Tonight’s song is very quiet. Nothing happens in it. A man is sitting by the sea, watching the ships.
Learn from Songs · Unit 1: Present time · A2–B1
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay
A man sits by the water all day, watching the ships come and go: the present continuous for what is happening now (I’m sitting, I’m watching), -ing spelling (sit → sitting), the present simple for routines and facts, and past simple for his story, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
That sounds like Marcos on a Sunday.
MARCOS
Hey! I’m always busy!
SOPHIA
Listen to how he describes what he’s doing at this very moment. And listen to the whistling at the end.
Before you listen: the song
Sausalito, California, 1967
In the summer of 1967, the soul singer Otis Redding played at the Monterey Pop Festival in California. Afterwards, he stayed on a houseboat in Sausalito, on San Francisco Bay, and began writing a new song, quieter and gentler than anything he had sung before. He finished it with the guitarist Steve Cropper in Memphis.
They recorded it in late 1967. At the end, Otis whistled a melody. He planned to add more words later. But only days after the recording, on 10 December 1967, his plane crashed into a lake, and he died at just 26. The song came out in January 1968, with the whistling still at the end, and became his first and only number one in America.
In the song, the singer left his home in Georgia and travelled across the country. Now he is sitting on a dock in the bay. He is watching the ships come in and go out again. He is wasting time, he says, and he feels that nothing in his life is changing.
Sometimes, doing nothing is the only way to think.
Listen: the man on the dock
PHILO
Listen once. Where is he? What is he doing? Where did he come from?
SOPHIA
Then listen again and answer Section A. Listen for the -ing verbs.
⚓ Listen to the song: “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” (Otis Redding and Steve Cropper, 1967), sung by Otis Redding.Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay”, Otis Redding.Read the lyrics →
The present continuous: happening now
DEMETRIA
He is sitting on the dock. He’s watching the ships. The tide is rolling away.
SOPHIA
am / is / are + verb-ing for things happening now, at this moment: I’m reading. She isn’t listening. Are you waiting?
-ing spelling
MARCOS
sit → sitting, watch → watching, waste → wasting, roll → rolling. Why two t’s in sitting?
SOPHIA
Good question! Short verbs ending consonant-vowel-consonant double the last letter: sit → sitting, run → running, swim → swimming. Verbs ending in -e lose the e: waste → wasting, make → making. Most verbs just add -ing.
Present simple or continuous?
PHILO
Ships come into the bay every day. Right now, he’s watching them.
SOPHIA
Present simple for routines, habits and facts: Ships come in every day. Present continuous for now: He’s watching them now. And some verbs are rarely continuous: I feel, I want, I know, I need.
Sophia’s comparison: Odysseus on the shore
SOPHIA
On the island of the nymph Calypso, Odysseus sat on the shore every day, looking out at the sea and thinking of home. He had everything, but he wasn’t happy.
PHILO
And Ecclesiastes says that all the rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Everything comes and goes, and nothing is new under the sun.
DEMETRIA
So the man on the dock is a philosopher!
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| am / is / are + verb-ing | happening now | He’s sitting on the dock. |
| sit → sitting, waste → wasting | -ing spelling | She’s swimming. He’s making tea. |
| present simple | routines, habits, facts | Ships come in every day. |
| know, want, feel, need | usually not continuous | I know. I want to go home. |
| left, travelled, came | past simple for his story | He left his home in Georgia. |
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. Where is the singer?
2. What is he watching?
3. Where did he come from?
4. How does he describe what he is doing with his time?
5. What can you hear at the end of the song?
6. When did the song come out?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. Right now, he sitting on the dock. (be)
8. Look! The ships coming in. (be)
9. He’s time. (waste)
10. She’s in the sea. (swim)
11. Ships into the bay every day. (come)
12. I the answer. (know)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “He is siting on the dock.”
14. “Ships come into the bay every day.”
15. “I am knowing the answer.”
16. “Are you waiting for a ship?”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Right now. Look out of the window, or imagine a busy harbour. Describe five things that are happening right now: A man is fishing. Two boats are leaving…
Discuss. 1. Why do you think the singer left home? 2. Is “wasting time” always bad? 3. Where do you go when you want to think?
Write (80–100 words). On the dock. You are sitting somewhere you like. Describe what is happening around you (present continuous) and what usually happens there (present simple).
Now play the gamebook: the young sailor on the harbour wall.Play the gamebook →