Tonight’s song is loud, slow and strange. The singer has been confused for a very long time, by love.
Learn from Songs · Unit 6: The perfect aspect · B1–B2
Dazed and Confused
A heavy blues with a hidden history: the present perfect with for and since (I’ve been confused for so long), -ed and -ing adjectives (confused / confusing, exhausted / exhausting), and the story of a song that was borrowed, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Loud and strange? I like it already.
SOPHIA
And it has a story behind it: it wasn’t first written by the band that made it famous. Who deserves the credit for a song?
DEMETRIA
The person who wrote it first, of course.
Before you listen: the song
New York, 1967, and London, 1969
In 1967, an American folk singer called Jake Holmes wrote and recorded a song called “Dazed and Confused”. That year, the British band the Yardbirds, with the guitarist Jimmy Page, played a concert with Holmes in New York, heard the song, and began to play their own version of it.
When Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin, the song went on their first album (1969), with new words and a famous part where Page plays the guitar with a violin bow. For decades, only Page’s name was on it. In 2010, Jake Holmes took legal action; the case was settled, and the song is now credited as “inspired by Jake Holmes”.
In the song, the singer has been dazed and confused for a long time. He has tried to understand the woman he loves, and he hasn’t managed. He is exhausted, and the situation is exhausting.
Who deserves the credit?
Listen: dazed and confused
PHILO
Listen once. How long has he felt confused? Listen for the strange guitar sound in the middle.
SOPHIA
That is a violin bow on an electric guitar. Then answer Section A.
🌀 Listen to the song: “Dazed and Confused” (Jake Holmes, 1967; Jimmy Page’s version, 1969), by Led Zeppelin.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Dazed and Confused”, Led Zeppelin.Read the lyrics →
Present perfect with for and since
MARCOS
He’s been confused for so long. I’ve known her since 1967.
SOPHIA
For something that started in the past and is still true: have / has + past participle (states) or have / has been + -ing (activities). for + a period (for ten years), since + a starting point (since 1967, since I was a child).
-ed and -ing adjectives
DEMETRIA
He is confused. The situation is confusing. I’m exhausted. The work is exhausting.
SOPHIA
-ed = how a person feels. -ing = the thing or person that causes the feeling. I’m bored because the film is boring. Careful: “I’m boring” means other people find you boring!
How long…?
PHILO
How long have you been confused? How long have you known him?
SOPHIA
Questions about duration use the present perfect: How long have you…? Never “How long are you here?” for an unfinished situation.
Sophia’s comparison: Homer and his sources
SOPHIA
The poets say that Homer took old songs that everyone sang and made them into the Iliad. Nobody knows the names of the first singers.
PHILO
And Proverbs says: do not move the old boundary stone that your fathers set. Respect what belongs to someone else.
DEMETRIA
So borrow if you must, but put the first name on it.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| have / has + past participle + for / since | states that continue | I’ve known her since 1967. |
| have / has been + -ing + for / since | activities that continue | He’s been waiting for hours. |
| for + period / since + starting point | duration | for ten years / since I was a child |
| -ed adjectives | how a person feels | I’m confused, bored, exhausted. |
| -ing adjectives | what causes the feeling | It’s confusing, boring, exhausting. |
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. How does the singer feel?
2. How long has he felt like this?
3. Who wrote the first version of the song?
4. What does Jimmy Page play the guitar with in the song?
5. When did Jake Holmes take legal action?
6. How is the song credited now?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He’s been confused years.
8. I’ve known her 1967.
9. The film was very . I nearly fell asleep. (bore)
10. I’m . I don’t understand. (confuse)
11. How long you been waiting?
12. This homework is ! I need a rest. (exhaust)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I’m very boring in this lesson.” (= I feel bored)
14. “I’ve lived here since ten years.”
15. “The instructions are confusing.”
16. “How long have you known her?”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
How long? Ask a partner five How long have you…? questions (lived here, known your best friend, studied English, had your phone…). Answer with for or since.
Discuss. 1. Was Jimmy Page right to use Jake Holmes’s song? 2. Where is the line between being inspired and copying? 3. What do you find confusing about English?
Write (120–150 words). Inspired or copied? Write your opinion about the story of this song. Use the present perfect with for and since, and at least four -ed / -ing adjectives.
Now play the gamebook: lost in the catacombs, dazed and confused.Play the gamebook →