Hey there! This is TOP episode 248. Learn English with Prince ‘Purple Rain’
Are you tired of lacking confidence when speaking English? Does it block you from achieving your true goals? This podcast is the place for you. This is Teacher Ola Podcast. My name’s Ola Mierniczak and I empower English learners to become confident speakers. The key to fluency is in your pocket. You’ll boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar and improve your pronunciation. Enjoy your journey to fluency!
Hello and welcome! Thank you for choosing this episode! Today we’re learning English with music. The song we’re looking into today is ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince. What is the song about? Prince said in an interview: “When there’s blood in the sky – red and blue = purple… purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith or god guide you through the purple rain.”
‘Purple Rain’ was a mainstay in Prince’s live shows. During the halftime show of Super Bowl XLI, ‘Purple Rain’ concluded Prince’s performance, coinciding with a rainstorm that, along with the purple stage lighting, perfectly captured the song’s iconic imagery.
The song was also the closing number at Prince’s last concert in Atlanta, in 2016. He passed away a week later.
Let’s jump into the lyrics of this beautiful song ‘Purple Rain’. I’ve prepared seven lines of the song. After this episode go and have a listen to this piece and sing along!
But hey! Have you signed up for my video training on Houw to stop thinking in Polish while speaking English?
One. I never meant to cause you any sorrow – I never meant – I never wanted that, it was not my intention to cause you any sorrow.
Sorrow means great sadness, or a very sad situation. And now, few words about the verb ‘cause’. I never meant to cause you any sorrow.
So you can cause someone something. For instance:
This situation caused me a lot of trouble.
You can cause something:
Who caused this delay?
You can cause something for somebody:
The drought causes problems for farmers.
You can cause something to somebody:
The loud noise caused a headache to him.
Finally, you can cause something or somebody to do something, like in this sentence:
The alarming news caused her to rethink her travel plans.
Two. I only want to see you bathing in the purple rain – I only want to draw attention to the word ‘bathing’. ‘To bathe’ – to wash something with water, usually your body, or: to give a bath to somebody, for instance to a baby.
To have a bath and to take a bath are synonyms, they have the same meaning. To have a bath is used in British English, to take a bath in American English. One example sentence:
Every evening, she likes to bathe to relax before bed.
Three. Baby, I could never steal you from another – I love this line, the way Prince sang it was just… Just like the whole song. He put everything into singing. I mean, the way he interpreted lyrics was… uhm… heart stopping. But I’m digressing. The verb. To steal. It’s an irregular verb: steal – stole – stolen.
Have you ever had anything stolen?
I had my phone stolen.
Next phrase:
Four. It’s such a shame our friendship had to end – such a shame. Shame. In other words ‘pity’. It’s such a pity. Shame is used to say that something is a cause for feeling sad or disappointed. If a shame is really great you can say: a crying shame:
It would be a crying shame not to take the opportunity.
It’s a shame about Ana, isn’t it?
What a shame they couldn’t come.
Five. Honey I know, I know, I know times are changing – if the situation is changing use present continuous.
Times are changing.
The prices are growing.
The trends are shifting.
Six. It’s time we all reach out for something new – to reach out for something is to move forward or upward in order to touch something. Here it’s about moving on in a metaphorical way, reaching out for something new in life. Naw plans, new life. A very common phrasal verb I’d like you to refresh now is to reach out to someone. It means to show somebody that you are interested in them and want to help them. Another meaning is to simply contact someone in order to get help. Few examples:
Reach out to family when you need emotional support.
The organization reaches out to marginalized communities with support.
Seven. But you can’t seem to make up your mind – to make up your mind. This means to make a decision. To decide. To make a final decision after a period of consideration. For instance:
Can you make up your mind on the movie so we can buy tickets?
He finally made up his mind to take the new job offer.
That’s it! These were seven expressions from ‘Purple Rain’ by Prince. Now it’s time for you to speak some English. Listen and repeat the sentences I’ve already said during the episode. You’ll hear them again right now and say them out loud.
This situation caused me a lot of trouble.
The alarming news caused her to rethink her travel plans.
Every evening, she likes to bathe to relax before bed.
Have you ever had anything stolen?
It would be a crying shame not to take the opportunity.
It’s a shame about Ana, isn’t it?
The prices are growing.
The trends are shifting.
Reach out to family when you need emotional support.
Can you make up your mind on the movie so we can buy tickets?
He finally made up his mind to take the new job offer.
Find the song and listen to it, try to sing along with the song lyrics. Or better yet: the first time you play the song just listen to it and try to catch all the phrases we’ve learned here today.
I hope you enjoyed today’s class! If you did please help me get my message across to other people who need English. You can give me 5 stars in Spotify, write a review in iTunes, comment on YouTube, leave thumbs up. I love you, I believe in you, I know you can be fluent in English if you really want it.
Don’t forget to download the Worksheet. If you’re a member of TOPeople you already get my newsletter with the pdfs. If not, go and grab it at teacherola.com/248.
I’ll be back next week. Stay fearless, say it out loud and take care! I’m your teacher, Teacher Ola, and you were listening to Teacher Ola Podcast. Bye for now.