Tonight’s song is about young people in Britain in the early 1970s: bored, a little wild, dressed in strange glittering clothes, and sure that the old don’t understand them.
Learn from Songs · Unit 12: Review · B1–B2
All the Young Dudes
The glam rock anthem David Bowie gave to Mott the Hoople: describing people with the present simple and continuous, news and other uncountable nouns, the young / the old, and generation vocabulary, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Young people who think the old don’t understand them? That’s new.
DEMETRIA
Very funny, Marcos.
SOPHIA
And it’s a story of a gift. David Bowie wrote it and gave it away, to save a band that was about to break up.
Before you listen: the song
London, 1972
Mott the Hoople were a rock band from Herefordshire, in England, with a loyal audience but few hits. By early 1972 they were so discouraged that they were about to split up.
David Bowie, a fan, heard the news and offered them a song. He first offered “Suffragette City”, which they turned down. So he wrote “All the Young Dudes” for them, sitting on the floor and playing it on a guitar, and produced the record himself. It reached number three in Britain and became an anthem of the glam rock years. The singer Ian Hunter later said it saved the band.
In the song, the singer describes his friends, the young people of the day: what they wear, what they do, how they feel. They carry the news, he says, and the old generation doesn’t understand.
Every generation thinks it’s the first to be young.
Listen: the young dudes
PHILO
Listen once. What are the young people like? What do they think of the old generation?
SOPHIA
Listen for the big chorus at the end. Then answer Section A.
✨ Listen to the song: “All the Young Dudes” (David Bowie, 1972), by Mott the Hoople.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “All the Young Dudes”, Mott the Hoople.Read the lyrics →
Describing people
MARCOS
He wears glitter boots. She always dresses in silver. They’re hanging around the streets today.
SOPHIA
present simple for habits and permanent things (He wears glasses); present continuous for what is happening now or around now (He’s wearing a hat today).
News and uncountable nouns
DEMETRIA
The news is good. Here’s a piece of news. Information is power. Give me some advice.
SOPHIA
news, information, advice, furniture, luggage, homework are uncountable: no a, no plural, singular verb. Use a piece of: a piece of advice. Never “a news” or “advices”.
The young, the old, generations
PHILO
The young carry the news. The old don’t understand. There is a generation gap.
SOPHIA
the + adjective = all people of that kind: the young, the old, the rich, the poor, plural verb. A generation = people born at about the same time; the generation gap = the difference between them.
Sophia’s comparison: Rehoboam and the old men
PHILO
Rehoboam asked the old men for advice, and they said: be gentle. His young friends said: be hard. He listened to the young and lost ten tribes. But Elihu, in the book of Job, waited for the old men to speak, and when they had no answer, he said: it is not only the old who are wise.
SOPHIA
And Socrates was accused of corrupting the young of Athens, because the young loved his questions. Every generation thinks the next one is ruined.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| present simple / continuous | habits / now | He wears silver. He’s wearing a hat today. |
| news, advice, information | uncountable nouns | The news is good. |
| a piece of… | counting uncountables | a piece of advice |
| the young / the old / the rich | the + adjective = a group | The young carry the news. |
| generation, generation gap | vocabulary | There’s a generation gap. |
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 is the song about?
2. Who wrote the song?
3. Why did he give it to Mott the Hoople?
4. Which song did the band turn down first?
5. How high did it reach in Britain?
6. What kind of music was it an anthem for?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He usually silver boots. (wear)
8. Today she’s a hat. (wear)
9. The news good today. (be)
10. Can I give you a piece of ?
11. The carry the news. (young people in general)
12. There is a big generation between them.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “The news are terrible.”
14. “She gave me some good advice.”
15. “The old doesn’t understand.”
16. “He’s wearing a hat today.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Generations. Interview an older person you know (or imagine one): what did young people wear, do and think when they were young? Report it with the present simple and used to.
Discuss. 1. Is there a generation gap in your family? 2. Why do young people often feel misunderstood? 3. Would you give away your best song to save someone else’s career?
Write (120–150 words). The young people of today. Describe your generation: what they wear, do and feel. Use the present simple and continuous, and two uncountable nouns.
Now play the gamebook: the young people’s festival, and what the old think of it.Play the gamebook →