Musical Tuesday

I still haven't found what I'm looking for-U2

I am all in favor of listening to music in the classroom that has a linguistic value to it. This time,I would like to suggest you, this song by U2 that will help your students with the form and meaning of present perfect

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You can start off by having a review of forms of past participle verbs, either by completing a grid that they will later need and they can use to fill in the blanks as a latter activity.


What is think is really interesting about the song, is the actual topic. I have done these activities with young adults, (who confess themselves followers of the Irish band) and it is very satisfactory to see how they get a whole different meaning after analyzing the text and discourse of the lyrics.

When I ask my students what they think the song is about, almost everyone answers is about a man looking for the love of a woman, or a man feeling frustrated, but actually what it is, is the story of a man looking for spirituality; in this case represented in the figure of Jesus.

These elements can be highly exploited in a series of humanistic activities and exercises; for example, have your students create a timeline of the important things they have done or achieved in their lives (using present perfect of course) , have them reflect on what it is the spiritual elements in their lives or what they would like to have in their lives.

The topic of religious tolerance can be also explored as a cultural element by having them conduct an online research and presentation of Ireland, U2, and the context in which the song was originally written.

These are only a few ideas on how to use the song, but we'll be glad to hear from you!!
Include them as a comment in this post.