1057 Song Lyrics -The Carpenters, Rainy Days and Mondays.

Hi, everyone. Welcome again to another Teacher Joseph Podcast, and today we’re going to go through some song lyrics from the Carpenters and their famous song Rainy Days and Mondays.

If you don’t know the Carpenters, you really should. They…. they represented a style of music which doesn’t really exist anymore. A kind of ballad, softly spoken. A Canadian brother and sister, Karen Carpenter and her brother, Richard, and like all creative things and creative people, of course, there was a dark side. You know, whenever something beautiful comes out, there’s usually…well, there’s usually a dark side hiding and Karen Carpenter sadly died of anorexia after giving us this beautiful, beautiful range of musical songs.

So let’s go through the lyrics of rainy days and Mondays.

Karen tells us:

Talking to myself and feeling old

Sometimes I’d like to quit

Nothing ever seems to fit

Hanging around

Nothing to do but frown

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down

So there you can hear Karen saying…. Well, the first part is quite clear. Talking to myself and feeling old, sometimes I’d like to quit. So she just means give up, there. Sometimes she’d like to give up. Nothing ever seems to fit. Yeah. You know, when things go wrong, we often say nothing ever seems to fit. It’s like we’re banging our head off a brick wall sometimes with certain colleagues or family members. Karen then tells us hanging around. That’s what we do when we’re bored. Oh, I’m just hanging around today. Nothing to do but frown. Frown is when you don’t smile, you do the opposite. You look kind of sad.

Then Karen tells us what I’ve got, they used to call the Blues… the Blues, meaning sadness. You know, sometimes you might hear someone saying, hmm, I feel quite blue today. There’s a famous Dutch song called Mr Blue. I don’t recall who sings it, but it’s a good song. Then Karen tells us that nothing is really wrong, just feeling like I don’t belong. You know, we all have days like that. We don’t fit in walking around… some kind of lonely clown. Good metaphor. Sometimes clowns, they tell us, are the loneliest, aren’t they? These beings that are supposed to make us happy, and then Karen tells us again, Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

And then Karen has her moment of love. She tells us funny, which means strange, but it seems I always wind up here with you. Wind up in this case means end up, she says. It’s nice to know somebody loves me… funny, but it seems that it’s the only thing to do. Run and find the one who loves me. So she’s saying on a day when she doesn’t… feel that she fits in or belongs, she finds the man who loves her. Well, I’m assuming it’s a man. And then of course, uh, she says, you know, funny, but it seems I always wind up here with you. Nice to know somebody loves me. Karen then tells us what I feel has come and gone before. No need to talk it out. Yeah. To talk out something. It’s a phrasal verb its to talk… to talk until you’ve made someone understand what you mean, she says. We know what it’s all about. Hanging around, nothing to do but frown rainy days and Mondays get me down.

Yeah. You know, some of the happiest days before the Internet came, of course, were days at my grandmother’s house. And, you know, before the Internet, we all had times we felt really bored, but in that boredom, there was something content. It wasn’t a longing, it was just a nothing to do-ness. And we don’t have that any more because there’s always something to do now. But it’s, it was some feeling of completion, but being bored at the same time.

And then Karen goes over the same lyrics again. She tells us about her lover, whoever that is. And then at the end she tells us again what I feel has come and gone before. No need to talk it out. We know what it’s all about, hanging around, nothing to do but frown rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Ohh. Lovely. I love Karen Carpenter. It’s the kind of music for a day when you want to just dream and forget about the world, you know, lovely song.

I can imagine. Looking out at the rain, saying… talking to myself and feeling old. Long before I had health problems or had too many websites to look after, or thousands and thousands of English students, there were days when you know, you just had nothing to do. You just….well…… It was just nice, wasn’t it? Well, that’s the song for today. Karen Carpenter, part of the group the Carpenters. Her and her brother Richard reminding us that ah, Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Thanks very much, everyone. Good phrasal verbs, Sir. Wind up was one of them. Talk out was another one. So enjoy.

Don’t forget to have a look at the lyrics. They’re all on my website. See you soon. Bye.