ESLSongs

Practice the perfect modal verb “must have” in your ESL class with this song, The Day Before You Came by ABBA.

The lyrics of this song contain 18 examples of “must have”; I must have left, I must have read, I must have made, I must have gone, it must have rained, I must have lit… etc.

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

Lyrics

I must have left my house at eight because I always do
My train I’m certain left the station just when it was due
I must have read the morning paper going into town
And having gotten through the editorial no doubt I must have frowned
I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine
With letters to be read and heaps of papers waiting to be signed
I must have gone to lunch
at half past twelve or so, the usual place the usual bunch
And still on top of this I’m pretty sure it must have rained
The day before you came

I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past two
And at the time I never even noticed I was blue
I must have kept on dragging through the business of the day
Without really knowing anything I hid a part of me away
At five I must have left there’s no exception to the rule
A matter of routine I’ve done it ever since I finished school
The train back home again
Undoubtedly I must have read the evening paper then
Oh yes I’m sure my life was well within it’s usual frame
The day before you came

I must have opened my front door at eight o’clock or so
And stopped along the way to buy some Chinese food to go
I’m sure I had my dinner watching something on TV
There’s not I think a single episode of Dallas that I didn’t see
I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep and so I like to be in bed by then
I must have read a while
The latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style
It’s funny but I had no sense of living without aim
The day before you came

And turning out the light
I must have yawned and cuddled up for yet another night
And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain
The day before you came

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

In the lyrics of this song a woman is remembering what she did the day before she met the love of her life. The problem is that she can’t remember everything clearly, so she talks about the things that she “must have done”.

Look at the activities in the list. What order do you think the narrator must have done them in? go to bed / go to lunch / keep on dragging through the business of the day / leave my house / light my seventh cigarette / make my desk (make=arrive at) / rain / open my front door / read / read the evening paper / read the morning paper / yawn

For example: “First, she must have left her house. Then…”

Listen to the song and put the words in the list into the correct gaps.

I must have ¹_____________ my house at eight because I always do
My train I’m certain left the station just when it was due
I must have ²_____________ going into town
And having gotten through the editorial no doubt I must have frowned
I must have ³_____________ around a quarter after nine
With letters to be read and heaps of papers waiting to be signed
I must have ⁴_____________ at half past twelve or so the usual place the usual bunch
And still on top of this I’m pretty sure it must have ⁵_____________
The day before you came

I must have ⁶_____________ at half past two
And at the time I never even noticed I was blue
I must have ⁷_____________
Without really knowing anything, I hid a part of me away
At five I must have left there’s no exception to the rule
A matter of routine I’ve done it ever since I finished school
The train back home again undoubtedly I must have ⁸_____________ then
Oh yes I’m sure my life was well within it’s usual frame
The day before you came

I must have ⁹_____________ at eight o’clock or so
And stopped along the way to buy some Chinese food to go
I’m sure I had my dinner watching something on TV
There’s not I think a single episode of Dallas that I didn’t see
I must have ¹⁰_____________ around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep and so I like to be in bed by then
I must have ¹¹_____________ a while the latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style
It’s funny but I had no sense of living without aim
The day before you came

And turning out the light
I must have ¹²_____________ and cuddled up for yet another night
And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain
The day before you came