ENGLISH & MUSIC: 40 Years ON THE RUN

It's no secret that the music of The Beatles has been very influential in helping English Users learn the language. And it's a trend that has continued for decades all across the world.

In fact, it's hard to believe that 40 years ago Paul McCartney had already broken up with The Beatles and was enjoying success with his second band Wings.

Perhaps one of the most famous songs from Wings, was one titled "Band of the Run".

The song tells the lighthearted story of an imaginary band that was sent to prison, but manages to break out and escape

The music starts up slow and sad and ends up beat and happy, all with varying musical moments, characteristic of something written by a former Beatle. And of course, it has the signature voice of Sir Paul himself.

If you've never heard it before, here is your chance. It's also a chance to continuing improving your English with the music of this talented musician born in Liverpool seven decades ago.

So, English Users, we invite you to practice your English as you WATCH the following special 40th Anniversary LYRIC VIDEO of the Song "Band of the Run" with cool graphics that shows the WORDS of the song as it progresses!



When you finish, we invite you to follow up, by learning some language aspects of the lyrics.

Stuck inside these four walls,
Sent inside forever,
Never seeing no one
Nice again like you,
Mama you, mama you. 

• Omitting the SUBJECT: Notice they say "Stuck inside these four walls", not "I'm stuck inside these four walls".  Or "Never seeing no one", instead of "I'm never seeing no one". In a song or poem, it's perfectly acceptable to do that, because it's clear the writer is speaking about himself. This would not be acceptable in formal writing or in some cases of oral communication. So the sentence begins with the MAIN VERB, which can either be a past participle (stuck, sent) or a present participle (seeing)

If I ever get out of here,
Thought of giving it all away
To a registered charity.
All I need is a pint a day
If I ever get outta here
If we ever get outta of here

• Omitting the SUBJECT: Once again in"Thought of giving it all away", instead of "I've thought of giving it all away". 
• Pint: This is British slang for beer because it is standard measure for how beer is served in the U.K. So basically, Paul is telling us -when he's still in jail- that he will give all his stuff away to a charity after he gets out of jail. All he needs to survive is one beer a day.
• Get outta here: Paul McCartney knows that formally, it should say "out of here", but in songwriting and poetry, it's perfectly acceptable to spell certain words more as they sound than as they are spelled.

Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash
As we fell into the sun,
And the first one said to the second one there
I hope you're having fun. 

• "Prison Break" Metaphor: It's interesting that in the song they never explain that they escape from prison literally. But clearly "Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash as well fell into the sun" is a metaphor for the band breaking out of jail and seeing sunlight for the first time in ages. 
• First one, second one? Some Beatle experts say this part makes reference to The Beatles breaking up and the first one is John Lennon, while the second one is Paul McCartney. And while that may be true, it's not obvious and is therefore irrelevant to the ongoing story. For most listeners, the first one and the second one are two of the guys that just got out of jail and presumably are enjoying the experience. Unless of course, being stuck in The Beatles started to feel like... being stuck in jail. Experts are free to comment!

Band on the run, band on the run.
And the jailer man and sailor Sam
Were searching every one
For the band on the run,
Band on the run
Band on the run,
Band on the run. 

• Jailer Man: That's a prison guard
• Sailor Sam: a character from the classic British kids comic Rupert Bear, who was mostly likely included here because it rhymes.
• It's clear both have been ordered to search for the ... Band on the run!

Well, the undertaker drew a heavy sigh
Seeing no one else had come,
And a bell was ringing in the village square
For the rabbits on the run.

• Undertaker: That's a person whose job it is to deal with burying the dead and arranging the funeral.
• draw a sigh: to take in and let out a long, loud breath in a way that shows you are bored, disappointed or relieved.
• Clearly, Mr. Undertaker was disappointed because he was waiting for the Band on the Run to be caught and executed. But just like rabbits, the renegade musicians ran fast and were able to escape their date with justice.

Band on the run,
Band on the run.
And the jailer man and sailor Sam
Were searching every one
For the band on the run,
Band on the run

• Jailer Man and Sailor man are still searching ...

Yeah the band on the run,
Band on the run
Band on the run
Band on the run

Well, the night was falling as the desert world
Began to settle down.
In the town they're searching for us everywhere
But we never will be found.

• Happy Ending: The day is ending, the story is ending and the good guys have escaped.

Band on the run,
Band on the run.
And the county judge who held a grudge
Will search for evermore
For the band on the run,
Band on the run
Band on the run
Band on the run

• Hold a grudge: is when you cannot forgive someone for something they have done to you
• Epilogue: So for the county judge, the Band on the Run's escape is a personal matter. He will search for them until the end of time.

Writing in Style

If you're an English User that has to write a lot in English, then you might believe that you need to know all or most of the rules about writing.

In some cases, there are people who really do learn those rules, but don't worry if you are not one of them.

Why not? Because there are style guides.

What is a style guide?




A style guide is a document that is created by expert writers, editors, managers, or producers to determine how they expect a writer to deal with specific writing issues. Among these we can name the following:

• grammar issues
  
• spelling issues
  
• formatting issues
  
• general writing recommendations
  

A grammar issue could be related to punctuation, use of contractions or even if a certain text should be written in past or present tense. Spelling issues often revolve around whether to use the American or British spelling for words.We recommend the one that is most common for your readers, organization or field.

There might also be formatting issues related to what font to use for a specific section of the document, report of blog. (Such as this one) And of course, there are always writing considerations regarding the use of jargon or words that are only used by people in a common field. (doctors, accountants, lawyers, etc)

In business, there are style guides for all types of writing, including emails, reports and business plans. There are also endless guides for academic writers for research papers and special academic documents. And naturally, there are style guides for periodical journal writers such as journalists, columnists and bloggers.

If you are a business or non-business writer of English as a second language for your organization or for other purposes, it is probably a good idea to develop a manual of style. In other words, you should determine what common elements appear in the writing that need to have specific rules in order to keep the writing consistent and professional to the reader.

• Spelling
• Format
• Line Spacing
• Paragraph Style
• Editorial Style (formal, technical, fun, young audience, etc)
• Text Style
• Use of images
• Referencing the work of others

Perhaps one of the best known style guides in the academic world is the Chicago Manual of Style. It is considered by most writers and editors to be among the most complete. And its style recommendations are useful to non-academic writers as well.

Below is a short video describing what the Chicago Manual of Style is about.




However, there are many more options online that are available to writers. Here is a list of some of them:



American Style Guides

• Garbl's Editorial Style Manual
  Developed by editor and activist Gary B. Larson, this concise guide offers "writing and editing advice about abbreviations, addresses, capitalization, English grammar, numbers, organization terminology, plurals, possessives, punctuation, spelling, word usage, and the World Wide Web."


• National Geographic Style Manual
  Online since 1995 and frequently updated by a team of editors, this is an alphabetically arranged guide to "preferred National Geographic Society style and usage."


• The Tameri Guide for Writers: Generalized Stylebook
  Maintained by Susan D. Schnelbach and Christopher Scott Wyatt, the Tameri Stylebook is "based on the Associated Press Stylebook, which is the primary style guide for reporters and editors at daily newspapers and many periodicals."


• Wikipedia: Manual of Style
  This style guide for all Wikipedia articles is intended to help editors "write articles with consistent, clear, and precise language, layout, and formatting."

 
British Style Guides Online

• The BBC News Styleguide (pdf)
  Written by John Allen, a BBC reporter and editor for the past 40 years, this popular manual "is not a 'do and don't' list but a guide that invites you to explore some of the complexities of modern English usage."


• Economist.com Style Guide
  John Grimond's online guide is based on the style book followed by journalists at The Economist magazine. The 10th revised edition of the hardback version of the guide was published in 2012.


• The Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk Style Guide
  Edited by David Marsh and Amelia Hodsdon, this is the online version of Guardian Style. The third edition of this witty handbook was published in December 2010.


• Telegraph Style Book
  Augmented by monthly "style notes" from associate editor Simon Heffer, this is the "official guide to house style" for The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, and Telegraph.co.uk.

RAPPING about DO and MAKE

Make or do? Do or make?
Thinking about it will make your brain ache.
- Fluency MC


The challenge of learning to use DO or MAKE can be a daunting one. Daunting enough to give you a headache.

Unless...




Unless you're learning it through the Fluency MC's fun rap song about the different ways to use the two often-confused verbs. In fact, super fun English teacher Fluency MC (aka Jason R. Levine) frequently uses collocations (or collos) - which are small chunks of language commonly used together - in order to help us learn authentic use of language. And he usually presents his lessons as fun and catchy rap songs so that what we learn, sticks!

So for today's post, we invite all our English Users to check out the Fluency MC's rap song about DO and MAKE. First, view it and enjoy the first time. When you finish, make note of the collocations he uses (shown in bold letters below) that are new to you. Then, view the video a second time and focus more on listening and think about what he says, then about reading.

And finally, answer the following questions:

1. Which of the things that Fluency MC says he does, do you usually DO?
2. Which of the things that Fluency MC says he does, do you usually MAKE?
3. Which of the things that Fluency MC says he does, did you DO this week?
4. Which of the things that Fluency MC says he does, did you MAKE this month?



Make or do? Do or make?
Thinking about it will make your brain ache.
Do yourself a favor. Give yourself a break.
Relax and Repeat, for Fluency’s sake.
I make sure to do my homework; then, I hit the sack.
I make a to-do list to stay on track.
I need to do a few errands; I’ll be right back.
Make yourself at home; be my guest; make a snack!

Do or make? Make or do?
If you’ve heard that they’re different, it’s not exactly true.
Many languages have one word, not two.
When you Collo, it’ll follow and make sense to you.
I make the bed in the morning and do laundry at night.
I don’t make fun of people-that’s impolite or
make a fist or do harm to someone in a fight.
I’d rather do good, make peace, and unite.
You’ve got to do your duty to make things right.
Let’s make a plan to eat out at this restaurant I know.
They make an excellent brunch; can you make time to go?
You’ll have the chance to make friends and make some conversation.
I can make a call now to make a reservation.
You’ll thank me for making such a great recommendation!

Do or make? Make or do?
If you’ve heard that they’re different, it’s not exactly true.
Many languages have one word, not two.
When you Collo, it’ll follow and make sense to you.
When I run out of food, I leave the house to do the shopping.
I do chores like the vacuuming, the sweeping and the mopping.
I’ll make a gourmet dinner and also do the dishes.
On birthdays we make cakes, light candles, and make wishes.

Do or make? Make or do?
If you’ve heard that they’re different, it’s not exactly true.
Many languages have one word, not two.
When you Collo, it’ll follow and make sense to you.
Do research; do experiments; develop your vision.
Make a promise to yourself that when you make a decision,
you’ll make a point to do it well, and then
you’ll make a commitment to do it just as well again.
Try to do good deeds and make a goal to do your best,
though you’re sure to make mistakes or even make a big mess.
To make progress, make great effort. That’s the key.
Make a choice to learn the truth and it will set you free.
Do the math. Make it last.

Peace, Fluency MC.

Enjoy other Fluency MC songs and be sure to give him a like on Facebook.