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Listen to the song Enjoy listening to the music using the video below. Make a mental note of any interesting words or parts, but don't worry if you can't understand yet. No video? Watch on YouTube. |
2 |
Play the explanation Grab a hot drink and relax. I'll explain each line of the song for you. Use the explanations to understand the song lyrics, but don't worry about knowing every word that I use to explain. For an extra challenge listen without the transcript. |
[Clickable Transcript]
INTRO:
Hello everybody and welcome to Explained in English. My name is Ki and today I'm going to explain the song No Surprises by Radiohead.
This song can be a difficult one for English learners, not so much because of the words or the lyrics but because of the way that the singer sings. The main singer of Radiohead, Thom Yorke, he kind of mumbles when he sings. That is, he doesn't clearly pronounce or articulate all of the sounds. He uses his voice a lot as if it were an instrument that kind of blends in with the music and the sounds. At least that's my impression. But the song itself has this really beautiful melody. The guitar line sounds almost like a lullaby. A lullaby is a tune or a melody which is meant to calm and soothe someone and put them to sleep. And the words, the lyrics of the song, are really powerful, really great.
So, the song is called No Surprises. A surprise is something unexpected, some sort of event that you don't anticipate. And no surprises would be the opposite of that. If there are no surprises in your life, then you know exactly what's going to happen, nothing strange or out of the ordinary happens; everything is normal -- no surprises. The first verse begins with the line…
LYRICS:
[Verse 1] | ![]() |
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[Chorus] | ![]() |
[Verse 2] | ![]() |
[Verse 3] | ![]() |
[Chorus Variation] | ![]() |
3 | You did it! You just learned a great song and can listen over and over to improve your English. Play the song again now and see how much more you understand. |
After listening...![]() ![]() |
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