Tonight’s song has one of the most famous guitar riffs of the 1990s. It is about someone who never stops moving: always busy, always rushing, always on the run.
Learn from Songs · Unit 12: Review · B1
Always on the Run
Lenny Kravitz and Slash’s funky rock song about a restless life: always + present continuous for annoying habits (you’re always running), the idiom on the run, slow down and other phrasal verbs of speed, and reporting advice, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
That’s me! I’m always on the run.
DEMETRIA
You’re always running away from homework, Marcos.
SOPHIA
Perfect: that’s exactly the grammar of tonight’s song. Always plus the continuous for an annoying habit.
Before you listen: the song
New York, 1991
Lenny Kravitz is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from New York who mixes rock, soul and funk, often playing almost every instrument on his records himself.
He and the guitarist Slash, from Guns N’ Roses, went to the same high school in Los Angeles. Years later, Slash came to Kravitz’s studio with a guitar riff, and together they wrote “Always on the Run” for Kravitz’s album Mama Said (1991). Slash plays the guitar on the record.
In the song, the singer is always moving, always hurrying, never stopping to rest. The music never slows down either.
Slow down, or you will miss what matters.
Listen: the speed
PHILO
Listen once. Does the music ever slow down? Listen for the guitar riff and the horns.
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🏃 Listen to the song: “Always on the Run” (Lenny Kravitz and Slash, 1991), by Lenny Kravitz.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Always on the Run”, Lenny Kravitz.Read the lyrics →
Always + present continuous
MARCOS
You’re always running! He’s always losing his keys. She’s always complaining.
SOPHIA
always + present continuous for a habit that is annoying or surprising: You’re always interrupting me! Compare: He always gets up at six (a neutral routine).
On the run, in a hurry
DEMETRIA
He’s on the run. I’m in a hurry. She’s on the go all day.
SOPHIA
on the run = always moving (also: escaping from the police!). in a hurry = rushing. on the go = very busy and active.
Phrasal verbs of speed
PHILO
Slow down! Hurry up! Speed up. He ran off. I can’t keep up with you.
SOPHIA
slow down / speed up, hurry up, run off / run away, keep up (with) = go as fast as someone. Slow down, I can’t keep up!
Reporting advice
MARCOS
“Slow down,” said my mother. → My mother told me to slow down. She advised me not to rush.
SOPHIA
tell / advise / ask + person + (not) to + infinitive: She told me to rest. He asked me not to run. A useful way to report what people said.
Sophia’s comparison: Martha and the tortoise
SOPHIA
Aesop tells of the hare who was always running, so sure he would win that he stopped for a sleep. The slow tortoise, never stopping, never rushing, won the race.
PHILO
And the Psalm says: be still, and know that I am God. Sometimes the most important thing is to stop.
MARCOS
Fine. I’ll stop. After this race.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| always + present continuous | annoying habit | You’re always running! |
| on the run / in a hurry / on the go | busy, rushing | I’m always on the go. |
| slow down / speed up / hurry up | phrasal verbs of speed | Slow down! |
| keep up (with) | go as fast as | I can’t keep up with you. |
| tell / advise + person + (not) to | reporting advice | She told me to slow down. |
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. Does the music slow down?
3. Who plays the guitar on the record?
4. How did Kravitz and Slash know each other?
5. Which album is it on?
6. What is Lenny Kravitz known for?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. You’re always ! Slow down. (run)
8. Slow ! I can’t keep up.
9. I can’t keep with you.
10. Sorry, I’m in a .
11. My mother told me slow down.
12. She advised me to rush.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “He’s always forgetting his keys!”
14. “She told me slow down.”
15. “I can’t keep up with you.”
16. “Hurry on!”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Annoying habits. Tell a partner about someone with an annoying habit (no names!): My brother is always… Then report the advice you would give: I told him to…
Discuss. 1. Are you always on the run, or do you take time to rest? 2. Why do people find it hard to slow down? 3. Who told you to slow down, and were they right?
Write (100–120 words). A day on the run. Describe a very busy day, using always + continuous, three phrasal verbs of speed, and some advice someone gave you.
Now play the gamebook: a messenger who never stops.Play the gamebook →