Hey there, this is Teacher Ola Podcast episode 59: Learn English With Tina Turner ‘What You Get Is What You See’.
My name’s Ola and I am an online English teacher, I teach through one to one classes and what I want you to know is that I believe you can eliminate your language blockade. I’ve overcome a massive blockade myself and I know how to do it. This podcast is for you if you’re an English learner who wants to speak English with more confidence and get rid of speaking barriers. You’ll boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar, improve your pronunciation. Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Happy learning!
Hello again, thanks for tuning in. Today we’re having fun, because we’re learning English with music. What’s better than that? Song lyrics are a great source of language, just be careful how you use them. Only listening won’t teach you much. It’s beneficial for sure though.
Doing what we do here, that is checking the lyrics carefully, reading them slowly out loud, looking up words and phrases, repeating additional sentences. That will teach more than just listening to lyrics. I hope you know it. I’ve learned a lot of English through song lyrics, but I’ve always been very active. I checked, I digged, the basic translation has never been enough for me, I’ve always been looking for secret meaning, hidden stuff. I talk more about HOW to learn English with music, and about my story in episode 3. Really important one. And it contains a normal lesson for you, with Ed Sheeran’s song. Teacherola.com/3
What You Get Is What You See is a song by Tina Turner from her album Break Every Rule (1986). Tina Turner said in an interview that What You Get Is What You See is her favorite song from the album.Tina Turner is over 80 now which I find unbelievable.
What You Get Is What You See was especially popular in Australia, The song has been covered many times.
The title of this song is actually a play on words of a popular proverb that goes: what you see is what you get. In this song Tina highlights how different types of guys have different attractions and dispositions when it comes to dealing with women.
She’s unwilling to change who she is in order to please him. Also, the song tells us that guys who appear superficial on the outside do in fact tend to be superficial inside. This is not my opinion, but the lyrics. Ofcourse. This song was rather a mild success by her standard, peaking at number 13 on the Hot 100 chart. OK, let’s begin. Listen to the first verse and repeat out loud.
Some boys got the look of a Greek Adonis
Some boys try to talk you off your feet
Some boys they’re gods gift to woman
Some boys think they’re sweet enough to eat
To get the look of a Greek Adonis – some boys receive this kind of physical beauty. We associate a Greek Adonis with a very handsome young man. I think we often mix up Greek with Greece. The name of the country is Greece and the name of the nationality, the language is Greek. Listen and repeat:
I’ve never been to Greece.
How come you speak Greek?
To talk you off your feet – There’s a phrase: To sweep someone off their feet. It means to charm someone, to make someone fall in love with you on the spot, right away. So, here we have a bit of a variation: to talk you off your feet. So, some boys have talent for talking with women. And that’s how they attract women. Listen and repeat:
He brought her flowers and swept off her feet.
Ann has been swept off her feet by someone. Who is it?
God’s gift – it’s a talent. This word is pronounced with the /o/ sound in British English: God. God’s gift. In American English it is pronounced with the long /aaa/ sound. God’s gift.
Sweet enough – notice that the word ‘sweet’ as an adjective, and as an adjective it goes before the word ‘enough’. If you want to use the word ‘enough’ with a noun put the noun after the ‘enough’. For example:
I don’t have enough milk.
Have we got enough time?
I think it’s warm enough to go for a walk.
It’s been long enough!
Next verse:
Try to change the habit of a lifetime
Don’t even try
Cause when you cut down deeper than the icing
You realize
What you get is what you see
When you cut down deeper than the icing – Icing is this mixture which covers the cakes. It’s also called ‘frosting’. This makes the cake look pretty, delicious, and it is delicious, sweet! There’s an idiom, the icing on the cake which means something extra and not essential that is added to an already good situation or experience and that makes it even better. So in Tina’s song, it’s got quite a different meaning. Here icing for her is just the outside of the person. And he looks great but who knows what’s under that icing? Maybe he is less interesting. Listen and repeat:
The meeting was very good and the opportunity to receive an autograph from her was just the icing on the cake.
What you get is what you see – notice how the sounds change. We talked about this in the previous episode. ‘What’ ends with the /t/ sound and ‘you’ begins with the /j/ sound so instead of pronouncing the /t/ sound we change it into a /cz/ sound. It’s not what you see anymore, now it’s what you see. Ok, the original saying is actually opposite. What you see is what you get. There’s also an acronym WYSIWYG. And it means that something is entirely straightforward. There is no hidden meaning, content, catch, etc., but everything about a certain item or topic can be seen and fully understood at a glance. This term is usually used in reference to computing. Some programs are classified by some as “WYSIWYG,” that is, easy to use and understand. So, there’s nothing ‘extra’, there’s no bonus, no ‘icing on the cake’. If you decide to buy this I don’t know, car, you’ll get exactly the same car. The same colour, features, the price includes only what you see. What you see is what you get. Repeat after me:
What you see is what you get.
The chorus:
Ain’t nothing more to it
And if you want to love a woman like me
It takes a man to do it
If what you get is what you see
Then I don’t want your kind of love
Ain’t nothing more to it – ‘ain’t’ is a negation, so there’s nothing more to it. To what you get. The opposite is also commonly ued, I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase: ‘I’m sure there must be something more to it’. Listen and repeat?
I’m sure it’s not that shallow. There’s something more to it.
It takes a man to do it – Useful pattern. It takes something to do something. Let’s practice:
It takes two to tango.
In order to dance tango you need two people. You can’t dance it unless you have a couple. Another example:
It takes courage to change a career path.
It takes a lot of effort to build a beautiful sandcastle.
Some guys got lips that you can’t help kissing
And some guys got a smile you can’t resist
Some guys gotta build a reputation
They just want to add you to the list
Lips you can’t help kissing – when you can’t help doing something you can’t control yourself. The urge of doing something is so strong you can’t ignore it. Listen and repeat:
I can’t help feeling I disappointed someone.
I can’t help eating a whole box of ice cream when I see one.
Next verse of the song:
You got a lot of physical attraction
I can’t deny
But can you guarantee me satisfaction
While I’m still waiting, waiting, waiting
I can’t deny – to deny means to say that something is not true. Repeat after me:
They denied all allegations.
You can’t deny that he’s a good actor.
He denies attempting to steal her ideas.
Let’s go on with the lyrics:
So let me see your cards on the table
Before I buy
I always read the writing on the label
So give me reason to believe
there’s more to you than meets the eye
Let me see your cards on the table – it’s like laying your cards on the table. That means show me all you’ve got. Be honest with me. Reveal your intentions and feelings.
I always read the writing on the label – There’s nothing to explain really, but I think it’s a useful expression. I hope you have this habit of reading the writing on the label, especially food labels. The list of ingredients, calorie content, nutrition facts label and so on. Toina reads the label on the man, just to know what’s inside.
There’s more to you than meets the eye – sometimes we look at some things or some people and we make our judgements based solely on the looks, on the physical appearance. At first, at a first glance you think this is it. And that’s it. But it happens sometimes that you missed something because it wasn’t visible. There was something more to that person or that thing you didn’t notice. Let’s do this again, I mean let’s hear and then retain in your brain and finally repeat the sentences:
I’ve got a feeling that there’s more to this proposal than meets the eye.
There’s more to him that meets the eye.
It looks like a simple story but there might be more to it than meets the eye.
Ok! That’s it! I hope you enjoyed it! And learned a lot. Please let me know what’s your opinion on this series. Learn English with Music. Should it be continued? What do you reckon? Let me know at teacherola.com/59.
Now, another homework for you is to download the worksheet and practice some more.
If you know someone who likes learning English and enjoys good song lyrics let them know about me.
Thank you for being here. Next Wednesday I’ll talk to you about grammar, but not conditionals. We’ll talk about present simple tense. Till then, take care. See you really soon, happy learning. Bye bye!