After going to the Cats musical in Istanbul, my student O. and I learned her favorite song 'Memory' as part of our private English lesson at a café near İstiklal. We read the song lyrics and sang the song together, pausing to practice the new vocabulary:
• Verbs:
☆ fade away, yavaş yavaş yok olmak
☆ moan, inlemek
☆ mutter, mırıldanmak
☆ burn out, kendini tüketmek
☆ dawn on, Kafama dank etti
☆ marginalize dışlanmak
• Nouns:
☆ dawn...dusk, seher...alacakaranlık
☆ sunrise...sunset, güneş doğduğu zaman...güneş battığı zaman
☆ sunlight, güneş ışığı
☆ moonlight, ay ışığı
☆ lamplight
☆ gutter çukur, keriş
☆ margin
• Adjectives:
☆ stale, bayat
☆ smoky, tüten
Next, I ask her what she thinks the song means:
The cat was marginalized from the society of cats. The cat is in the gutter, or margins. The flowers whither and die. The light fades away.
Finally, we have a free response practice of the new vocabulary. Here are some of her sentences:
• Rubbish is in the gutter.
• My work burns me out.
• I don't eat stale simit.
• I am sleeping at dawn.
• Get your mind out of the gutter!
• It just dawned on me that I didn't smoke today.
• I like faded blue jeans.
• I can feel the time fade away with you.
• When I have a headache, I moan.
• My boyfriend mutters when he is in traffic.
Here are the lyrics:
Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan
Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile of the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember
The time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again
Every street lamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters and the street lamp sputters
And soon it will be morning
Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin
Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
A street lamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning
Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with my memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day has begun
• Verbs:
☆ fade away, yavaş yavaş yok olmak
☆ moan, inlemek
☆ mutter, mırıldanmak
☆ burn out, kendini tüketmek
☆ dawn on, Kafama dank etti
☆ marginalize dışlanmak
• Nouns:
☆ dawn...dusk, seher...alacakaranlık
☆ sunrise...sunset, güneş doğduğu zaman...güneş battığı zaman
☆ sunlight, güneş ışığı
☆ moonlight, ay ışığı
☆ lamplight
☆ gutter çukur, keriş
☆ margin
• Adjectives:
☆ stale, bayat
☆ smoky, tüten
Next, I ask her what she thinks the song means:
The cat was marginalized from the society of cats. The cat is in the gutter, or margins. The flowers whither and die. The light fades away.
Finally, we have a free response practice of the new vocabulary. Here are some of her sentences:
• Rubbish is in the gutter.
• My work burns me out.
• I don't eat stale simit.
• I am sleeping at dawn.
• Get your mind out of the gutter!
• It just dawned on me that I didn't smoke today.
• I like faded blue jeans.
• I can feel the time fade away with you.
• When I have a headache, I moan.
• My boyfriend mutters when he is in traffic.
Here are the lyrics:
Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan
Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile of the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember
The time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again
Every street lamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters and the street lamp sputters
And soon it will be morning
Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I mustn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin
Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
A street lamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning
Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with my memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is
Look, a new day has begun