ESLSongs

Practise the verb TO BE in the ESL classroom with this exhilarating EDM song, “Fireball” by Alan Smith Robertson. This song contains 22 different uses of the verb TO BE in the present simple and past simple tenses, and in affirmative, negative and interrogative forms.

This song comes with a PDF which you can download below, and is also available on Spotify as well as on Youtube. If you do not have access to either of these streaming services you can also download the song in mp3 format. To see other suggestions on how to use this song in class, click here.

Lyrics

VERSE 1
All our energy’s depleted
We were abandoned by our own
This is our last stand, we’re defeated
But there is nowhere else to go

PRE-CHORUS
I am on your side
We’re in the firing line
It is time to fight
We are one tonight

CHORUS
I’m a fireball
You are the spark that lights me up
Fireball

VERSE 2
There’s a part of me still warring
A part I had to leave behind
They asked me: “are you really dying?”
They said that God was on our side

PRE-CHORUS
It is time to fight
We are one tonight

CHORUS
I’m a fireball
You are the spark that lights me up
Fireball

BRIDGE
We aren’t the leaders of the future
They are not coming to save us
We are not destined to survive
They aren’t on our side
Is it our time to die?

CHORUS
I’m a fireball
You are the spark that lights me up
Fireball

OUTRO
Are we dead yet?
Or am I still alive?

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Choose your students’ language to download the appropriate worksheet in PDF: Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish.

Look at the pronouns and the verbs in the list below. Can you match them?

Pronouns: I, it, there, they, this, we, you
The verb “to be”: ‘m, am, ‘re, are, aren’t, are, not, is, was, were

Read the song lyrics below and try to put the pronouns and the verbs from the first exercise into the correct gaps. Then listen to the song to check your answers.

All our energy’s depleted
¹____________ abandoned by our own
²____________ our last stand, ³____________ defeated
But ⁴____________ nowhere else to go

⁵____________ on your side
⁶____________ in the firing line
⁷____________ time to fight
⁸____________ one tonight

CHORUS
⁹__________ a fireball
¹⁰__________ the spark that lights me up

¹¹____________ a part of me still warring
A part I had to leave behind
They asked me: ¹²____________ really dying?
They said that God ¹³______ on our side

¹⁴____________ time to fight
¹⁵____________ one tonight

¹⁶____________ the leaders of the future
¹⁷__________________ coming to save us
¹⁸__________________ destined to survive
¹⁹__________________ on our side
²⁰____________ our time to die?

²¹____________ dead yet?
Or ²²____________ still alive?