ESLSongs

Practice the present simple in your ESL class with this song, My Name is Luka by Suzanne Vega, a song about domestic violence.  This song contains over a dozen different examples of the present simple, as well as a few examples of the present perfect, past simple, will and would.

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

Lyrics

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you’ve seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble. some kind of fight
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was

I think it’s because I’m clumsy
I try not to talk too loud
Maybe it’s because I’m crazy
I try not to act too proud

They only hit until you cry
After that you don’t ask why
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore

Yes I think I’m okay
I walked into the door again
If you ask that’s what I’ll say
And it’s not your business anyway
I guess I’d like to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown

Just don’t ask me how I am [X3]

My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you’ve seen me before

If you hear something late at night
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was
Just don’t ask me what it was

And they only hit until you cry
After that, you don’t ask why
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore
You just don’t argue anymore

Suggested activity: match the sentence halves

Download this exercise (PDF)

Read the lyrics and try to fill in the gaps with a verb from the list. Be careful, some of the verbs are repeated and one of the verb is in the past simple tense! act, argue, ask, hear, hit, like, live, say, talk, think & walk

My name is Luka
I ¹_____________ on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes, I ²_____________ you’ve seen me before

If you ³_____________ something late at night
Some kind of trouble. some kind of fight
Just don’t ⁴_____________ me what it was

I think it’s because I’m clumsy
I try not to ⁵_____________ too loud
Maybe it’s because I’m crazy
I try not to ⁶_____________ too proud

They only ⁷_____________ until you cry
After that you don’t ⁸_____________ why
You just don’t ⁹_____________ anymore

Yes, I ¹⁰_____________ I’m okay
I ¹¹_____________ into the door again
If you ask that’s what I’ll ¹²_____________
And it’s not your business anyway
I guess I’d ¹³_____________ to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown
Just don’t ¹⁴_____________ me how I am

My name is Luka
I ¹⁵_____________ on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I ¹⁶_____________ you’ve seen me before

If you ¹⁷_____________ something late at night
Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight
Just don’t ¹⁸_____________ me what it was

And they only ¹⁹_____________ until you cry
After that, you don’t ²⁰_____________ why
You just don’t ²¹_____________ anymore

Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American singer-songwriter of folk-inspired music. Vega’s music career spans almost 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the UK, “Marlene on the Wall”, “Left of Center”, “Luka” and “No Cheap Thrill”.