Good morning, and welcome to Day 2 of “Imparare l’inglese gratis con la musica”.
Today I’m writing in English.
Why?
Because I haven’t yet drunk enough coffee to write in Italian, and because I thought you might enjoy it, for a change.
Today’s song is No.3 in Rolling Stone’s list of the best 500.
It’s rather a cliché, having been used in almost every English course in the last 40 years.
Can you guess?
Yes, of course. It’s John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
Click here to read about this famous song in the original article in Rolling Stone.
You’ll find the lyrics and a video on this page.
Homework
“Imagine” contains some powerful criticisms of the way our world is, and how it could be without borders, wars, religion, and so on.
But, it is rather “hippy”, isn’t it? Rather ’60s….
So, your homework today is write a new verse of the song with your own ideas about how the modern world could be better.
Start with the original words, like this:
Imagine there’s no XXX
It XXX XXX XXX XXX
Nothing to XXX XXX XXX XXX
XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX
Imagine all the people XXX XXX XXX XXX
Prize!
For the first time in this or any course, I’m offering a prize for the best homework.
I’ll be choosing the winner myself from the comments received between now and Saturday, so you have lots of time to think about it and write your new verse.
How will I choose the winner? Simple, I’ll pick the one I like best.
Don’t worry about the grammar or spelling. But the winner has to sound like the original song, and include powerful ideas.
Details of the prize:
- 1 x 30-minute English conversation lesson via Skype
- with me, or a colleague, at a day/time you choose
- mp3 recording of the lesson sent to you by email
- corrections of your pronunciation and grammar mistakes sent to you by e-mail
The winner, and the winning verse for Imagine, will be announced in the next lesson.
Have a great day!
Silvia dice
Hi Daniel, this is my “supermodest” version of Imagine… if you can correct me … thank’s and sleep tight ;))
IMAGINE
Imagine there’s no present
Imagine there’s no past
No bad things behind you
The future coming fast
Imagine that your whishes are becoming true
Imagine there’s no illness
It is hard to believe
Nothing to fight or die for
All happy at new year’s eve
Imagine all the people living whitout fear
You, you may think
It’s a lyric, I can write all what I want
but sometimes the music
give you hope even if you don’t….
Imagine only a language
understandable for all
No misunderstanding
nor quarrels or fight at all
Imagine all the people sharing only love
You, you may say
It’s a lyric, with a present and a past
But if you hard believe in it
you can change your future very fast
Silvia dice
Hi! It’s to late to write the “new” Imagine song?
Daniel dice
Hi Silvia,
No, it’s not too late. I’m way behind this week!! Go ahead.
Daniel
Orlando dice
Hi Daniel, I´ve just seen my e-mail and the new activity. Could you check and correct any mistake.
Thanks.
Imagine there’s no difference
It is worth to think
Nothing to have a lot of things
Or living like a king
Imagine all the people happy all the time
Daniel dice
Hello Orlando,
Good effort! Thanks for contributing, and welcome to imparareinglese.com.
“worth to think” doesn’t sound right to me.
What about “worth a thought” (noun) or “worth thinking about” (gerund)?
Have a good weekend.
Daniel
Daniela dice
Good afternoon.
Since I’m vegan, I have wanted to rewrite this song in vegan style. Do not take me too seriously 😀
As usual, Daniel please correct every mistake (but not my being vegan :D)
Imagine there’s no sausages
It’s easy if you try
No blood below us
Around us only joy
Imagine all the people eating only greens
Imagine there’s no slaughterhouse
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing cows to kill or milk
And no chicken too
Imagine all the people eating no animals
You, you may say
I’m a carnivore, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be vegan
Imagine no eggs and bacon
I wonder if you can
No need of milk and cheese
A life of love for nature
Imagine all the people repairing all the world
You, you may say
I’m a carnivore, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will lbe vegan.
Daniel dice
That’s really excellent, Daniela! Although I personally enjoy a sausage, I think you’ve done a great job of getting your message across!
Let’s see if anyone else can do better….
Angelo dice
Today this homework it’s hard, i tried bud it’s impossible to rewrite new verse of this amazing song, because in 30 line, Lennon, wrote all the dream of the world. He wrote the emotions of all the dreamer of the peace and love. My opinion is it’s impossible to write a new verse and imagine a world better of the Lenon imagined. In the other hand, this was a good opportunity for me to write in english and understand better this song. I remember when i was yang, i sing always.
Have a nice day.
Angelo
Imagine there is no sky
It’s easy if you find
No pain below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for the love
Imagine there’s no borders
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You, you may say I’m a crazy
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no money
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You, you may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one
Songwriters
Lennon, John
and
de ruvo, angelo
Daniel dice
And you, Angelo!
Yes, it IS a hard task, isn’t it? I’ve been trying myself…