Song Activity: Who has never suffered by love?

Love... have you ever thought how good is falling in love with someone? and how painful could it be? Does it let you down? Ok ok, Let's talk about learning English, then =)

This is our first song activity, and I chose a very romantic song with a really touching lyrics. This definitely is a song for lovers... and learners, of course, because it has a very clear English and runs slow enough to beginners keep up with.
At first I'll introduce you to the video clip (with subtitles, in English, of course) then explain some expressions. Feel free to comment or send me questions on this blog post.

The song is called "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx.  Watch and sing together! =)




[lyrics]
Oceans apart, day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice, on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain
If I see you next to never
How can we say forever

(Chorus)
Wherever you go, whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I took for granted, all the times
That I thought we'd last somehow
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears
But I can't get near you now
Oh cant you see it baby
You got me going crazy

Chorus

I wonder how we can survive, this romance
But in the end if I'm with you
I'll take the chance

Oh can't you see it baby?
You got me going crazy

Chorus

Waiting for you
--


This song is about a guy who is suffering because of the distance, he wants someone by his side, but she is far away, in other words, he misses her.

Actually Marx wrote this song as a love letter to his wife, the actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was filming in South Africa. The song is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Bryan Adams, although Adams had never performed it.


Let's see some useful expressions and its meaning in the situation above:

If I see you next to never = If I take too long to see you
wherever =  no matter where
whatever =  no matter what
Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks =  no matter how long it takes, or how hard it is to bear pain.
to go insane = to go crazy, but it's really common people say "to go nuts"
take for granted = to assume it's true
You got me going crazy = you're driving me crazy however "drive someone nuts" is more common.

Pay Attention: 
to go crazy = to "become" crazy
to drive someone crazy = to make someone go crazy


Hope you enjoyed it!

Teacher Thiago (CNA Boulevard)