It was about time to listen to this Bobby McFerrin’s classic hit from the late 80´s, that was the first a capella song to reach the number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1988.
I´m pretty sure that you have heard this song many times, especially if you were born in the 70´s-80´s but I also think that you may have not noticed the lack of any musical instruments on it. In fact, the only instrument used to record this song is Bobby´s McFerrin voice, as well as different sounds made by him with his fingers and mouth.
It has a quite simple and positive message, encouraging people to face their problems instead of worrying about them, and the chorus of the song is inspired in Meher Baba´s (an Indian mystic) words: “Don´t worry, be happy”.
The lyrics are quite easy to understand but I´m sure that you can learn some new vocabulary from this song.
As usual, follow these steps to take the lesson:
1- Download the lyrics sheet, and go to pages 1-2 where you will find the song´s lyrics with some missing words (gaps).
2- Click this video and listen to the song while you try to fill the gaps with the words that you hear. I recommend listening at least twice to the song.
3- Check your results going to page 3 where you will find the whole lyrics of the song.
4- Take a look at the vocabulary below to understand every word of the song.
5- Listen again to the song,
without reading the lyrics and try to understand most of it.
WORKSHEET Don´t worry, be happy work sheet
VOCABULARY
To worry:
to think about problems or unpleasant things that might happen in a way that
makes you feel unhappy and frightened.
Note: a
single musical sound.
Trouble: problems
Ain´t: short informal form of am not, is not, is not, has
not or have not.
To lay:
to put something down somewhere. Sometimes is confused with to lie (to
put your body flat on something) because lay is also
the past simple form of to lie.
Landlord:
a man who owns the house that you live in and who you pay rent to.
To litigate:
to ask for a disagreement to be discussed in a court of law so that a judgment
can be made that must be accepted by both sides in the argument.
Cash:
money in form of coins and notes
Gal:
a woman or a girl (in British informal English)
´Cause: short informal form of because. Sometimes
it´s also written as cos or cuz.
To frown:
to bring your eyebrows together so that there are lines on your face above your
eyes showing that you are annoyed, worried, sad or thinking hard.
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