Tonight’s song is very quiet: just a voice and an acoustic guitar. The singer imagines being a swan, a train, a good man… and each time he says what he would do.
Learn from Songs · Unit 9b: Second conditional · B1–B2
If
Roger Waters’ quiet acoustic song of imaginary selves: second conditional chains (If I were a swan, I’d be gone), short and playful results, If I were… I would… but…, and asking for kindness, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
If I were a swan, I’d bite people.
SOPHIA
His are a little sadder. And at the end he asks for kindness, if he ever loses his way.
PHILO
Kindness. That’s a good thing to ask for.
Before you listen: the song
London, 1970
Pink Floyd began in London in the 1960s. Their first leader, Syd Barrett, became seriously ill and had to leave the band in 1968. The bass player Roger Waters became the main songwriter, and the loss of his friend appears in many of his songs.
“If” is on the album Atom Heart Mother (1970), whose cover is a photograph of a cow in a field. It is one of Waters’ gentlest songs: a series of short if sentences, sung softly, about who he would be and how he hopes people would treat him.
In the song, he imagines: if he were a swan, he would fly away; if he were a good man, he would talk to his friends more. And if he were ever lost in his own mind, he would want people to be kind to him.
Kindness matters most when someone is lost.
Listen: the if-sentences
PHILO
Listen once. Write down every “If I were…” you hear. What would he be? What would he do?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🦢 Listen to the song: “If” (Roger Waters, 1970), by Pink Floyd.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “If”, Pink Floyd.Read the lyrics →
Second conditional chains
MARCOS
If I were a swan, I’d be gone. If I were a train, I’d be late.
SOPHIA
A list of second conditionals creates a pattern, like a poem. Notice that the result can be very short: I’d be gone. I’d be late.
If I were…, I’d…, but…
DEMETRIA
If I were braver, I’d sing on stage, but I’m not. If I had time, I’d help, but I don’t.
SOPHIA
We often follow a second conditional with but + present to show the real situation: If I knew, I’d tell you, but I don’t.
Asking for kindness: Would you…? Please don’t…
PHILO
If I got lost, would you help me? Please don’t laugh at me. Would you mind waiting?
SOPHIA
Would you…? for polite requests, Please don’t… for a gentle negative request, Would you mind + -ing? for very polite requests.
Sophia’s comparison: Saul and David’s harp
PHILO
When King Saul was troubled by a dark spirit, the young David came and played the harp for him, and the darkness left him for a while. Music and kindness, not chains.
SOPHIA
And Sophocles wrote of Ajax, the great warrior, whose mind was confused by the goddess. His friends were ashamed of him. Only his enemy Odysseus said: he was the best of us after Achilles; treat him with honour.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| If I were…, I’d… | imaginary self | If I were a swan, I’d be gone. |
| short results | I’d be gone. I’d be late. | If I were a train, I’d be late. |
| …, but + present | the real situation | If I knew, I’d tell you, but I don’t. |
| Would you…? / Please don’t… | polite requests | Would you help me? |
| Would you mind + -ing? | very polite request | Would you mind waiting? |
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 instruments can you hear?
2. What is the first thing he imagines being?
3. What does he ask for at the end?
4. Who wrote the song?
5. What is on the album cover?
6. Why did Syd Barrett leave the band?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. If I a swan, I’d be gone. (be)
8. If I were a train, I be late.
9. If I knew, I’d tell you, I don’t.
10. you help me if I got lost?
11. Please laugh at me.
12. Would you mind a moment? (wait)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “If I was a bird, I will fly.”
14. “If I had time, I’d help, but I don’t.”
15. “Would you mind to wait?”
16. “Please don’t laugh.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Chain poem. In groups, write a poem of six lines, each beginning If I were…, with a short result. Read it aloud, softly, like the song.
Discuss. 1. How should we treat people who are ill in their minds? 2. Why do quiet songs sometimes feel stronger than loud ones? 3. If you were an animal, which would you be, and why?
Write (100–120 words). If I were… Write a short poem or paragraph in the style of the song, using second conditionals and one but + present.
Now play the gamebook: an old actor who is forgetting, and friends who stay kind.Play the gamebook →