Grammars of Songs

Question

Hello everybody.I'm trying to learn by heart some English songs. My trouble is that I try to understand them including grammars and rythms. I can learn the rythm, but it's difficult to do the same with the grammar.How do you sing an English song? Do you pay attention much with the grammar?I will paste an lyric of "Mouse love the rice" song below. Bold lines are what I couldn't comprehend completely. Can you show me ways to sing an English song? Thank you very much.When that day I hear your voice, I have some special feelingLet me always think I don't wanna forget youI remember at the dayYou are always on my mind eventhough I just can think about youIf the day in the future, this love will becoming trueI've never changed my mind that I will love you foreverI don't care how fool it isI will let my dream come trueI will tell you something I wanna let you know, I let you knowI love you, loving you, as the mouse love the riceEven every day has storm, I will always by your sideI miss you, missing youI don't care how hard it isI just want you to be happyEverything, I do it for youOr you can see the lyric at the web page:http://www.1songlyrics.com/y/yang-chengang/mouse-love-the-rice.htmlThank for your replies

Yankee · Accepted Answer

Quangtn03Hello everybody.
I'm trying to learn by heart some English songs. My trouble is that I try to understand them including grammars and rythms. I can learn the rythm, but it's difficult to do the same with the grammar.

How do you sing an English song? Do you pay attention much with the grammar?

I will paste an lyric of "Mouse love the rice" song below. Bold lines are what I couldn't comprehend completely. Can you show me ways to sing an English song? Thank you very much.

When that day I hear your voice, I have some special feeling
Let me always think I don't wanna forget you
I remember at the day
You are always on my mind eventhough I just can think about you
If the day in the future, this love will becoming true ==> This would make more sense with be coming (two words)
I've never changed my mind that I will love you forever
I don't care how fool it is
I will let my dream come true
I will tell you something I wanna let you know, I let you know

I love you, loving you, as the mouse love the rice ==> not grammatical
Even every day has storm, I will always by your side ==> The word 'be' seems to be missing (always be by your side)
I miss you, missing you
I don't care how hard it is
I just want you to be happy
Everything, I do it for you

Or you can see the lyric at the web page:
http://www.1songlyrics.com/y/yang-chengang/mouse-love-the-rice.html

Thank for your replies

Hi Quangtn03
The lyrics for songs often contain slang and unusual wording. However, a number of the lines in this song sound more like something written by a non-native speaker of English whose English is simply not very good.

No, I don't think about the grammar in lyrics unless a student asks me about it. One way to sing an English song is simply to try to imitate what you hear.

Quangtn03 · Answer

Hello Yankee. Thank you for your reply.
Yeah. I think this song's from China.

No, I don't think about the grammar in lyrics unless a student asks me about it. One way to sing an English song is simply to try to imitate what you hear.

Here're my questions:
If you don't understand the lyrics, will you be able to remember the song?

Why are you simply to try to imitate what you hear? Do you mean to imitate the accent?

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,
if you want to learn a song, you have to listen to it several times... and try to sing along. If you don't understand the words, you can't sing, can you? Otherwise, you'll end up mishearing the lyrics, like I always do (I'm delivered --> I'm the leader, I'm tried of being what... --> It's time to be what...) LOL

But you can sing a song even if you don't understand the meaning of the words, as long as you know the lyrics.

That song is probably kind of "Asian"... so maybe you could find typical Asian mistakes (Engrish), like wrong use of auxiliary verbs and missing articles.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you might hear sentences like "the mouse love the rice" in songs very often, and it's not necessarily "Asian-English" or wrong. In Ebonics, a dialect of English, you'll hear sentences like that. If you listen to hip-hop music, you'll actually hear that most of the times (Examples: "She make you want to...", "That that don't kill me can only make me stronger").

Quangtn03 · Answer

Thank you for your advices and your experiences. I like your first passage most because it work well.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you might hear sentences like "the mouse love the rice" in songs very often, and it's not necessarily "Asian-English" or wrong. In Ebonics, a dialect of English, you'll hear sentences like that. If you listen to hip-hop music, you'll actually hear that most of the times (Examples: "She make you want to...", "That that don't kill me can only make me stronger")."

I fear that if I try to learn by heart the songs with their mistakes, they will become my mistakes.

Maybe, I will adjust the grammar as I think and try to imitate the ways singers sang as you said: "If you don't understand the words, you can't sing, can you? Otherwise, you'll end up mishearing the lyrics, like I always do (I'm delivered --> I'm the leader, I'm tried of being what... --> It's time to be what...)".

Thank you again

Kooyeen · Answer

Quangtn03

I fear that if I try to learn by heart the songs with their mistakes, they will become my mistakes.

Yes, that already happens to me, lol.

I might say "don't" instead of "doesn't"... but it's not my fault if I keep on hearing "That that don't kill me can only make me stronger" on the radio, all day long.

So don't learn grammar from songs. Try not to learn anything from songs, not even prounciation. Often some words are mispronounced, but that's normal when you sing. Well, you can learn some new words from songs, though.
Just like songs for what they are: songs.

Quangtn03 · Answer

So don't learn grammar from songs. Try not to learn anything from songs, not even prounciation. Often some words are mispronounced, but that's normal when you sing. Well, you can learn some new words from songs, though.
Just like songs for what they are: songs. Smile

As you write above, I see you advise me not to learn anything but some new words from songs, don't you?

What do you think of an advice which told me to should speak / read aloud along a poem. a subtitle of films, and a song.

You made me so confused

. The former message you said that I won't be able to sing if I don't know words. Or I can correct my mishearing. Now you wrote "don't learn..., try not to..., ".

( What should I do with songs now? Learn by heart? sing along? and what should I learn from songs? How can I treat with them to improve my English?

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi again,
sorry, I meant to say that you should avoid considering songs as a major means of learning English.

You don't learn good pronunciation by listening to songs. Often words are mispronounced (because they are sung). So you'll often hear "crazy" pronounced "cray-zeh", reduced diphthongs so "my" will sound as mah, etc. When I started to learn English the only stuff I listened to were songs. That's why I used to sound southern, LOL

(I used to pronounce every final y as eh... I was hap-peh, lol).

You won't learn good grammar either.

But you could learn some new words.

If you want to sing a song because you like it, just sing it. And mispronounce the words the same way you hear them, if you want to sound like the singer. That's ok, and it's fun, as long as that's not the only way you study and practice English. That's what I wanted to say.

Yankee · Answer

Quangtn03 Here're my questions:
If you don't understand the lyrics, will you be able to remember the song?
It is easier to remember a song if you understand the lyrics. But understanding the lyrics is not simply a matter of grammar. It's a matter of vocabulary and collocation.

Why are you simply to try to imitate what you hear? Do you mean to imitate the accent?
Most American children learn our national anthem when they are very young -- often before they can read. So, when they sing it, they are only singing what they have heard (or think they have heard), not what they've read. In addition, some of the words in the national anthym are too advanced for a very young child. Therefore, even though they are native speakers of English, they usually don't get allof the words right. Music is a good way to practice a language, but I do think you need to be careful about which songs you learn. Some are more grammatical than others. Some songs contain a lot of slang. And there are even songs that are simply nonsense.

Quangtn03 · Answer

Hi Kooyeen and Yankee.

Thank you two very much. I've your answers many times and I've really appreciated them. Singing the English songs makes me have more encouragement to learn, and it's one of good ways learn, just relax and... sing, do you two think so?

After reading your replies, I think I should choose carefully songs to sing next times. I'll download the English songs from reliable resources.

Thank you two again.

great.

Grammars of Songs

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