in love so let's review them feel felt felt fall fell Fallen the next one is the back street boys we've got an episode on boy fans if you haven't given it a listen the line goes does his friends get all your time hm does his friends what's wrong there did you say do his friends get all your time absolutely his friends are they so do they get all your time anytime you're confused about that turn it into a pronoun so s says they theica said R it's a little trick that can help you out here's one from Dirty Dancing he dancing the song is Hungry Eyes I feel the magic between you and I technically it would be I feel the magic between you and me it would be you and I if it were the subject of the sentence but in this case it's the object so for example you and I are going with them they are going with you and me you catch my drift there again a lot of Americans would probably use them interchangeably but just so you know the difference the next one comes from the police every little thing she does is Magic everything she do just turns me on so every little thing she does is Magic that's correct everything she do just turns me on that's right everything she does just turns me on and that's an interesting one because that wasn't a question of syllables do and does are both one syllable words I guess he just liked the way it sounded more another one from Bruno Mars who we've looked at quite a bit in these episodes The song is called When I Was Your Man and the line that needs correcting is should have gave you all my hours he says I should have bought you flowers I should have guess I should have of I should have bought your flowers should have gave you all my hours the first line is right I should have bought should have back on gave or given that's right I should have given you all my Hours come on Bruno Mars and there are many other songs which are grammatically incorrect just bear that in mind when you are learning from music that not all of them use perfect Cambridge grammar in fact quite the contrary isn't rock and roll about rebellion I guess that's where all the double negatives come from there's a really good song by a band called Operation Ivy and the song says all I know is that I don't know nothing it makes the song perfect he's saying I don't even know how to speak so it's to add effect sometimes it's because of a syllable thing like in the of satisfaction all right let's take a look now over here at some misheard lyrics and we're going to take a look at two different kinds of misheard lyrics we're going to look at misheard lyrics in English and then we're going to take a look at misheard lyrics in Spanish so the first ones even American people are confused the second round will be Spanish people think that they say this in English and those are really funny by the way all right I'll tell you what I'm going to play the the first one for you and I want you to tell me what Jimmy Hendrick says the song is called Purple Haze and let's hear it excuse me I kiss this guy what did Jimmy just say did he just say Excuse me while I kiss this guy or Excuse me while I kiss the sky H he said the second one the latter Excuse me while I kiss the sky but it cleared sounds like Excuse me while I kiss this guy it also reminds me of the intro of the Transformers Transformers robots in Disguise in Disguise or in Disguise in the case of the Transformers it's both they're in Disguise and they're in Disguise I think the actual lyric is in disguise but it sounds exactly the same the next one is from Queen We Will Rock You what does he say when he goes kicking y all over the place we will what does he say well some people say they think he says kicking your cat all over the place poor cat no no it's kicking your can all over the place and your can is another way of saying your butt the next one I got from personal experience I remember my friend Adolfo when I was a Youngster in alia and the song Losing My Religion was very popular the RM song and he used to sing touch me in the corner touch me in the spot light Losing My Religion touch me in the corner that sounds uh I don't know man no thanks touch me in the corner touch me in the spotlight uh no well the real lyric is that's me in the corner that's me in the spot like but he thought it was touch me I told him it totally changes the meaning of the song sounds quite creepy to be honest but also it does sound like that and what about this lyric we were talking a little bit about Elton John before hold me closer what does he say after that hold me closer Tony Danza hold me closer Tony Danza the actor from who's the boss no the song is called Tiny Dancer but he pronounces it like Tony Danza who closer Tony Dan count the headlights on the highway I love that song Tiny Dancer oh and speaking of dancing what about the dancing queen the real lyric is Feel The Beat on the tambourine Noto laa the tambourine but it sounds like Feel The Beat on the Tangerine oh yeah and the Tangerine La mandarina yeah it's those little oranges hey sounds nice but I guess tambourine makes more sense and we're going to go to New Jersey for our next guy New Jersey not Bruce Springsteen he's another one you guys call him bre but remember we put his name together in English Bruce Springstein just remember this Bruce ends with an s Springsteen starts with an S sound I should say Bruce Springstein but this is another New Jersey Boy I'm talking about John Bon Joi no not John an chovi ano okay not that funny but you know I love playing with words in the song Living on prayer you guys know that one Living on a Prayer take my hand and we'll make it I swear whoa Living on a Prayer well there's a line that says it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not but it sounds like it doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not and I'll never forget the first time I got that cassette I was young I open opened it up right away to look at the lyrics cuz there were a couple Bon Joi lyrics that I said What You Give Love A Band band no the real lyric is You Give Love a Bad Name bad name doesn't make a difference if we're naked or not we got each other and that's a lot for love we'll give it a shot hey Great Expression Bon Joi inlo this next band is another great band to learn English with even though I'm not a fan but it doesn't matter I'm not the one who's learning here but my daughter's learning English with this band she loves this band I'm talking about none other than Coldplay par par par par I didn't know it was Paradise but I was hearing in my head par Parise a pair of dice I thought the guy was a big Gambler and here's one I'm going to test you guys on what does he say at the beginning of suspicious minds he being Elvis obviously we're caught in a trap we're caught in a trap but a lot of people he recording a track or they call it a[ __ ] or we C him a trout everything but we're caught in a trap that's a really hard one to understand and I remember until I saw the lyrics I didn't know what he was saying there and it's the first line of the song I got to say though I never thought it was we called him a trout it just didn't make sense the whole fishing thing but I did think recording a track was a feasible option recording a track well that's what he was doing right and what about one of the hardest songs to understand ever anywhere in the world it doesn't matter what your language is I'm talking about Smells Like Teen Spirit by[Music] Nirvana yeah is that what you hear most people do most people do and I remember Suzanne a shout out to my friend Suzanne I did this song on a video series I have on my YouTube page called the morning singer and Suzanne said Alberto thank you I never knew what the lyrics were so I will say this Nirvana that's not an easy band to understand that that's one of the harder bands to really get what they're saying and I think also it's Kurt Cobain's style he didn't want to be understood and the name of the song is called Smells Like Teen Spirit which is just an epic name but really do you know how the song got its name Kurt was hanging out with a friend and then another girl walked into the room and she said it smells like teen spirit and he said wow that's brilliant and later he realized she was talking about Teen Spirit a deodorant that's made for young girls and when she walked into the room the girl Kurt was in the room with had just sprayed the Teen Spirit deodorant so then she said the phrase wow Smells Like Teen Spirit literally and he said wow it's it's epic and the rest is history now nobody thinks of deodorant they think of rebellion being a teenager so what do they say in the chorus of the song well the song starts off load up on guns great phrasal verb there to load up on something is a ministro collect them load up on guns but we're not going to look at the whole song just to let you know though the song is chalk full of vocabulary but we're going to demystify the chorus he starts out by saying with the lights out it's less dangerous with the lights out it's less dangerous here we are now entertain us here we are now entertainers so he says here we are now entertain I feel stupid I feel stupid and contagious contos here we are now entertain us a mul mul an albino a mosquito my libido you know the word libido it's a Latin word and then he goes hello I love this part when he goes hello hello hello howo holaaa so his hello turns into howo it's really brilliant I guess that's why he's Kurt Cobain in this song marked the generation My Generation generation x and I remember too the day I was able to find out what he was saying it was like you know a door had been opened I could understand him better so now that you guys know the lyrics we're going to sing along with Kurt Cobain but without the music just the vocals so let's review it with the lights out it's less dangerous here we are now entertain us I feel stupid and contagious here we are now entertain us a m an albino a mosquito my Lio let's hear Kurt he sings it much better than I do hello hello hello dangerous here we are now entertainers off stupid coners here we are now entertainers I'm I'm a SK M yeah wow wow wow wow I listened to that track a hundred times when I Was preparing the episode he's really conveying so much emotion in his voice but don't try and imitate Kurt Cobain you'll blow out your vocal cords something he did many times on stage all right let's move on over to the songs that you guys miss here in English and you replace it with Spanish words like this first one this first classic by Michael Jackson let's see what Michael Jackson is saying in Billy Jean the kid is not my son did you[Music] say it's not do you want an apple he's saying the kid is not my son no I guess somebody needs a paternity test yeah that song is about him saying Billy Jean's not my lover and the kid's not my son so leave me alone it's not a love song folks but it's not what about Starbucks Starbucks this is the weekend but what he really says is I'm a[ __ ] star boy I'm a[ __ ] star boy like Star boy but if you listen to it over and over without looking at the lyrics your imagination can run wild and you'll hear Al Starbucks one of my favorites by Twisted Sister let's play it we're not going to take it we ain't going to take it not take it oh yes the classic was going F what does he really say we're not GNA take it I've got to say the Spanish version makes me hungry[Music] here's another one too that cracks me up the real lyric is mar you got to see her but I know some of my students have[Music] heard and what about this ballad from back in the day oh[Music] Obama the real lyric is all by myself and what about M way get away get away does it sound like Harry Styles I got to get away we got to get away no get away one student also asked me about the song Thunder feel the Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder and we can learn thunder from that song thunder and lightning the way you love me it's frightening you got a knock on wood wow from Amy Stewart song we learn thunder lightning the expression knock on wood wow and that wasn't even on my list but getting back to the uh the song Thunder one of my students asked me Thunder Thunder Thunder Thunder and here's one that is really difficult it's called song number two the group is blur and it's that song that goes woohoo meoo me woo woohoo obviously he doesn't say he says when I feel heavy metal wooho I feel heavy it's called song number two and the artist is blur and from them we can learn the word Boron and we've got two more before we say goodbye I save the best for last though so here's the second to last I'll tell you the wrong lyrics Let's see if you know the right ones we looked at this one before especially in our dancing[Music] episode did you say shake that booty shake your booty sounds like every regon song out there oh and by the way if you want to learn English don't use regon songs they speak pure Spanglish and I think probably the number one misheard song lyric Ever and I think the funniest one because it's a meme with millions of views on the internet and we've all shared it with our friends and it's[Music] is all right okay the real lyrics are this is the rhythm of the night but I've got to say I prefer the rebok or Nike version we're going to listen to that audio that went viral as we say goodbye but we've just touched the tip of the iceberg here there are so many songs and new ones coming out every day just waiting to be discovered so learn laugh and Play and Learn English with music let's listen to the clip hello wiers[Music] brother or night or[Music][Music] night this is the oh yeah[Laughter][Music] thank you so much for joining us in this week's episodes of[Applause] FYI[Music] a