Tonight’s song is a song of wishes, all about freedom. It became one of the anthems of the American civil rights movement.
Learn from Songs · Unit 9d: Wishes, regrets and preferences · B1–B2
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
A great freedom song: wishes about the present with wish + past simple (I wish I knew), wish + could and wish + were, If only…, wish + would for other people’s behaviour, and the difference between wish and hope, with Philo, and a scribe who is not free.
SOPHIA
PHILO
Wishes for what?
SOPHIA
Wishes to be free, to speak openly, and to live without fear.
DEMETRIA
Nina Simone again! From Feeling Good!
Before you listen: the song
New York, 1963–1967
The song was written by the American jazz pianist Billy Taylor, with words by Dick Dallas. Taylor recorded it in 1963, at the height of the civil rights movement, and said he wrote it for his daughter.
In 1967, Nina Simone recorded it, playing the piano with a joyful, gospel energy, and her version became the most famous. She often performed it in concert, making it longer and more powerful each time.
In the song, the singer wishes she knew how it felt to be free; and she lists all the things she wishes she could do, if nothing held her back. Even though the words are about longing, the music is full of hope.
I wish I knew how it would feel to be free.
Listen: the wishes
PHILO
Listen once. How many wishes can you count? Is the music sad or hopeful?
SOPHIA
Then listen for I wish. Answer Section A.
🕊️ Listen to the song: “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” (Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas, 1963), sung by Nina Simone (1967).Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”, Nina Simone.Read the lyrics →
Wish + past simple: wishes about now
DEMETRIA
I wish I knew. I wish I had more money. He wishes he were free.
SOPHIA
wish + past simple for a wish about the present: it’s not true now, but I would like it to be. I wish I lived by the sea (but I don’t). With be: were for all persons.
Wish + could, If only
MARCOS
I wish I could fly. If only he were free!
SOPHIA
wish + could for an ability or possibility you don’t have: I wish I could swim. If only + past = a stronger, more emotional wish: If only I had more time!
Wish + would, and wish or hope?
PHILO
I wish you would stop worrying. I hope he gets his freedom soon.
SOPHIA
wish + would = I want someone else to change their behaviour (often a complaint): I wish you would listen! hope = something that may really happen: I hope it doesn’t rain (not I wish it doesn’t rain).
Sophia’s comparison: let my people go
PHILO
Our people were slaves in Egypt, and every year at Passover we remember: we were slaves, and now we are free. Moses said to Pharaoh: let my people go.
SOPHIA
And Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher, was born a slave. He taught that no one can enslave your mind. But he also gained his freedom, and opened a school.
DEMETRIA
So freedom of the mind and freedom of the body are both worth wishing for.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wish + past simple | a wish about the present | I wish I knew. |
| wish + were | be, all persons | He wishes he were free. |
| wish + could | an ability or possibility you don’t have | I wish I could fly. |
| If only + past | a strong, emotional wish | If only he were free! |
| wish + would / hope | another person’s behaviour / a real possibility | I wish you would listen. I hope he wins. |
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. How does the music sound?
3. Who wrote it?
4. Which movement adopted the song?
5. What does the singer wish she could do?
6. What animal does she want to be like?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I wish I how it felt to be free. (know)
8. He wishes he free. (be)
9. I wish I fly. (ability)
10. If he were his own man!
11. I it doesn’t rain tomorrow. (real possibility)
12. I wish you stop interrupting me! (behaviour)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I wish I know the answer.”
14. “I wish I could speak Chinese.”
15. “I wish you have a good holiday.”
16. “If only I were taller!”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Three wishes. Write three wishes about your life now (I wish I…), one wish with could, and one I wish you would… for someone in your family. Share the ones you want to.
Discuss. 1. What does it mean to be free? 2. Are there still people who are not free today? 3. Why do you think the music is so joyful, when the words are about longing?
Write (100–120 words). I wish I knew… Write about something you have never experienced and wish you could, using wish + past, wish + could, If only, and one sentence with hope.
Now play the gamebook: Philo and the scribe who wanted to be free.Play the gamebook →