ESLSongs

Practise indefinite pronouns such as somebody, anyone, nothing, everywhere… etc. in the ESL classroom with this beautiful folk song, Lie la Lie by Alan Smith Robertson (on Spotify, published under the stagename Grumpy Old Man).

The lyrics of this song contain all the indefinite pronouns: somebody, someone, something, somewhere, anybody, anyone, anything, anywhere, nobody, no-one, nothing, nowhere, everybody, everyone, everything & everywhere.

This song comes with a PDF worksheet 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

In the bar someone’s trying to drown his sorrows
Everyone ignores him and his tears
And he sees that nobody cares at all
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie

Now we’re lost somewhere in this old city
Everywhere you look is all the same
In the silence somebody screams aloud
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie

I don’t love anybody at all
I can live with myself, I’ve got nowhere to go
And I feel something in my despair
no matter how much I try I can’t go anywhere

I didn’t get anything I wanted
But I have everything I need
When nothing’s left to fill my emptiness
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

Try to guess which indefinite pronouns go in each gap. Then listen to the song to check.
Sometimes more than one indefinite pronoun is possible.

In the bar ¹____________’s trying to drown his sorrows
²____________ ignores him and his tears
And he sees that ³____________ cares at all
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie

Now we’re lost ⁴____________ in this old city
⁵____________ you look is all the same
In the silence ⁶____________ screams aloud
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie

I don’t love ⁷____________ at all
I can live with myself, I’ve got ⁸____________ to go
And I feel ⁹____________ in my despair
No matter how much I try I can’t go ¹⁰____________

I didn’t get ¹¹____________ I wanted
But I have ¹²____________ I need
When ¹³____________’s left to fill my emptiness
Lie la lie, lie la lie la lie