Tonight, a song about a morning. A new morning, after a long, dark night.
Learn from Songs · Unit 1: Present time · A2–B1
Feeling Good
A song about a new beginning: the present continuous for now (I’m feeling good, the birds are flying), it’s + a new day / a new life, you know how I feel, and the vocabulary of nature and dawn, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria, and the rosy-fingered Dawn of Homer.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
What happened in the night?
SOPHIA
The song doesn’t say. But you can hear it in her voice.
MARCOS
It starts very quietly. Then… boom!
Before you listen: the song
London, 1964, and New York, 1965
“Feeling Good” was written by two Englishmen, Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, for a musical in 1964. One year later, the American singer and pianist Nina Simone recorded it, and her version became the famous one.
Nina Simone (1933–2003) wanted to be a classical pianist, but she became a great jazz and soul singer. She was also a strong voice in the fight for civil rights for Black Americans.
In the song, she looks at the world in the early morning. Birds are flying high, the sun is shining, a soft wind is blowing. It’s a new dawn, a new day, a new life, and she is feeling good. Everything in nature is free: the fish in the sea, the river, the butterflies. And she is free too.
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life.
Listen: what is happening?
PHILO
Listen once. What animals and things in nature does she see? How does the music change?
SOPHIA
Then listen again for -ing words. Answer Section A.
🌅 Listen to the song: “Feeling Good” (Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, 1964), sung by Nina Simone.Watch the official lyric video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Feeling Good”, Nina Simone.Read the lyrics →
The present continuous: now
DEMETRIA
The birds are flying. The sun is shining. I am feeling good.
SOPHIA
am / is / are + -ing for things happening now. In songs and poems, the be often disappears: birds flying high = the birds are flying high. In normal English, don’t forget it!
It’s a new day
MARCOS
It’s a new dawn. It’s a new day. It’s a new life!
SOPHIA
It’s = it is. We use it for the time, the day and the weather: It’s Monday. It’s six o’clock. It’s sunny. It’s a new day. In Spanish there is no word for it here, but English always needs one.
Nature words
PHILO
Dawn, breeze, blossom, butterfly, dragonfly.
SOPHIA
dawn = the first light of the morning; breeze = a soft wind; blossom = flowers on a tree. And free: the river runs free, the fish swim free.
Sophia’s comparison: rosy-fingered Dawn
SOPHIA
In Homer, every new day begins the same way: “When early-born, rosy-fingered Dawn appeared…”. For the Greeks, Dawn was a goddess, Eos, who opened the gates of the sky every morning.
DEMETRIA
So every morning is a new beginning. Even for Odysseus.
MARCOS
Even for me, after a bad day at the Library.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| am / is / are + -ing | happening now | The birds are flying high. |
| I’m feeling good | feel: simple or continuous | I feel good / I’m feeling good. |
| It’s + time / day / weather | it as subject | It’s a new day. |
| you know how I feel | how + clause | Do you know how I feel? |
| dawn, breeze, blossom, free | nature and freedom | A breeze is blowing. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What time of day is it in the song?
2. What are the birds doing?
3. How does she feel?
4. How does the music start?
5. What is the main idea?
6. Which tense describes what is happening now?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. Look! The birds flying. (be)
8. The sun shining. (be)
9. a new day! (it is)
10. I feeling good today. (be)
11. A soft wind is a .
12. Do you know how I ? (feel)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Is a new day.”
14. “The sun is shining.”
15. “The birds is flying.”
16. “It’s raining today.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Now! Close your eyes for one minute. Then say what is happening around you: A dog is barking. Someone is talking. The sun is shining.
Discuss. 1. What makes you feel good in the morning? 2. Why do you think the song starts so quietly? 3. What does “a new life” mean to you?
Write (50–80 words). A new day. Describe a beautiful morning: what is happening (present continuous) and how you feel. Start with It’s a new day…