Conversation Practice: Music

What kind of music do you like? What kind of music do your parents listen to?What music is popular in China?Do you know much about music that is popular in the US and other English-speaking countries?Do you play an instrument?Are there any kinds of music that are associated with holidays in China?What do you know about holidays in the US and the music associated with them?Do you like Jazz? Rock and roll? Country? Classical? Broadway musicals? Heavy metal?

Hip hop? Rap? Pop? Something else?Can you concentrate on other things when you are listening to music?

What do you do while listening to music?Do you like singing karaoke? What’s your favorite song to sing?Have you ever been to a concert? What concert? What do you think of going to concerts?What kind of music do you listen to in order to cheer you up when you’re sad or angry?Why is music so important to people and culture?Do you think music can heal sick people?Do you think that animals can enjoy music? How do you know?Do you think it is wrong to download music for free?

Ray Parker Jr: Ghostbusters

What do you think the song is about?What things are “running through your head?”Who is “sleeping in your bed?”Is this song a good advertisement?What does freaky mean?What you seen this movie? Did you like it?What style of music is this?

Michael Jackson: Thriller Write down any words that you hear.

Michael Jackson: ThrillerWhat do you think the song is about?What makes this a scary song?What is “thriller night”?Why would you wonder if “you’ll ever see the sun?What style of music is this?Is Michael Jackson famous in China?

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the darkUnder the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heartYou try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make itYou start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyesYou're paralyzed

They're out to get you, there's demons close to the inn on every sideThey will possess you unless you change that number on your dialNow is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeahAll through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen

And whosoever shall be foundWithout the soul for getting downMust stand and face the hounds of hellAnd rot inside a corpse's shell

The foulest stenches in the airThe funk of forty thousand yearsAnd grizzly ghouls from every tombAre closing in to seal your doom

And though you fight to stay aliveYour body starts to shiverFor no mere mortal can resistThe evil of the thriller

Bing Crosby: I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas Write down any words that you hear.

What do you think the song is about?What would make the tree tops glisten?What are sleigh bells?Do you write cards on holidays to anyone?

John Lennon: Happy Christmas (War is Over)

What do you think the song is about?Who is he wishing a happy Christmas (and happy new year) to?Why do they sing “war is over” in the background?What style of music is this?Is John Lennon well-known in China?

A very merry ChristmasAnd a happy New YearLet's hope it's a good oneWithout any fear

And so this is ChristmasFor weak and for strongFor rich and the poor onesThe world is so wrong

And so happy ChristmasFor black and for whiteFor yellow and red onesLet's stop all the fight

And so this is ChristmasAnd what have we doneAnother year overAnd a new one just begun

War is over overIf you want itWar is overNow

The Temptations: My Girl

What do you think the song is about?How does he have sunshine on a cloudy day?What style of music is this?

I've got sunshineOn a cloudy dayWhen it's cold outsideI've got the month of may

I've got so much honeyThe bees envy meI've got a sweeter songThan the birds in the trees

Aladdin: A Whole New World

What do you think the song is about?Why does he ask when the princess last let her heart decide?What does “a whole new world” mean?Why would people say they’re only dreaming?What style of music is this?

I can show you the worldShining, shimmering, splendidTell me, princess, now when didYou last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyesTake you wonder by wonderOver, sideways and underOn a magic carpet ride

A whole new worldA new fantastic point of viewNo one to tell us noOr where to goOr say we're only dreaming

A whole new worldA hundred thousand things to seeI'm like a shooting starI've come so farI can't go back to where I used to be

A whole new worldWith new horizons to pursueEvery moment red-letterI'll chase them anywhereThere's time to spareLet me share thiswhole new world with you

Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA

What do you think this song is about?Is Bruce Springsteen proud to be American?Do you think the lyrics are ironic?What kind of music is this?Is Bruce Springsteen famous in China?

Born down in a dead man's townThe first kick I took was when I hit the groundYou end up like a dog that's been beat too much'Til you spend half your life just covering up now

Come back home to the refineryHiring man says, 'Son, if it was up to me...' Went down to see my VA manHe said, 'Son, don't you understand?'

Down in the shadow of the penitentiaryOut by the gas fires of the refineryI'm ten years burning down the roadNowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go