Classic and New! The 10 Most Beautiful and Easy English Songs

Ugo Ezendukareviewed byIryna Andrus / more about Editorial Process14 min
Created: Sep 21, 2022Last updated: Dec 3, 2024
English Songs

Everyone loves to listen to music – hundreds of songs are played on phones, iPods, and tablets. Inhabitants of big cities spend many hours on the road, where music helps to pass the time.

Music is not only a way to relax after work and pleasant background for everyday affairs. Music helps to learn foreign languages faster and easier.

Everyone who starts to learn foreign languages is looking for a kind of magic wand that can help to master the language faster and with less effort. Music is just one of these “magic wands".

But do people think that there is always a great tool at hand? There are a lot of benefits of daily travel to study or work!

Learning English through songs is a way of learning a foreign language, which is popular with many people. This method has proven effective.

The effectiveness of music to learn English

You can learn English with songs or you can enroll in English language courses. Promova is an online platform. It is suitable for those who want to study English according to an organized system of training and practical tasks.

The site is replenishing the collection of lessons, materials, and tasks for training listening, vocabulary, and grammar. There are also simulators of words, phrases, and verbs, as well as thematic collections of words. This is a large collection of dialogues, podcasts, and interviews for basic, Intermediate, and Advanced levels. The tutors of the platform will help you learn English as comfortably as possible.

How to turn music into exciting tasks and exercises? Below are collected easy lyrics songs that are not chosen by chance but are really good at learning the language. You just need to learn how to work with them correctly.

Wearing headphones, you don't just run away from the outside world on public transport. You continue to study.

Songs can be used when learning English in different ways:

  1. If a song contains simple lexical and grammatical constructions and an easy-to-remember melody, then you can just hum it all the time, and the words and expressions will be remembered. For these purposes, old songs that have already become classics are suitable. In them, you will hear a speech that is cleaner in sound and more correct in grammar.
  2. Songs can be used to practice listening skills. Most often, they are given exercises to insert missing words and expressions and arrange the lines in the right order.
  3. The song material is a great help for working on vocabulary and grammar, as well as for further discussion of the content (if you study the language in a group).

Open the text, follow it, and listen to the pronunciation. You won't notice what contribution music makes to your English level. And this is also a way to relax!

Best songs to learn English

1) Happy New Year (ABBA)

Today it is impossible to imagine New Year's holidays without the song ABBA – Happy New Year. This is one of the most popular holiday compositions, which must be included in music collections dedicated to the New Year! The date of creation of the composition can be considered January 1980. Although the song is called Happy New Year, it is not about the happy holiday. The text tells about the gray morning after the New Year's party when all the alcohol has already been drunk and the festive lights have gone out. And it's time to congratulate your loved ones on the holiday and think about what will happen next. In the chorus, the authors express hope for the best.

Practice listening to this wonderful song. One of the main features of the song is the presence of rhyme. Without rhyme, a verse is not a verse, and a song is not a song.

2) “California Dreaming” by the Mamas and the Papas

The song was released in 1965. It is ranked 89th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time. Negative emotions are often a powerful source of inspiration, and homesickness occupies far the last place in this regard. In any case, thanks to nostalgia, the brilliant song California Dreaming appeared and was presented to the world by The Mamas & the Papas. A lot of songs have been written about California. And why not sing about the beautiful land — the world of beaches and surfing, where it is so warm and you can easily spend the night in the open air?

In this song, learners talk about dreams and the Future Tense. The song helps to consider the phraseology California dreaming – meaning "the edge of unrealizable hopes".

“Used to do” – "I used to do something, but I don't do it anymore."

“Used to” can also be replaced with would, but the last auxiliary verb is not used with verbs of state. There are, for example, to stand, to know, to feel, to work, etc.

3) Avril Lavigne – “When You’re Gone”.

The song "When You're Gone" was released as the second single from the album on June 19, 2007.

Avril Lavigne said that the song "When You're Gone" is "about being with someone you love." The clip played a big part in the success of the song.

To better understand spoken English and learn to speak, this song with simple lyrics is the best option.

4) Cher – “Strong Enough”.

“You will recognize her out of a thousand” one famous song sings. This phrase fully fits the description of the timbre of the famous star. She is not to be confused with anyone. The song "Strong Enough" was released on February 19, 1999. It is a beautiful disco-style composition where Cher declares that she wants to end a bad relationship. She wants to be free from a toxic relationship.

Listen and repeat. When you have chosen this song, put on headphones and listen to it several times without paying attention to extraneous noises. Don't read the text first. Learning English with this song means combining business with pleasure. There are a lot of colloquial words for everyday communication.

There is often confusion about where to put "enough" relative to the adjective and noun. How to remember its place? Is it placed after an adjective, but before a noun? A line from Cher's song will help with this.

5) Queen – We are the champions

"We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen written in 1977.

Freddie Mercury wrote this famous song while thinking about football. The song became a sports anthem and still remains one of the most popular compositions of the Queen group.

"We Are the Champions" describes a thorny path to success, where there are ups and downs, but Freddie says that you always need to go only forward and not give up. It is designed to inspire new feats and achievements in the development of new knowledge. Make a promise that you will not give up studying and become a real champion in this business.

Present Perfect is quite often used in the song. Here the main meaning of Present Perfect is revealed and perfectly illustrated — the result of a completed action that is visible in the present. Everything that happened in the recent past has led to the fact that there is a result in the present: we are the champions.

6) OCEANA - ENDLESS SUMMER

In 2012, the UEFA EURO 2012 European Football Championship was held in Poland and Ukraine. The song "Endless Summer" was chosen for the anthem, which was performed by the singer Oceana.

An incendiary hit in English will help you not only to have a good time but also to replenish your vocabulary and master elementary grammar constructions.

7) LOUIS ARMSTRONG - WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

The song was written by Bob Thiel and George Weiss in 1967. For the first time, it was recorded and became world famous in the performance of Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong's song carries hope and is charged with optimism. In it, every word has a symbolic meaning. For example, the crying of a newborn means the beginning of a new life in a serene world in which there will be no more fear, hypocrisy, and racial prejudice.

With the help of the video “Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world” with subtitles, you will find many useful phrases in English. Learn phrases using listening, writing, and speaking skills.

You can learn English more effectively. Phrase 1 is «I see trees of green». In English, the turnover of + color is quite common. It follows after an object of this color. There is another example «pencils of black». Nevertheless, you should remember that this is a very poetic, bookish turn – do not abuse it. In everyday life, we would rather say black pencils or a red car.

One more phrase is «See somebody do something». Pay attention that the verb «do» conveys a regular, everyday, or one-time brief action. Other sensory perception verbs can be used instead of «see»: watch, feel, hear, smell, taste, etc.

8) “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars

The song by American pop artist Bruno Mars was released on February 15, 2011. The song does not contain any deep meaning; this song is about the desire to loaf around.

Here you will find a lot of interesting vocabulary.

For example, the phrase «I don't feel like doing anything» literally means nonsense. This is a stable expression that is very useful in spoken English. And it means – I don't want anything. You can also find such fashionable buzzwords as chilling, snuggie, dougie, and many others. And the phrase «Today I'm not doing anything» is not used in Continuous Tense but the meaning of the Future Tense.

There is also very interesting grammar in the song.

I just wanna... = I just want to

I'm gonna... = I'm going to

These sentences are referred to in colloquial forms. The grammar of spoken English is quite different from all accepted standards.

9) Ten Sharp – You

"You" is a song by the Dutch band Ten Sharp. It was released in 1991. Another hymn of love, beautifully conceived, perfectly played, and beautifully sung. The soloist managed to make people feel the full force and depth of the sung words, which in another song could easily be considered banal.

If we are asked «Is it alright (okay) if I take your car? » It means that the person who asks would borrow our car. And when we say «I'm alright with his drinking», we mean that his drunkenness does not bother me.

«As long as» is an expression that we use in the sense of until.

The song is perfect for fixing grammatical structures.

10) Modern Talking - You're My Heart, You're My Soul

The German duo conquered the top charts of more than 12 countries back in 1984 with their first song "You are my heart, you are my soul". The song is of course about love.

You can read not only with translation but also by listening to each short fragment several times, you can easily learn the whole song without straining at all! Well, what's wrong with this practice in learning English? But this is just one of the many methods of learning English provided on the vast expanses of the Internet! And how many more songs can you learn easily?

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How to learn English with songs?

Songs for learning English allow people to develop the perception of speech by ear and practice correct pronunciation. The video attracts attention with bright pictures and interesting characters.

Music stimulates mental activity. It teaches learners to distinguish words in the flow of speech.

Distinguishing individual words in the flow of coherent foreign language speech is not an easy task for beginners. Music helps to learn how to split a sentence into separate words. It in general improves listening skills. This happens due to the accentuation of individual words with a melody.

Music helps to get used to the melody of a foreign language.

Studies show that people who have listened to a foreign language before learning a language are doing better than those who have not heard the sound of this language before. Listening to music in a foreign language helps adults get used to the sound of the language and its melody.

English learning songs help to learn idioms and slang.

Modern music in the foreign language is a real storehouse of idioms (stable expressions) and slang. These language elements help to understand and speak a "living", and not a "literal" language.

Music helps to learn everyday vocabulary and colloquial expressions.

Songs with easy lyrics use the vocabulary that is useful in everyday communication. These are adjectives and verbs to describe feelings and actions, various "fashionable" words, and colloquial expressions. You can learn a lot of useful words from the songs if you correctly approach the selection of the repertoire.

Music helps to improve pronunciation.

Do you want to get rid of the accent? Act like students of language departments: listen to the foreign speech as much as possible, repeat what you have listened to, and copy the intonation.

You can listen to audio books, but music will make this task much easier for you. Try an experiment and you will notice that the accent is less noticeable if you sing rather than speak a foreign language. Music sets the rhythm of your speech. Of course, singing foreign songs is not the only way to work on pronunciation, but it is very useful and enjoyable at the first stage of learning.

Good songs to learn English allow students to better understand the culture of the countries of the language.

Music is a source of information about the culture of the countries. Listen to the lyrics of the songs, and you will understand what people think and feel. In addition, a passion for music will give adults and younger students a topic for conversation in an informal setting with native speakers.

Conclusion

Educational songs for adults are a great way to practice pronunciation, and a great way to start talking!

And while you are learning a song, you memorize phrases and already understand their meaning. If you like to sing and want to learn a language, then this is undoubtedly your topic. You definitely need to combine these two functions to achieve the best result, which will not take long!

Songs are effective for learning English, but only as an additional method. Do not expect that you cannot learn anything, listen to a song and immediately speak English. It is, of course, not. But to improve the gained knowledge, to learn the correct pronunciation and to teach easy to memorize new words – it is the best method of learning that has no equal.

FAQ

Why do I need English songs to learn English?

By reading the lyrics, you develop your vocabulary! Good songs contain a lot of useful words and phrases.

By listening to the song and singing along, you develop your conversational skill! This is a very natural and pleasant process of developing your speech in English! You are learning to think in English!

Of course, your auditory skill develops, and you begin to understand English better!

How to learn English by songs?

Listen to the song you want to learn using headphones. In this way, extraneous sounds don’t distract a student, and you will be able to focus on the words of the work.

While listening to the song, try to repeat the words together with the singer, and when you listen to it again, you will feel that there are fewer words left to remember.

If you need to learn a song in a foreign language, be sure to translate it to understand the meaning of the words. So the song will be perceived much easier.

What are songs to learn English?

Learning a foreign language can often seem very difficult, and as a result, many people give up before they achieve visible results. Using English songs, you will be able to replenish your vocabulary, as well as improve your knowledge of the language as a whole.

Listening to rap, trance, heavy rock, etc. is absolutely useless for the development of the English language.

The best way to get the most out of English songs is to listen to famous English—speaking pop artists or legible rock in English.

What should I pay attention to in songs?

Musical English-language content can not only improve your listening skills but also help to learn English grammar and expand your vocabulary. Songs are a collection of abbreviations; slang phrases, and sometimes an absolutely incomprehensible set of words (remember some compositions in your native language). Therefore, you should not treat them as a standard of English speech. This is just one of the opportunities to plunge into the language environment.

Comments

PromovaSep 27th, 2023
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong is a song renowned for its inspiring and heartwarming message. In addition to its musical beauty, the lyrics convey a powerful message about appreciating the beauty and wonder of the world around us. Listening to and understanding this song can not only improve your English but also provide a deep sense of inspiration and positivity.
Malia BeckSep 27th, 2023
I enjoy songs with meaningful lyrics. Can you recommend a song from this list that has a particularly inspiring message?
Roger BarnettJun 27th, 2023
I love the selection of beautiful and easy English songs in this article!