Have you ever wondered how to have incredible English skills? With the help of Marvin Gaye, you will be able to acquire incredible English skills. Here is what we will look at:
- Who was Marvin Gaye?
- What kind of music did he sing?
- Incredible English skills with Marvin Gaye
Who was Marvin Gaye?
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We can hear Gaye’s strong, almost strained voice begging for someone ‘to get it on’. This means he wants to get close to the person he is singing to. Furthermore, the pop / soul melody complements Gaye’s amazingly cool style and voice.
What style of music did he play?
Marvin Gaye was known for playing soul music. This was the main genre he sang. Nevertheless, his later songs are more pop, like ‘Let’s Get It On’. Gaye is one of the pioneers of black soul music in the United States. This is why he was called the ‘Prince Of Soul’. Some sources have said that Gaye’s music was not unique to one genre (soul), but that he was able to create a sound that had characteristics of soul, pop, R ‘n’ B and jazz.
Additionally, he took inspiration from contemporaries such as Frank Sinatra, The Four Tops and The Temptations. His song ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ incorporates elements of these bands in his gritty lyrics. His voice hits very high octaves and he is able to hold these notes for a long time – something that he took from his contemporaries.
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Incredible English skills with Marvin Gaye
Now you know a little a bit about the singer, it is time to see how you speak incredible English with Marvin Gaye. But first of all, let’s look one of Marvin Gaye’s most famous hits ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’. Here are six simple steps to help you improve your listening skills. I’d like you to first look at the title of the song and try think about what it could mean.
Now let’s listen to this classic song:
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So, did you find out from the song what the title means? If yes, well done! If not, then it’s ok. The idiom ‘hear something through the grapevine’ means that you found out about something from someone else, rather than being told yourself. This song is about Gaye finding out that a woman leaving him.
Specific parts of the song
Marvin Gaye uses the idiom as the chorus to emphasise the point that the woman never told him she was going to leave him. Furthermore, this song also uses the past simple to talk about completed actions. But the other features of this song that make it incredible English are the uses of other phrases to emphasise sadness. He talks about ‘to make me blue‘ which means ‘to make me sad’ and uses a popular phrase from literature when he says ‘believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.’ This phrase, believed to be from Edgar Allan Poe (an American 19th century author), means there are two sides to every story and that nothing should be taken at face value.
As you can see, it is possible to acquire incredible English skills with this amazing singer. In just one song, you have learnt one of my favourite idioms and also learnt to how to express sadness. Furthermore, with the help of a popular literature quote, you can tell people about two sides of a story.
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Comment below and tell us what incredible English skill you learnt with this post.