Song: Yesterday
Year: 1965
Artist: The Beatles
Album: Help
Language Focus: Verb Tenses
Episode Description
It’s hard to believe, but this is the final episode of “English as a Singing Language” in 2024! In this episode of the podcast, we’re hanging out in a coffee shop, discussing the ups and downs of the past year. This naturally leads to a discussion about past tense verbs in the Beatles 1965 song, “Yesterday.” Check out this episode for some fun grammar and interesting conversation.
🎶Until 2025, have fun and…just keep singing!🎶
Episode Transcript
<intro>
E: Hi! I’m Ece.
H: And I’m Heather.
E: Welcome to the final episode of English as a Singing Language for 2024!
H: This year has gone by so quickly!
E: I know! I can’t believe that there are only a few days left in this year.
H: So, I bet we have a big song for this episode.
E: We do! In fact, this song has been voted both, “the best song of the 20th century” and “the number one pop song of all time.”
H: Wow! Ok, let me think…Oh! I bet I know!
E: I can give you another hint. This band is so popular, we’ve already done two episodes using their songs.
H: I knew it! It’s a Beatles song!
E: It is! And not only that, but we’re going to be talking about verb tenses in this song.
H: The Beatles AND grammar? Oh my gosh! I can’t wait!
E: Me neither.
H: Let’s get started!
<end intro>
E: <humming Beatles song, “Yesterday”>
H: Hi Ece! Hello! Ece!
E: Oh! Hi Heather!
H: Wow! You were really lost in thought. You know the saying, “a penny for your thoughts”? That’s what I thought of just now. I’d love to know what you were thinking about. “A penny for your thoughts, Ece.”
E: That’s a useful saying. Well, I’m glad we decided to meet for coffee today, Heather. I got here early, ordered my coffee, and I’ve been sitting here looking out the window, thinking about everything that has happened this year.
H: You’re right. This has been quite a year.
E: Every year is so full of meaningful events, special people, challenges to overcome…
H: family and friends that we love, holidays, and yes, there are always difficulties to face.
E: So, I was thinking about all of that just now.
H: Hmmmmmm….that explains why you were humming that song!
E: Yes. The Beatles 1965 song, “Yesterday,” seemed like the perfect song for my end-of-the-year mood.
H: I agree. What do we know about the song, “Yesterday,” Ece?
E: Well, it was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
H: I heard that the melody for the song came to Paul McCartney in a dream.
E: Yes. And he had some trouble coming up with lyrics for the tune. Eventually, Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics while he was on a trip to Portugal in 1965.
H: In fact, Paul McCartney had this to say about the process he used to write the lyrics, <quote> “I started to develop the idea ... da-da da, yes-ter-day, sud-den-ly, fun-il-ly, mer-il-ly and Yes-ter-day, that's good. All my troubles seemed so far away. It's easy to rhyme those a's: say, nay, today, away, play, stay, there's a lot of rhymes and those fall in quite easily, so I gradually pieced it together from that journey. Sud-den-ly, and 'b' again, another easy rhyme: e, me, tree, flea, we, and I had the basis of it.”
E: That’s a great quote. And we love talking about the rhyming words in different songs.
H: Rhyming is part of what makes singing songs such a fun and easy way to learn a language.
E: I definitely agree.
H: Ok, so I feel like since the title of this song is, “Yesterday,” there are going to be some useful examples of verb tenses.
E: There are! Obviously, there are past tense verbs, but there are also good examples of how to contrast simple present with simple past.
H: And for listeners who enjoy songs that focus on verb tenses, you should check out our very first episode of the podcast: Season 1, Episode 1, Taylor Swift’s, “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
E: There’s also Season 2, Episode 5, “Fast Car,” by Tracy Chapman. That song focused on verb tenses, too.
H: Those are both great songs that have excellent examples of verb tenses.
E: So, in this song, the lyrics start, “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.”
H: We know you have to use simple past tense with an event that happened at a specific time in the past, and “yesterday,” is a specific time.
E: Just like last month,
H: last year,
E: Three months ago,
H: two years ago,
E: 10 minutes ago…
H: Yes! Those are all examples of specific times in the past. And for the singer, his troubles seemed - regular past tense -ed ending - so far away,
E: Uh-oh
H: Yeah, uh-oh is right since the next line is, “Now it looks as though they're here to stay.”
E: So, because they’re talking about “now,” they use the simple present, “looks” with the “s” ending because the subject is “it.”
H: And “they’re” refers to “the troubles” they are here to stay.
E: Ok, the next line is, “Oh, I believe in yesterday,” Again, the singer is talking about now, so the verb, believe, is in the simple present tense.
H: What do you think “the troubles” are, Ece?
E: Well, I would think that maybe it has to do with a romantic partner.
H: I have to agree. A lot of early Beatles songs were about love.
E: In fact, in Season 2, Episode 11, we used the Beatles song, “Eight Days a Week,” for our Valentine’s Day episode.
H + E: “Eight days a week, we lo-o-o-o-ve you!”
H: And don’t forget Season 1, Episode 15, was about another Beatles love song, “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
H + E: Can’t buy us love!!
E: Based on that, I think there’s a good chance the singer’s troubles are related to relationship problems.
H: Let’s find out! The next lines are, “Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be. There’s a shadow hanging over me.”
E: Ok. That doesn’t give us any more information about the difficulties he’s having, but there are some good verbs in those lines.
H: The adverb, “suddenly” shows a change from the past to now in the present, right?
E: Yes. And now he is only half the man he used to be.
H: Eeesh! That sounds terrible. And he uses the present progressive tense, “There is a shadow hanging” over him.
E: Like there’s a dark cloud over him. It is happening right now, so he uses “is hanging.” Then he sings, “Oh, yesterday came suddenly.”
H: Irregular past tense of the verb! “Yesterday came suddenly.”
E: Do we still think it’s a relationship breakup, Heather?
H: That’s still my guess.
E: Maybe the next lines will tell us more. The next line is, “Why she had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say.”
H: Ah-hah! So it was a relationship problem. She “had to go” in the past.
E: But he, “doesn’t know” now, present tense.
H: And she wouldn’t say, at that time in the past, past tense.
E: How about the next line, “I said something wrong,” using the past tense of “say.”
H: The line continues, “Now I long for yesterday.” Since it is “now” the verb “long for” is in the present.
E: What does it mean “to long for” something?
H: If you long for something, it is an extremely strong desire like, it is all you can think about.
E: For example, I could say, “I long for the day when the world is at peace.”
H: Me too. Or I might say, “I long for the day I can retire and travel the world.
E: So, as I see in our examples, it might be used when the thing you long for is not easy to achieve.
H: Or maybe even impossible.
E: Is there any more information about what happened in their relationship?
H: Not really. The next lines are, “Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play, now I need a place to hide away.”
E: That’s a terrible situation.
H: That’s true, but it’s a great example of how to use past and present tense verbs.
E: Yesterday, everything was going well, he was in love and he felt like love was an easy game to play.
H: But now he needs a place to hide away.
E: I imagine because he is sad and doesn’t want to see anyone.
H: Ok, so I guess this is a love song.
E: Definitely a breakup song though, not a happy love song.
H: But it’s a breakup song with great present and past-tense verb practice!
E: That’s looking on the bright side! And you know what? I think we’re ready to sing!
H: Me too! Listeners, there is a link to the official YouTube version of “Yesterday,” by the Beatles in the episode notes.
E: Make sure to pay attention to the verb tenses as you sing along.
H + E: Oh we believe in yesterday…
<outtro>
H: I’m so glad we got together to have coffee and chat today.
E: Me too. It was great to talk about all the things that happened this year.
H: The amazing, wonderful, happy things!
E: And the things that were a little more challenging.
H: You’re right. Some of our yesterdays this year were harder than others.
E: But one thing I always look forward to is working on the podcast with you.
H: Me too! We’ve already spent quite a few yesterdays creating podcast episodes.
E: And I’m already looking forward to the tomorrows we’ll spend making the new episodes in the new year.
H: Listeners, if you haven’t done so already this year, make sure to follow us on Instagram.
E: Also be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen.
H: You can listen to English as a Singing Language on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on our YouTube channel.
E: We hope you had many happy yesterdays this year.
H: And we wish you many happy tomorrows in the new year!
E: Until next year, have fun and…
H + E: …just keep singing!!!
Dodd, Vikram. “Sounds of Yesterday Triumph in Poll of Century's Best Songs, The Guardian, April 2, 1999, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/apr/03/vikramdodd.
Miles, Barry. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now (Henry Holt & Company, 1997), 204.
This Day in Music, “‘Yesterday’ the Most Covered Song of All Time, This Day in Music, June 26, 2018, https://www.thisdayinmusic.com/liner-notes/yesterday/
Official YouTube Video
Complete Lyrics
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Why she had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday, mmm-mmmm-mmmm-mmmm-mmm-mmm-mmm
Songwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
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