What Does It Take

• By: Jr Walker & The All Stars

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
shotgun /ˈʃɒtɡʌn/ B1	noun - a long gun that fires a large number of small pellets
shoot /ʃuːt/ A2	verb - to fire a weapon
run /rʌn/ A1	verb - to move quickly on foot
jerk /dʒɜːrk/ B2	noun - a sudden, sharp, or awkward movement verb - to move with a sudden, sharp, or awkward movement
dress /dres/ A1	noun - a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl
downtown /ˌdaʊnˈtaʊn/ A2	noun - the main business area of a town or city
break /breɪk/ A1	verb - to separate into pieces
load /loʊd/ B1	verb - to put a load on or in (something)
high /haɪ/ A1	adjective - of great vertical extent
heel /hiːl/ A2	noun - the back part of the foot
shoes /ʃuːz/ A1	noun - footwear
listen /ˈlɪsən/ A1	verb - to pay attention to sound
play /pleɪ/ A1	verb - to engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation
blues /bluːz/ B1	noun - a type of music
dig /dɪɡ/ A2	verb - to break up and move earth
potatoes /pəˈteɪtoʊz/ A1	noun - plural of potato
pick /pɪk/ A2	verb - to remove (something) from a place
tomatoes /təˈmeɪtoʊz/ A1	noun - plural of tomato
twine /twaɪn/ B2	noun - strong thread or string consisting of two or more strands twisted together.

Grammar:

• Shoot 'em for he run now

  ➔ Non-standard use of "for" as "before"

  ➔ Here, "for" is used colloquially to mean "before". A more standard phrasing would be "Shoot 'em before he runs now."

• Do the jerk baby

  ➔ Imperative mood

  ➔ The phrase "Do the jerk" is a direct command. It uses the base form of the verb to give an instruction.

• Put on your red dress

  ➔ Imperative mood with a phrasal verb

  ➔ "Put on" is a phrasal verb meaning "to wear". The sentence "Put on your red dress" is another command.

• And then you go downtown now

  ➔ Simple present tense used for future events/plans

  ➔ The use of "go" in the simple present tense implies a plan or intention. It's common in informal speech.

• I said buy yourself a shotgun now

  ➔ Imperative embedded in reported speech

  ➔ "I said buy yourself a shotgun now" is an example of reported speech where the direct command "Buy yourself a shotgun!" is embedded.

• We're gonna break it down, baby now

  ➔ Future with "gonna" (informal)

  ➔ "Gonna" is a shortened, informal form of "going to", used to express future intention.

• We're gonna dig potatoes

  ➔ Future with "gonna" (informal) expressing future action

  ➔ Similar to the previous example, "We're gonna dig potatoes" indicates a future action, again using the informal "gonna" for "going to."

• Hey, what'd I say?

  ➔ Contraction of "what did" + Interrogative form

  ➔ "What'd" is a common contraction of "what did". This is an interrogative sentence used rhetorically for emphasis or engagement.