WORKING WITH MUSIC.

1. The song that we are about to hear is called “Jessie”. Knowing that the song is
related to chapter 4 of ‘Living in the USA 3’, try to guess about the content of
the song. Is it about:

a) A dinner with friends. Why?

b) A romantic dinner. Why?
c) An escapade (“an exciting trip, usually dangerous”). Why?

3. Try to pay attention to the pictures and guess:

4. Now, listen to the song and fill in the blanks:

From a phone booth in Vegas,

Jessie calls _____________________
To tell me how she’s tired, of all of them.
She says: “Baby, I’ve been ____________________
About a _______________ by the sea.
We could go ___________________:
You, the cat and me.
We’ll drink _________________, en los posillos. Now,
Doesn’t that sound ___________________? (1)”

“But, Jessie, ______________________________

Everytime I get back on my feet (2).
 CHORUS:
Jessie paints you _______________________ (3), about
How ___________________________.
By now I ___________________________ better,
Your dreams are never filled (4)

“But tell me all about (5)

the little trip about ________________________.
Jessie, you can always
________________________________ to me”.
Oh!, Jessie you can always sell any dream to me (6).

She asks me how _______________’s been (7),

I say Moses he’s ____________________.
“But he used to think about you,
______________________________!
We finally took ______________________
Down off the wall.
Jessie, __________________________
Seem to know just when to call? (8)”

She says: “Get yourself _________________ (9).

Bring Moses, and ____________________________”
And I listen to her promise:
“I swear to God (10) this time it’s gonna last (11)”

CHORUS.

Jessie, you can always __________________________.

“I’ll love you in the ____________________,
Lay you down in the world-wide sea.
And who knows? Maybe this time
Things will turn out (12)
_____________________________________.

CHORUS.
“Jessie”
by: Joshua Kadison
 5. Did you like the song? Why? Go back to activity 2 and see if you were correct in
your guessing.

6. Can you match the pictures in activity 3 with some words or phrases from the
song?

7. What do you think the song talks about? Remember that all songs tell a story.
What’s the story in this one? Write a small paragraph in relation to the content
of the song. Use specific details from the song to support your answer.

8. The song is full of inverted commas (“”) which indicate that somebody is talking
at that time. Try to guess who is talking: the singer or Jessie? Why do you say
that?

9. What do you think of the singer? What do you think of Jessie?

10. Read and listen to the song (sing it if you feel like), and try to understand the
meanings of the underlined phrases. Match them with their correct meaning:

1) ‘Doesn’t that sound sweet?’
2) To get back on your feet.
3) Sb paints you pictures about sth.
4) ‘Your dreams are never filled’.
5) ‘Tell me all about... sth’.
6) Sb can sell any dream to you.
7) To ask sb how sb else has been.
8) ‘How do you always seem to know
when to call?’
9) ‘Get yourself together’.
10) ‘I swear to God’ sth.
11) ‘This time it’s gonna last’
12) Sth turns out the way you’ve
planned.
a.
a) To feel secure once again.
b) Sp. “Be in control of your life and
your emotions”
c) Sp. Used when you want the other
person to tell you all the details
about something.
d) Sp. Used when somebody is very
good at convincing you of sth.
e) Sp. Used to refer to people who
always looks at the bright side of
everything.
f) Sp. Used when you want to show
that something is a good idea.
g) Sp. To say that somebody always
calls you in the wrong time (ironic).
h) When you want to know how
somebody has been you are asking if
they feel OK or not.
i) Sp. To imply that somebody is never
satisfied with anything.
j) Sp. Used to mean that something
resulted the way you wanted.
k) Sp. Used to promise that something
will continue to happen or exist.
l) Sp. Used to make a very serious
promise.
11. Have you ever been this much in love with somebody? Have you ever been
dumped by anybody? Was it hard to forget that person?

12. Did that person ever come back or want to come back? What did you do at the
time? Do you think you made the right decision? Why?

13. Now that you have fully understood the song, or most of it, How do you relate
Chapter 4 with the song? Why do you think the teacher included the word
escapade in activity 2? In what way is it a ‘dangerous trip’?