📙 Part 2: Describe a line (or a few words) that you remember from a poem or song

You should say: what it is, which song or poem it is from, wow you knew it, and explain how you feel about it.

This episode's vocabulary

Anthem (noun) - a song that has special importance for a particular group of people, an organization, or a country, often sung on a special occasion.

Someone wouldn’t be caught dead (idiom) - someone dislikes something very much.

De facto (adj.) - existing in fact, although perhaps not intended, legal, or accepted.

To appeal (verb) - to interest or attract someone.

To glorify (verb) - to praise and honour God or a person.

To pinpoint (verb) - to find out or say the exact position in space or time of something.

Vaguely (adverb) - not clearly expressed, known, described, or decided.

Be/get carried away (phrase) - to become so excited about something that you do not control what you say or do.

To evoke (verb) - to make someone remember something or feel an emotion.

To stoke (verb) - encourage or incite (a strong emotion or tendency).

Impoverished (adj.) - very poor.

Questions and Answers

R: Well, I quite like some of the phrasing in Scotland the Brave. It's not an official national anthem or anything, since we're in the UK. This is actually God Save The King. Although I doubt many Scottish people wouldn't be caught dead singing that. Instead, it serves as a sort of de facto national song, along with a few others that people use in sports marches or, sorry, sports matches, and political rallies. There's a particular line in it which is "land of my heart forever, Scotland the brave", which I find quite inspiring, especially when it's set to music. I like national anthems like that which appeal to the country as a whole, working at its finest and best, as opposed to songs which sort of glorify specific individuals. A country isn't a person, in my opinion, it's the people that live there. So that line fits with this idea perfectly. I can't pinpoint a specific time when I came to know of the song. People have been singing it for decades, if not longer, and even if you don't learn it in school, you can pick it up from football crowds, for example. However, I vaguely remember learning it at school in music lessons a really long time ago now. The music that it gets set to has a regular beat that's easy to follow, and it's not a million miles long, like God Save The King, which makes it easier to remember as well. It's a funny experience when you sing the song, at least for me, since even though I'm not a musical person, I really get into singing that song, when it does get sung at different events. It's easy to get carried away by it, which I suppose is the idea to evoke or stoke national pride in people. If I'd never heard it. I think my experience of national anthems would be pretty impoverished. Though, of course, as a Scottish nationalist, I would say that, wouldn't I?

M: And what about your friends? Do they like the song?

R: Um, I haven't heard them complaining about it.

Discussion

M: Scotland the Brave. Okay, I'm googling. Dear listener, you should listen to the song, okay? Scotland the Brave.

R: It's a good song.

M: Oh, dear listener, it's very cute that Rory told us about his Scottish song. But you can describe a line from any song.

R: I feel like people know their national anthems best, though, and you can use this expression, national anthem.

M: Or it could be from a Rihanna song.

R: Yes, also.

M: Or a line from, you know, Baby Shark... Baby shark... Oh, yeah, I know a line from a song, Baby Shark.

R: Got to be a song that you like, though. I think everyone hates that song.

M: Yeah. But if you go to YouTube, this song, Baby Shark has how many billion views?

R: Yes, I don't know if that's an indication of the quality, though, but it does, actually, I've misinterpreted the task. It says a song that you remember, but I suppose that would count then.

M: So you can say that I quite like the phrasing in... Song. So you like the phrases, you like the words. So maybe you have a national song or your national anthem, and you like this particular line or these particular phrases. So you can say that I like the phrasing in... Song. It's an official national anthem, or it's not an official national anthem. It's just like a song that is popular in your country, or again, dear listener, it could be any song. It could be the Beatles. Love, love me do, you know I love you. Maybe yesterday, you like the Beatles. Yesterday, all my troubles seem so far away. Ah? Beautiful, huh? Paul McCartney. Hello, Paul, if you're listening to this podcast.

R: Please sponsor us.

M: Yeah.

R: You know the drill. Give us that sponsorship money.

M: We can, we can sing the Beatles songs. No problem. It serves as a national song for Scottish people. And the song is called Scotland the Brave. Yeah. And there is a particular line in it which goes like this. Land of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave. Aw... And could you could just sing it, Rory? Like, how does it go? Land...

R: Of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave. So it's kind of like that regular beat.

M: Oh, you see? Very cute. Like, it's about my country. Like the land of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave. Wow. Brave Scotland. Yeah, dear listener, have you seen this film with Mel Gibson? Braveheart? Huh? It's about Scotland. Go watch Braveheart with Mel Gibson. Maybe he sings this song.

R: I don't think he does. The song's not that old.

M: I find this song quite inspiring. So it inspires me. And I find this line inspiring. So the music is nice.

R: So if we find something, it's not like, oh, I found it. It's, I understand it like this.

M: So this song glorifies the country. So this song kind of is about the country as a whole. So it appeals to the country as a whole, not just one person. I don't remember a specific time when I came to know of the song. So if you don't remember when you found the song, you can say, I can't really pinpoint a specific time. So I can't really say when I found the song, or I can't really pinpoint a specific time when I knew about the song, or when I came to know of the song. So I came to know of the song at a birthday party or at school, or I don't know, in a taxi. Or when I went to Turkey, to an all-exclusive hotel, everybody was singing, Baby Shark... Baby shark... And this is the only line from a song that I remember. Again, why not, dear listener? Baby shark. And then like, mommy shark...

R: I feel like the song about the people working at their best is much better than Baby Shark.

M: People have been singing this song for decades. So for many years, people have been singing it. Present Perfect Continues. Maybe I learned it at school, or maybe I picked it up from my friends. So if you heard your friends singing this song, you can say I picked it up from my friends. I heard it from my friends. You can also say that I vaguely remember learning it at school. So I don't remember learning it at school, or I kind of vaguely remember. I don't really remember. The music has a regular beat. So it's like Baby Shark... So this is a regular beat of the song. And that's easy to follow. So the music is easy to follow, so it's easy to sing along, which makes it easy to remember. And Baby Shark is definitely easy to follow, easy to remember. I am not a musical person, but I enjoy this song. So I'm not a musician, but I enjoy singing along. So when you sing along, you sing the song. I really get into singing that song. So when I hear the song, I get into singing. I just start singing. Yay, Rory. Come on, you kind of, give us some tunes. Give us some singing.

R: From the song?

M: Yeah. How does it go again?

R: Well, the start of it... Well, there's the...

M: The land of my heart.

R: No, it's more regular. So the chorus is always and it repeats about seven times, towering in gallant fame Scotland, my mountain hame. Hame is the Scottish word for home. I may your proud standards gloriously wave. A standard is like a flag for a country.

M: You should sing. Rory, you should sing, like...

R: I know. But people must understand the words.

M: Ah, okay, okay.

R: So then we've got land of my high endeavour, land of the shining river, land of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave.

M: Aw...

R: So now that we've explained what the chorus is, I will now sing the chorus. Towering in gallant fame. Scotland my mountain hame. I may your proud standards gloriously wave. Land of my high endeavour, land of the shining river, land of my heart forever, Scotland the Brave.

M: Oh... Oh, dear listener, so cute. You see? Yeah, you might tell a story about a song from your country. Okay? Do you have it? That everybody knows of? And this song is like very popular, yeah? So all Scottish people know this song? And sing along, right?

R: I think most people probably know the words. They might not know every single verse, but they definitely know the words to the chorus.

M: It does get sung at different events. So people sing it at different events, Scottish people and English people don't sing it, they sing something else.

R: Well, they might sing it if they're feeling friendly.

M: Yeah. So you can say like, this song gets sung, sung by people. Sing, sang, sung. So it gets sung at different events, or people sing it at different events. It's easy to get carried away by the song. So you start singing, and then you forget, oh, everything, and you forget where you're from and what you're doing. So it's easy to get carried away. And it evokes national pride in Scottish people, because the song is very patriotic. It's about Scotland the Brave. So it evokes, evokes national pride in Scottish people. And now, Rory's showtime.

R: Yes, it's the part of the episode where I ask Maria questions about the grammar and vocabulary. You can follow along. So, to begin with Maria, I said that Scotland, the brave, is not the national anthem of my country. But I didn't say it's not the national anthem. I said something a little bit different.

M: It's not official national anthem or anything...

R: Or there was something else that I said that has a similar meaning.

M: It serves as a sort of de facto national song.

R: Yes, so there's de jure in law, and de facto is just in reality, this is what it is. And then I moved on to describe my feelings about it, and I said I found it and a particular emotion. But what was that emotion?

M: Inspiring. I feel inspired, or I find it quite inspiring.

R: Excellent. And then I moved on to describe a different song, God Save the King, which is a very long song, but I used a different expression to describe that.

M: It's not a million miles long.

R: Well, it is... If something is very long, then it is a million miles long. But if it's not a million miles long, then it's short. And then, towards the end, Maria, I used a particular grammar structure to show off my flexible pronunciation. What was that structure?

M: A tag, fancy band nine question. So you say, I would say that, wouldn't I? Or you say I would say that, wouldn't I?

R: Yes, going down. So not asking an actual question. We're going, we're going down to make it flat. I would say that, wouldn't I?

M: I would say that, wouldn't I, as a Scottish nationalist. I would say that, wouldn't I? Rory is a Scottish nationalist. What does it mean, Rory, to be a Scottish nationalist?

R: It just means that I don't want Scotland in the United Kingdom, I'd like us to be our own independent country.

M: Yes, dear listener. As you know, Scottish people want to be Scottish and English people want to be English. So they are kind of they are in Great Britain, but they are separate. Baby shark.

R: Yes, stick to Baby Shark. That's a lot less controversial.

M: Yeah, dear listener, so you should pick up a song that is popular in your country, or that is popular all over the world. I don't know, the Beatles, Rihanna. And choose a line. Or you can talk about a poem by Shakespeare. Or] maybe you learn something at school. Like your favourite poet. Yeah? In your country. And, um, describe a line from a poem, but you should be able to translate it into English. So if I were you, I'd pick an English song. All right? What are other popular songs these days? What do people listen to, Rory? You know?

R: I don't know, Lady Gaga brought out a new song. Does that count?

M: Oh... Yes, you can talk about Lady Gaga song, okay? And a line. Or again, just go for the Beatles.

R: If you know any Beatles songs, I don't. But on the subject of Beatles, it's time for us to scuttle off to part three.

M: Bye!

R: Bye!

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi