Tonight’s song is a duet: a man and a woman, a country legend and a country queen. They sing that they are like two islands in a river: the water rushes past, but they stay together.
Learn from Songs · Unit 12: Review · B1
Islands in the Stream
Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’s famous duet, written by the Bee Gees: metaphors (we are islands in the stream), each other / one another, verbs with prepositions (rely on, depend on, believe in), imperatives and How can…?, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Islands in a river. That’s beautiful.
SOPHIA
It’s a metaphor: saying one thing is another thing. And the title comes from a novel by Ernest Hemingway.
MARCOS
Dolly Parton again! She was in Joshua.
Before you listen: the song
Los Angeles, 1983
The song was written by the Bee Gees, the brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, who took the title from Islands in the Stream, a novel by Ernest Hemingway published after his death. Barry Gibb said they first imagined it as a rhythm and blues song.
In 1983 Barry Gibb was producing an album for the country singer Kenny Rogers. Rogers struggled with the song, and Gibb suggested making it a duet. Dolly Parton came to the studio, and as soon as she started singing, the song came alive. It went to number one on both the pop and country charts in America.
In the song, the two lovers rely on each other. The world rushes past, but they are like islands in a river: no one can come between them. They ask: how can we be wrong? And they sail away together.
Good partners make each other stronger.
Listen: two voices
PHILO
Listen once. Who sings first? When do they sing together? What are they like, according to the song?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🏝️ Listen to the song: “Islands in the Stream” (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, 1983), sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Islands in the Stream”, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.Read the lyrics →
Metaphors and similes
MARCOS
We are islands in the stream. (metaphor) We are like islands. (simile) She is a rock. He is as brave as a lion.
SOPHIA
A metaphor says one thing is another; a simile uses like or as… as. Songs and poems are full of both. Life is a journey. My room is a desert.
Each other, one another
DEMETRIA
They rely on each other. We help one another. They looked at each other.
SOPHIA
each other / one another = A does it to B, and B does it to A. Compare: They looked at themselves (in a mirror) and They looked at each other.
Verbs with prepositions
PHILO
We rely on each other. I believe in you. It depends on the weather. She cares about him.
SOPHIA
Learn the verb and preposition together: rely on, depend on, believe in, care about, listen to, wait for, look after. The preposition stays in questions: Who can you rely on?
How can…? and imperatives
MARCOS
How can we be wrong? Sail away with me! Don’t let go!
SOPHIA
How can + subject + infinitive? often means “it’s impossible”: How can I forget you? Imperatives invite: Come with me! Let’s go!
Sophia’s comparison: David and Jonathan
PHILO
David and Jonathan made a covenant, because Jonathan loved David as his own soul. When King Saul hunted David, Jonathan warned him with arrows shot into a field. They relied on each other, even when the whole kingdom was against them.
SOPHIA
And the Greeks tell of Castor and Polydeuces, the twins. When Castor died, Polydeuces asked Zeus to share his own immortality with him, so they live half their days in the heavens and half under the earth, always together. Sailors see them as two stars in a storm.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A is B / A is like B | metaphor / simile | We are islands. / We are like islands. |
| each other / one another | reciprocal: A ↔ B | They rely on each other. |
| rely on, believe in, care about | verbs + prepositions | Who can you rely on? |
| How can + subject + infinitive? | “it’s impossible” | How can we be wrong? |
| imperative / Let’s | invitations | Sail away with me! |
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 many singers are there?
2. What are the lovers like, according to the song?
3. Who wrote the song?
4. Where does the title come from?
5. Why did it become a duet?
6. Where did it reach number one?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. We are islands. (simile)
8. They rely on each .
9. Who can you rely ?
10. I believe you.
11. How we be wrong?
12. It depends the weather.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “They looked at themselves and smiled at each other.”
14. “I believe on you.”
15. “We rely each other.”
16. “Who do you care about most?”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Metaphor game. Complete with a metaphor and explain it: My best friend is a…, School is a…, My family is a…
Discuss. 1. Who can you rely on? 2. Why do duets often work so well? 3. Kenny Rogers couldn’t make the song work alone. Is it easier to do some things with a partner?
Write (100–120 words). We rely on each other. Write about two people (or animals, or characters) who need each other. Use one metaphor, one simile, each other and three verbs with prepositions.
Now play the gamebook: two rival boat builders, one storm, and a harbour to save.Play the gamebook →