Tonight’s song is about surviving: someone left, and the singer was destroyed. But not any more.
Learn from Songs · Unit 4: The future · B1
I Will Survive
The great anthem of getting back on your feet: will and won’t for determination, the past simple for what happened (At first I was afraid…), the present perfect for change (I’ve learned, I’ve grown stronger), and used to, with Marcos, a broken ankle, and the city games.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
I know this one! Everybody dances to it at weddings.
SOPHIA
They do. And the story behind it is about surviving too.
DEMETRIA
Tell us!
Before you listen: the song
Los Angeles, 1978
Gloria Gaynor recorded “I Will Survive” after a very hard year. She had fallen on stage and badly hurt her back, and she had recently lost her mother. She said that was why she could sing it with such conviction.
At first, the record company didn’t believe in the song: they put it on the B-side of a single, the side nobody plays. But DJs in New York discos started playing the B-side instead, and crowds went wild. It went to number one in the USA and Britain, and won the only Grammy award ever given for Best Disco Recording.
In the song, the singer remembers how she felt when she was left: at first she was afraid, and she thought she couldn’t live alone. But she has grown strong, she has learned to get along, and now, when the person comes back, she tells them to go. She will survive.
At first I was afraid. Now I’m stronger.
Listen: then and now
PHILO
Listen once. How did she feel at first? How does she feel now? What does she say when the person comes back?
SOPHIA
Then listen for the change from past to present. Answer Section A.
🏃 Listen to the song: “I Will Survive” (Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, 1978), sung by Gloria Gaynor.Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “I Will Survive”, Gloria Gaynor.Read the lyrics →
Will for determination
MARCOS
I will survive! I won’t give up!
SOPHIA
will / won’t can show strong determination or refusal: I will finish this! The door won’t open. He won’t listen. Here, stress the word: I will survive!
Past and present perfect: the change
DEMETRIA
At first I was afraid. I thought I couldn’t… But I’ve grown strong. I’ve learned…
SOPHIA
The past simple tells what happened then (at first, when you left). The present perfect shows the result now: I’ve learned, I’ve changed, I’ve grown stronger. And used to for what was true then, but not now: I used to cry every night.
Sophia’s comparison: Joseph
PHILO
Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave, and he ended up in an Egyptian prison. Years later, he was the second most powerful man in Egypt, and when his brothers came for food, he said: you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
SOPHIA
And the Greeks say: what does not destroy you makes you stronger. Well, a philosopher said it much later, but the Greeks would have agreed.
MARCOS
So Joseph survived. In Egypt! Like us!
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| will / won’t (stressed) | determination and refusal | I will survive! |
| past simple | what happened then | At first I was afraid. |
| have / has + past participle | the change, up to now | I’ve grown stronger. |
| used to + verb | a past state or habit, not now | I used to cry every night. |
| at first… but now… | contrasting then and now | At first I was weak, but now I’m strong. |
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 did the singer feel at first?
2. How does she feel now?
3. What does she tell the person who comes back?
4. Where did the song first become popular?
5. What had happened to Gloria Gaynor before she recorded it?
6. What kind of music is it?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I survive! (determination)
8. At first I afraid. (be, past)
9. I’ve stronger. (grow, past participle)
10. I’ve to live alone. (learn)
11. I to cry every night, but not any more.
12. He listen to me. (refusal)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “At first I have been afraid.”
14. “I’ve grown stronger since then.”
15. “I use to cry every night.”
16. “I will survive!”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Then and now. In pairs, talk about something that was difficult at first: At first I was…, I used to…, but now I’ve…, I will…
Discuss. 1. Why do you think this song is played at weddings and parties, when it’s about a break-up? 2. Who is a “survivor” you admire? 3. Do difficult times make people stronger?
Write (100–120 words). I survived. Write about a difficult moment in your life (or an invented one): what happened, how you felt at first, what you have learned, and what you will do now.
Now play the gamebook: Marcos, a broken ankle, and the city games.Play the gamebook →