ESLSongs

Revise multiple tenses, but especially the past simple in your ESL class with this song, Hotel California by Eagles. These song lyrics include 29 different verbs in 6 different tenses:

• past simple: saw, grew, had (x2), stood, heard (x2), could, lit, showed, were, thought, got (x2), called, said (x2), gathered
• past continuous: was thinking, was running
• present simple: is, calls (3rd person singular), dance (x3), wake you up, stab, are, they can’t kill, remember, you can check out, you can never leave
• present continuous: are calling, are living it up
• present perfect: we haven’t had
• imperative: bring, relax

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

Lyrics

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitis rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night

There she stood in the doorway, I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself “this could be heaven or this could be hell”
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say

Chorus
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year)
You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz
She’s got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain: “Please bring me my wine”
He said, “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969”
And still those voices are calling from far away
(They) wake you up in the middle of the night just to hear them say

Chorus
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They’re living it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice
And she said: “We are all just prisoners here of our own device”
And in the master’s chambers they gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives but they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
“Relax,” said the night man, “We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like but you can never leave”

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitis rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance I ¹_______ (see) a shimmering light
My head ²_______ (grow) heavy and my sight ²_______ (grow) dim, I had to stop for the night

There she ³_______ (stand) in the doorway, I ⁴_______ (hear) the mission bell
And I ⁵_______ (think) to myself: “this could be heaven or this could be hell”
Then she lit up a candle and she ⁶_______ (show) me the way
There ⁷_______ (be) voices down the corridor, I ⁸_______ (think) I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she ⁹_______ (get) the Mercedes Benz
She’s got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she ¹⁰_______ (call) friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I ¹¹_______ (call) up the Captain: “Please bring me my wine”
He said, “We ¹²_______ (not have) that spirit here since 1969”
And still those voices ¹³_______ (call) from far away
(They) wake you up in the middle of the night just to hear them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They¹⁴_______ (live) it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise
Bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice
And she ¹⁵_______ (say): “We are all just prisoners here of our own device”
And in the master’s chambers they ¹⁶_______ (gather) for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives but they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I ¹⁷_______ (run) for the door
I ¹⁸_______ (have) to find the passage back to the place I was before
“Relax,” said the night man, “We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like but you can never leave”

Eagles (band)

The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America and are one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold more than 200 million records worldwide, including 100 million sold in the US alone. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and were ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone‘s 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. Founding members Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner were recruited by Linda Ronstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her third solo studio album, before venturing out on their own on David Geffen’s new Asylum Records label.