ESLSongs

Practice questions in your ESL class with this song, Are you lonesome tonight? by Elvis Presley. The interrogatives which appear in these song lyrics are: “are you…”, “do you…”, “does [it]…”, “do [they]…”, “is [it]…”, & “shall I…”.

There is a suggestion on how to use this song in your ESL classes below, but for more ideas, click here.

Lyrics

Are you lonesome tonight?
Do you miss me tonight?
Are you sorry we drifted apart?
Does your memory stray to a brighter sunny day
when I kissed you and called you sweetheart?
Do the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
Do you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?
Is your heart filled with pain?

Shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?

I wonder if you’re lonesome tonight
You know someone said that the world’s a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love with you as my sweet heart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your line so cleverly and never missed a cue
Then came act two, you seemed to change and you acted strange
And why I’ll never know.

Honey, you lied when you said you loved me
And I had no cause to doubt you.
But I’d rather go on hearing your lies
Than go on living without you.
Now the stage is bare and I’m standing there
with emptiness all around
And if you won’t come back to me
Then make them bring the curtain down.

Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again?
Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight?

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

In the first verse and at the end, fill the gaps in the song with an appropriate auxiliary verb: are, do, does, is or shall. Then listen to the song to check your answers. While you listen to the song, in the second verse choose the word that you hear.

¹__________ you lonesome tonight?
²__________ you miss me tonight?
³__________ you sorry we drifted apart?
⁴__________ your memory stray to a brighter sunny day
when I kissed you and called you sweetheart?
⁵__________ the chairs in your parlor seem empty and bare?
⁶__________ you gaze at your doorstep and picture me there?
⁷__________ your heart filled with pain?
⁸__________ I come back again?
Tell me dear, ⁹__________ you lonesome tonight?

I wonder if you’re lonesome tonight
You ¹⁰believe/know someone said that the world’s a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in ¹¹desire/love with you as my sweet heart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your line so ¹²cleverly/clearly and never missed a cue
Then came act two, you seemed to change and you acted strange
And why I’ll never ¹³ask/know.
Honey, you lied when you said you ¹⁴hated/loved me
And I had no cause to doubt you.
But I’d rather go on hearing your lies than go on living ¹⁵without/with you.
Now the stage is bare and I’m standing there with ¹⁶emptiness/spectators all around
And if you won’t come back to me then make them bring the curtain down.

¹⁷__________ your heart filled with pain, ¹⁸__________ I come back again?
Tell me dear, ¹⁹__________ you lonesome tonight?