ESLSongs

Practice the past simple, and especially irregular verbs, in your ESL class with this song, Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams.

The 13 irregular verbs that appear in this song are: got, bought, bled, was, had, quit, were, spent, met, told, held, knew & went but this song also contains 4 regular verbs: played, tried, seemed & needed

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

Lyrics

I got my first real six-string
(I) bought it at the five-and-dime
(I) played it till my fingers bled
It was the summer of ’69

Me and some guys from school
Had a band and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit and Jody got married
I should’ve known we’d never get far
Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya – I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

Ain’t no use in complaining
When you got a job to do
(I) spent my evenings down at the drive-in
And that’s when I met you

Standing on your mama’s porch
You told me that you’d wait forever
Oh and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life

Back in the summer of ’69

Man we were killing time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothing can last forever – forever, no

And now the times are changing
Look at everything that’s come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you, wonder what went wrong

Standing on your mama’s porch
You told me it would last forever
Oh the way you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life

Back in the summer of ’69

Suggested activity: fill the gaps

Download this exercise (PDF)

I ¹ ___________ my first real six-string
(I) ² ___________ it at the five-and-dime
(I) ³ ___________ it till my fingers bled
It ⁴ ___________ the summer of ’69

Me and some guys from school
⁵ ___________ a band and we ⁶ ___________ real hard
Jimmy ⁷ ___________ and Jody ⁸ ___________ married
I should’ve known we’d never get far
Oh when I look back now
That summer ⁹ ___________ to last forever
And if I ¹⁰ ___________ the choice
Ya – I’d always wanna be there
Those ¹¹ ___________ the best days of my life

Ain’t no use in complaining
When you ¹² ___________ a job to do
(I) ¹³ ___________ my evenings down at the drive-in
And that’s when I ¹⁴ ___________ you

Standing on your mama’s porch
You ¹⁵ ___________ me that you’d wait forever
Oh and when you ¹⁶ ___________ my hand
I ¹⁷ ___________ that it ¹⁸ ___________ now or never
Those ¹⁹ ___________ the best days of my life

Back in the summer of ’69

Man we were killing time
We ²⁰ ___________ young and restless
We ²¹ ___________ to unwind
I guess nothing can last forever – forever, no

And now the times are changing
Look at everything that’s come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you, wonder what ²² ___________ wrong

Bryan Adams

Bryan Guy Adams is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million records and singles worldwide, placing him on the list of best-selling music artists. Adams was the most played artist on Canadian radio in the 2010s and has had 25 top-15 singles in Canada and a dozen or more in the US, UK, and Australia.