ESL之人际交往 19 Writing a Love Song

19 Writing a Love Song

GLOSSARY 1

to keep it down - to be quiet; to not make very much noise* Please keep it down!  Melinda is trying to study for tomorrow’s exam, but shecan’t concentrate with so much noise in here.

none of (one’s) business – not something that a person needs to know about,because it doesn’t relate to him or her; private* How I spend my money is none of your business!

love song – a romantic song; a song written to tell another person that one loves him or her, and hopefully to make that person fall in love with the singer* Greta’s high school boyfriend wrote a beautiful love song for her, and she stilllikes to listen to it sometimes.

to serenade (someone) – to play and/or sing romantic music for someone, oftenwith the man standing 2 outside below a woman’s bedroom window* Kelly was very surprised when her boyfriend serenaded her from outside herbedroom window.

lyrics 3 – the words that are sung in a song* I couldn’t understand the lyrics of that new song, so I looked for them online. rough – not finished; incomplete 4* We still need to add more details, but here is a rough design for the new house.

to rhyme – to sound the same as another word; for the end of two words to havethe same pronunciation* “Hat,” “mat,” “bat,” “rat,” and “pat” all rhyme with “cat.”

sappy – very emotional; too emotional and silly* Clark’s love letter was so sappy that it made Lisa laugh when it should havemade her fall more in love with him.

melody 5 – tune 6; the main notes in a song* Greensleeves is one of my favorite melodies 7, because it is so calming andbeautiful.

chorus 8 – the part of a song that is repeated many times* The children don’t know the words to most of the verses 9, but they always singthe chorus.

catchy 10 – memorable 11; something that is easy to remember; something that is hard to forget* Good advertisements need to have a catchy slogan.

a cappella – sung without instruments; sung only with voices* Do you prefer music where the singers are a cappella, or where they sing withinstruments in the background?

to accompany – to play a musical instrument while a person is singing* The opera singer was accompanied by a pianist and a flutist.

recording 12 – an audio copy of something; music or other sound that has been puton a tape, CD, or another format 13* This music is great!  How can I get a copy of the recording?

to take (something or someone) seriously – to be serious about something; tonot act as if something is a joke; to not laugh about something* It was hard to take Luke seriously because he was dressed as a clown.

to move (someone) – to make someone feel strong emotions* The play deeply moved the audience and some people were crying by the end.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1.  Which of these words rhymes with “flower”?

a)  Bloomb)  Hourc)  Rose2.  Is Isaac going to sing the song a capella?

a)  Yes, with his friend Jimmy.

b)  No, he will sing it alone.

c)  No, there will be an instrument.

______________WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

roughThe word “rough,” in this podcast, means incomplete or not finished: “Ariellawants to finish the rough draft of her essay tonight so that she can revise ittomorrow.”  “Rough” also means not smooth, or something that has a surfacethat isn’t flat: “The skin of an apple is smooth, but the skin of a cantaloupe is rough.”  Sometimes the word “rough” means an estimate, or something that isn’texact: “They think the rough cost of the project will be $50,000.”  “Rough” canalso mean not gentle, or violent: “If the children are too rough when they play with the dog, they might hurt it.”  Finally, “rough” can mean tough, or a difficulttime: “I had a rough time with that test and I don’t think I answered more than75% of the questions correctly.”

record/recordingIn this podcast, the word “recording” means an audio copy of something, ormusic or other sound that has been put on a tape, CD, or another format: “Haveyou heard the latest recording from Tori Amos?”  A “record” is a thin, round, black piece of plastic that music used to be recorded on, before tapes and CDs:

“Wendy has a collection of old records by The Beatles.”  A “record” can also be awritten document about something that happened: “Each month, the phonecompany sends a record that lists all the telephone numbers that I have called.” Another meaning of “record” is the best/worst or highest/lowest way thatsomething has been done: “He holds the world record for the long jump.”  Or,“Charlie wants to break the world record for eating the most pies in 20 minutes.”

CULTURE NOTEAmericans have many unusual ways of showing their love, beyond simply writinglove songs.  Often they do these things “in public” (where other people can seeand hear), because they want everyone to know about their love.

“Skywriting” refers to having an airplane write a message in the sky by usingspecial white smoke.  Some people use skywriting to write a message to theperson they love.  For example, an airplane might write, “I love you, Lian.  Willyou marry me?”  Skywriting is very expensive, but it’s an “impressive” (very interesting and positive) way for a man to show his love for a woman.

Sometimes a man will “propose” (ask a woman to marry him) to his girlfriend at aball game.  These men pay money so that the large “electronic scoreboard” (alarge wall in a sports stadium that shows which team is winning and usually hasa large TV for images) displays a love message.

Another unusual way that Americans show their love is by using “singingtelegrams.”  A “telegram” was a way to send a message over long distances thatis then delivered by another person. That other person might be dressed in anunusual “costume” (special clothing to make one look like another person orthing).  He or she then sings the “text” (words) of the telegram to the “recipient”

(the person who receives the telegram).  Often this is done at the recipient’s school or office, so it is another way to share one’s love in public.

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers:  1 – b; 2 – c

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 318: Writing a LoveSong.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 15 318.  I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Be sure to visit our website at eslpod.com, and download the Learning Guide forthis episode.  It will help you learn English even faster by giving you all of thevocabulary words, definitions, new samples sentences using the expressions wetalk about on this episode, comprehension questions, cultural notes, additionalvocabulary definitions, and a complete transcript 14 of this episode.

Our episode is called “Writing a Love Song.”  It’s a dialogue between Isaac andBrittany, and, well, you’ll see, it’s about someone writing a song of love.  Let’s getstarted.

[start of dialogue]

Isaac:  Can you keep it down in there?  I’m trying to write a song.

Brittany:  You are?  What kind of song?

Isaac:  It’s none of your business.

Brittany:  Come on.  Tell me. Isaac:  It’s for Melanie. Brittany:  Oh, it’s a love song.  That’s so romantic.  Are you going to serenadeher?

Isaac:  Maybe.  Now leave me alone so I can write.

Brittany:  Don’t kick me out.  Maybe I can help.  Let me hear what you have sofar. Isaac:  Oh, all right.  Here are the lyrics.  There’re pretty rough.  Can you think ofsomething that rhymes with flower?

Brittany:  Hmm...let me see.  They’re not bad, not too sappy.  Let’s hear themelody...That’s nice.  The chorus is catchy.  Are you going to sing it a cappella?

Isaac:  I was going to ask Jimmy to play the guitar to accompany me, so I canmake a recording of it.

Brittany:  Let me do it.  I can play the guitar.

Isaac:  No way.  You won’t take it seriously.

Brittany:  I will.  I promise.  I’ll make little kissing noises in the background and it’llmove her to tears.

Isaac:  Forget it!  What was I thinking telling you about it?!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Isaac saying to Brittany, “Can you keep it down inthere?”  The expression “to keep it down” means not to make a lot of noise – tobe quiet.  This is something my mother would always say to us in our rooms athome; she’d say, “Keep it down in there!  Stop making so much noise.”  Well, shesaid that to my brothers and sisters because I never caused any problems when Iwas a child!

Isaac says to Brittany, “I’m trying to write a song.”  And Brittany says, “You are? What kind of song?”  Isaac replies, “It’s none of your business.”  That expression,“it’s none of your business,” is an idiom that means it’s not something that youshould know about; it’s private; it doesn’t relate to you; you don’t need to know. It’s something of a negative expression; when you say “it’s none of yourbusiness,” you are saying stop trying to find out what I am doing.  It’s somethingyou would say to a family member or a friend, not something you would say toyour boss.

Brittany says, “Come on.  Tell me.”  “Come on,” meaning go ahead; be nice tome; tell me what you’re doing.  Isaac then says, “It’s for Melanie” – the song is forMelanie.  Brittany says, “Oh, it’s a love song” – a romantic song, a song that aman would sing to a woman he was in love with.  Brittany says, “That’s soromantic.  Are you going to serenade her?”  To “serenade (serenade) someone”

means to play – usually to sing – romantic music for someone.  The typicalexample would be a man standing below the window where a woman was in herhouse – or a girl – and the woman comes to the window, and the man is down below, and he sings this song and she falls in love, and...well, you know the restof the story!

Isaac says, “Maybe,” meaning maybe I’ll serenade her – perhaps.  “Now leaveme alone so I can write.”  Brittany says, “Don’t kick me out” – don’t get rid of me;don’t tell me to leave.  “Maybe I can help.  Let me hear what you have so far” –let me hear the song that you’ve written so far, up to this point. Isaac says, “Oh, all right” – okay.  “Here are the lyrics.”  The lyrics are the wordsthat are sung in a song.  He says the lyrics are “pretty rough.”  When we saysomething is “rough,” in this case, we mean it’s not finished; it’s incomplete. “Rough” has a couple of different meanings in English; take a look at ourLearning Guide for some additional explanation.

Isaac then asks Brittany, “Can you think of something that rhymes with flower?” To “rhyme” means to sound the same as another word, especially the vowels 16 inanother word.  “Hat” rhymes with “cat” and “rat”; these are all rhymes.  So, inwriting a song, many people look for words that rhyme at the end of a sentencein the song.

Brittany says, “Hmm...let me see” – let me think about it.  She’s looking at thelyrics and she says, “They’re not bad, not too sappy.”  When something is “sappy” (sappy) it’s too emotional; it’s almost a little silly.  Something is “sappy” is very emotional, very dramatic: “I went to see this romantic movie, and it was sappy” – it was too emotional, too dramatic.

Brittany says to Isaac, “Let’s hear the melody.”  The “melody” (melody) consists of the main notes in the song; we would say the “tune” (tune).  You’re familiarwith iTunes; well, “tune” is another word for a song.  The “melody” is thecollection of notes that make up the song.  The melody is separate from thelyrics; the lyrics are the words, the melody is the music.

Brittany says, “The chorus is catchy.  Are you going to sing it a cappella?”  The“chorus” of a song is the part of the song that is usually repeated several times inthe song.  When something is “catchy” (catchy), we mean it’s easy to remember– something that is difficult to forget.  Sometimes this can be a bad thing, whenyou keep singing a song to yourself even though you don’t like it, but the melody is so catchy – so memorable – that it is hard to forget it.  To sing “a cappella” is aItalian expression meaning to sing without instruments – to sing only with yourvoice – no piano, no guitar, no other musical instruments.  In Italian, it actually translates into “in the chapel,” or “in the church.”  Church music was traditionally sung in many places just with voices. Isaac says, “I was going to ask Jimmy (his friend) to play the guitar to accompany me.”  To “accompany” means to play a musical instrument while someone else is singing.  To “accompany” can also mean to go with someone: “I will accompany you to the store” – I will go with you.  But when we use it in talking about music, itmeans to play a musical instrument – piano, a guitar – while someone else issinging.

Isaac says he wants to make a recording of the song.  A “recording” is an audiocopy of something.  In this case, it could be on a CD, an MP3, or some otherformat.  You can also have video recordings 17 of something.

Brittany says, “Let me do it.  I can play the guitar.”  Isaac says, “No way,”

meaning no; not at all; I’m not going to do that.  Something of an informalexpression – “no way.”  “You won’t take it seriously” – you won’t be serious aboutit; you’ll treat it as a joke – “you won’t take it seriously.”

Brittany says, “I will.  I promise.  I’ll make little kissing noises [Jeff makes kissingsound] in the background and it’ll move her to tears.”  Brittany is joking here; ofcourse, to make little kissing noises in the song would make it very sappy.  To“move someone to do something” is to make someone feel very strong emotions. We often use the expression when we talk about crying; “tears” are the drops ofwater that come out of your eyes when you’re very sad, for example.  “It movedme to tears” – it made me cry.

Isaac says, “Forget it!  What was I thinking telling you about it?!”  “What was Ithinking,” meaning I was stupid – I should have known better.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Isaac:  Can you keep it down in there?  I’m trying to write a song.

Brittany:  You are?  What kind of song?

Isaac:  It’s none of your business.

Brittany:  Come on.  Tell me. Isaac:  It’s for Melanie.  

Brittany:  Oh, it’s a love song.  That’s so romantic.  Are you going to serenadeher?

Isaac:  Maybe.  Now leave me alone so I can write.

Brittany:  Don’t kick me out.  Maybe I can help.  Let me hear what you have sofar. Isaac:  Oh, all right.  Here are the lyrics.  There’re pretty rough.  Can you think ofsomething that rhymes with flower?

Brittany:  Hmm...let me see.  They’re not bad, not too sappy.  Let’s hear themelody...That’s nice.  The chorus is catchy.  Are you going to sing it a cappella?

Isaac:  I was going to ask Jimmy to play the guitar to accompany me, so I canmake a recording of it.

Brittany:  Let me do it.  I can play the guitar.

Isaac:  No way.  You won’t take it seriously.

Brittany:  I will.  I promise.  I’ll make little kissing noises in the background and it’llmove her to tears.

Isaac:  Forget it!  What was I thinking telling you about it?!

[end of dialogue]

The script for this podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse. If you have a question or comment, you can email us.  Our email address is eslpod@eslpod.com.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan.  Thanks for listening.  We’ll seeyou next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.  This podcast is copyright 2007.