– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Are you going to teach us anything

Or are we just going to sit here?

Just do whatever you want.

( <i>sighs</i> )

I want to learn from my teacher.

Besides that.

Freddy,

What do you like to do?

I don't know, burn stuff?

Just go out and have recess.

My parents

Don't spend $15,000 a year for recess.

What, you want to learn something?

Yes, I do.

You want me to teach you? You want to learn something?

All right,

Here's a useful lesson for you.

Give up.

Just quit.

Because in this life, you can't win.

Yeah, you can try.

But in the end, you're just going to lose, bigtime,

Because the world is run by the man.

Who?

The man. Oh, you don't know the man?

Well, he's everywhere.

In the white house, down the hall--

Miss mullins, she's the man.

And the man ruined the ozone,

And he's burning down the amazon,

And he kidnapped shamu

And put her in a chlorine tank, okay?

And there used to be a way to stick it to the man.

It was called rock and roll.

But guess what? Oh, no.

The man ruined that too with a little thing called mtv!

So don't waste your time

Trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome,

'cause the man's just going to call you

A fat, washed-up loser and crush your soul.

So do yourselves a favor and just give up!

Oh.

Mr. Schneebly, it's after 10:00.

On tuesdays,

The children have music class now.

Dewey: Right. Okay.

Uh... Good work, people.

We will continue with our lecture on the man

When we return.

Have a good music class.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
teach /tiːtʃ/ A2	verb - to help someone learn something by giving them information and instructions
burn /bɜːrn/ A1	verb - to be damaged or destroyed by fire
recess /rɪˈsɛs/ A2	noun - a short break in the school day when students can play
lesson /ˈlɛsən/ A1	noun - a period of learning or teaching about a particular subject
quit /kwɪt/ A2	verb - to stop doing something or leave a job or activity
lose /luːz/ A1	verb - to be unable to find something or someone
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries, peoples, and natural features
everywhere /ˈɛvriˌwɛr/ A2	adverb - in or to all places
ozone /ˈoʊzoʊn/ B1	noun - a form of oxygen that is found in a layer high above the earth's surface
amazon /ˈæməzɒn/ A2	noun - the largest tropical rainforest in the world, located in South America
rock /rɒk/ A1	noun - a type of music with a strong beat
roll /rəʊl/ A1	verb - to move somewhere by turning over and over
cool /kuːl/ A1	adjective - slang: very good or fashionable
pure /pjʊər/ A2	adjective - not mixed with anything else
awesome /ˈɔːsəm/ A2	adjective - extremely good or impressive
washed-up /wɒʃt ʌp/ B1	adjective - no longer successful or popular
soul /soʊl/ A2	noun - the spiritual part of a person that is believed to live on after the body dies

Key Grammar Structures

• My parents Don't spend $15,000 a year for recess.

  ➔ Present Simple with auxiliary 'do' for negation and emphasis.

  ➔ The use of 'Don't' (do + not) emphasizes the parents' disbelief that the money is being 'spent' on something as trivial as 'recess'. The present simple describes a habitual situation.

• You want me to teach you?

  ➔ Tag Question (rising intonation)

  ➔ The tag question '...to teach you?' seeks confirmation of the listener's desire to learn. The rising intonation indicates that the speaker is genuinely asking for confirmation, not making a statement.

• And the man ruined the ozone, And he's burning down the amazon

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous (he's burning) and Simple Past (ruined).

  ➔ "Ruined" describes a completed action in the past – the ozone layer is already damaged. "He's burning" describes an action that started in the past and continues to the present, emphasizing the ongoing destruction of the Amazon.