What makes a song great?

1 Read the question and the answers to it from a music forum. In pairs, say which ones you agree / disagree with and why.

I agree with...because...

I don’t agree with...because...

How do you know when you really like a song?

What makes a song great? Is it the tune, the lyrics or the beat, or is it a combination of all three? And how important is the identity of the musicians? Our readers told us.

Alli

I love strong lyrics. I often learn about myself from songs; I can hear my own experiences in some of the lyrics.

Marisa

I associate great songs with memories. Sometimes when I play a song that I haven’t heard in a long time, it transports me to another period of my life.

Max

I listen to certain songs when I’m sad and they comfort me. I love lyrics that tell a story, instead of songs with words that just go with the beat and don’t really have any meaning.

Ben

Social media interaction makes me feel closer to my favourite musicians. They often release and stream their new tracks or albums directly to their fans on social media.

Natalie I love songs that help me escape. I listen to pop, punk, rock, rap, soul... just about any genre. Music has been there for me in times of happiness, sadness, anger, fear and most importantly anxiety.

Annika

Upbeat music makes me feel happy and I love singing along with the chorus. I have lots of playlists of cheerful music that always improve my mood!

2. ...four nouns that refer to different elements of a song. _______________

3. ...a verb that means to play video, music etc. on a phone or computer directly from the internet. _______________

4. ...an adjective that means happy and positive. _______________

5. ...two nouns that refer to recorded music.

6. ...a verb that means to make something available so that people can buy, get or find it. _______________

7. ...a noun that refers to a particular style of literature, art, film or music.

8. ...a noun that refers to a type of online communication. _______________

LANGUAGE TOOLBOX VOCABULARY practice

3 Write a short answer to the question in exercise 1 that gives your opinion.

2 Use the words in bold from the forum to answer the questions. Find...

1. ...a noun that refers to a list of songs that you create to play. _______________

4 Discuss your answers to exercise 3. What are the similarities / differences?

Talking about similarities and differences

* What our opinions have in common is that...

* The most obvious similarity is that...

* An interesting similarity is that ...

* One important difference is that ...

* The most obvious difference is that ...

* Another important difference is that ...

5 Which songs do you remember from your childhood? Why do you think you remember these songs?

6 You are going to listen to a podcast that refers to the question in exercise 6. Listen to the first part and answer the questions.

podcast · about · subscribe · newsletter

EPISODE 156: The music of our lives

Studies suggest that the 1) ____________ we hear from our mid-teens until our early 2) ____________ become the playlist of our lives. Experts believe this is because during this period, we’re building our 3) ____________, developing our opinions and having new experiences and all of this activity is often connected to 4) ____________. Later in life, when we hear those songs again, they bring back 5) ____________ of that period. A New York Times article actually claimed that girls hear the songs that will be their 6) ____________ for all their lives at around 13 and boys at 14! Furthermore, we only use our ears when we enjoy a song. Therefore, as we listen, we can relax and use our 7) ____________ to connect our personal 8) ____________ with the lyrics and tune of a song.

1. What does the podcast offer?

8 What is your favourite song in your first language(s) at the moment? Write a short paragraph about this song for speakers of other languages on social media. Use the questions below to help you and add ideas of your own.

* What is the song title and who sings it?

* What genre is the song an example of?

2. Who are Demi Lovato and Luke Maskers?

* What are the lyrics about?

* Why do you like it?

* How does the song connect with your life?

3. Who sent questions to the podcast?

4. What does Carl Rodriquez want to know about the music we hear in our teens?

9 Upload your paragraph to an online music forum, website etc. for young people.

7 Listen to the second part of the podcast. Complete the information on the website for the podcast with one word in each gap.

* Check your spelling and grammar.

* Return to the forum, website etc. after a few weeks to see if anyone has commented on your entry.