
Archive | audio
RSS feed for this sectionThis category will contain audio resources for learning English.
Here you can listen to native English speakers using everyday words and phrases in English as a teaching tool.

Heroes – David Bowie
Here’s another song, this one from the late , great, David Bowie. This is perhaps Bowie’s most-recognised and -used song, although on its release in 1977 it did well, but was not a chart-topper. The song was inspired by an illicit affair one of Bowie’s cohorts was involved in, and of course, the The Wall […]

The North Star
Fall On Me – R.E.M.
This is a song I love, almost despite myself. It’s by 1980s college-radio-band cum stadium rockers REM. The lyrics may not make prosaic sense, but the melody is gorgeous, innit? Listen up, read along in your own language, and enjoy! There’s a problem, feathers, iron Bargain buildings, weights and pulleys Feathers hit the ground before […]

The Shepherd and the Sheep
The Shepherd and the Sheep Once there was a shepherd. Every night he counted and gathered his sheep. He was sure never to overlook any of them. One night, he saw some wild sheep had joined his herd. He hoped to acquire the newcomers. It snowed that night. In the morning, the shepherd couldn’t take […]
Song of the Years – Dave Dobbyn
Here’s another song, this one from the prominent New Zealand singer and songwriter Dave Dobbyn. This is Dobbyn’s brilliant version of a poem by another great New Zealander, James K. Baxter . The powerful auto-biographical song touches on two themes Baxter returned to over and again – Catholicism, and alcoholism. Have a listen, read along […]

The Avalanche
The Avalanche Randy was a forest ranger. Because of his job, he was secluded in a cabin in the wilderness. One day, the radio reported, “Convection in the atmosphere is causing a lot of clouds to form. A serious storm . . . ” Suddenly, the radio went silent. The signal was lost. He went […]

The Dragon
The Dragon An evil dragon lived in a castle in the remote southern mountains. One day the monster landed in a town. The dragon commanded the people, “Give me food now, or I will eat you!” The dragon lifted its wings so that its lungs could be completely filled with hot steam, and breathed it […]
Navigator – The Pogues
Here’s another song, with lyrics, included for no other reason than that I love it. That, and the lyrics are clearly sung and easy to understand, and for the sheer poetry in them. I especially like this couplet; The supply of an Empire where the sun never set Which is now deep in darkness, but […]
The Goal – Leonard Cohen
This is from Leonard Cohen’s posthumous album Thanks for the Dance,produced by his son, Adam Cohen. The album was released on November 22, 2019. It features tracks recorded by Leonard Cohen during the sessions for his last album before his death in 2016. First heard on Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast Broken Record. I can’t leave my […]