“We run things, things don’t run we.”
“We can’t stop” – Miley Cyrus
“I can’t get no satisfaction.”
“Satisfaction” – The Rolling Stones
“He live in a palace.”
“Anaconda” – Nicki Minaj
CAN YOU SEE WHAT IS WRONG?
Sometimes, singers change the conventions of grammar to get rhythm. It’s called Artistic License. The songs above, for example, use phrases considered grammatically wrong. Correcting them, we’ll have:
We run things, things don’t run us.
I can’t get any satisfaction.
He lives in a palace.
When talking about songs, the lyrics can show an English that is not used in both academic and everyday speech. If you are taking the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, IELTS or another test, you must be extremely careful because you can’t use many musical structures. However, listening is a great skill to develop and music helps a lot.
SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?
I’m used to do something that is very useful: I listen to a song and try to find its mistakes by myself, so I can practice the listening and grammar skills at the same time! Some music that doesn’t have a lot of remixes is the best option. Below, I will share songs that were easy to understand the lyrics:
“Wild Life” – Paul McCartney & Wings
“O’ Children” – Nick Cave
“Gronlandic Edit” – of Montreal
“Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
“Drunk in Love” – Beyoncé
“Sweet Dreams” – Eurythmics
Best regards, Neves.
fityel 