Tonight’s song was written by Otis Redding, and sung by many great voices, including Gladys Knight. It is about a love that has gone on for a long, long time.
Learn from Songs · Unit 6: The perfect aspect · B1–B2
I’ve Been Loving You Too Long
A slow soul ballad about a love that has lasted too long to stop: the present perfect continuous (I’ve been loving you), present perfect simple or continuous, and too and enough (too long to stop, not strong enough), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
And now?
SOPHIA
Now the other person is getting tired. But the singer says: I’ve been loving you too long to stop now.
PHILO
Too long to stop. That’s a grammar lesson in itself.
Before you listen: the song
Memphis, 1965
Otis Redding wrote the song with the soul singer Jerry Butler in a hotel room in 1965, and recorded it in Memphis. It was one of his first big hits, and he sang it at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, a few months before he died.
Many singers have recorded it since, among them Ike & Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight & the Pips, the group you met in “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”.
In the song, the singer has been loving the same person for years. Now that person is growing tired, and wants to be free. But the singer has been loving them too long to stop now, and doesn’t want to let go.
Some things are too precious to stop.
Listen: too long to stop
PHILO
Listen once. How long has the singer been in love? How is the other person feeling? What does the singer want?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🌹 Listen to the song: “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (Otis Redding and Jerry Butler, 1965), sung by Gladys Knight & the Pips.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”, Gladys Knight & the Pips.Read the lyrics →
Present perfect continuous
MARCOS
I’ve been loving you for years. She’s been waiting since morning.
SOPHIA
have / has been + -ing for an activity or feeling that began in the past and is still going on. It focuses on the duration: How long have you been waiting?
Simple or continuous?
DEMETRIA
I’ve been writing letters all day (activity). I’ve written five letters (result, a number).
SOPHIA
Continuous = how long, the activity. Simple = how many, the result: She’s been painting all morning. She’s painted three pictures. State verbs (know, have, love as a state) are usually simple: I’ve known him for years.
Too and enough
PHILO
I’ve loved you too long to stop. You’re not strong enough to leave.
SOPHIA
too + adjective / adverb (+ to + verb) = more than is good or possible: It’s too late to call. adjective + enough (+ to) = sufficient: Is the water warm enough to swim? enough + noun: enough time.
Sophia’s comparison: Philemon and Baucis
SOPHIA
Philemon and Baucis were a poor old couple who had loved each other all their lives. When the gods offered them a wish, they asked to die at the same moment, so that neither would have to live without the other. The gods turned them into an oak and a linden tree, growing side by side.
PHILO
And the Song of Songs says that many waters cannot put out love, and rivers cannot drown it.
MARCOS
Love that has lasted too long to stop.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| have / has been + -ing | duration of an activity still going on | I’ve been loving you for years. |
| present perfect simple | result, number, completed | I’ve written five letters. |
| state verbs + present perfect simple | know, have, be | I’ve known him for years. |
| too + adjective + to | more than possible | It’s too late to stop. |
| adjective + enough / enough + noun | sufficient | strong enough, enough time |
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 long has the singer been in love?
2. How is the other person feeling?
3. What does the singer say?
4. Who wrote the song?
5. Where did Otis sing it in 1967?
6. Which other singers recorded it?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I’ve been you for years. (love)
8. How long have you waiting?
9. She’s written five today. (letters: result)
10. It’s late to stop now.
11. Is the water warm to swim?
12. I’ve him for years. (know: state verb)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I’ve been knowing her for years.”
14. “She’s been painting all morning.”
15. “He isn’t enough old to drive.”
16. “It’s too cold to swim.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
How long? Tell a partner three things you’ve been doing for a long time, and what you’ve achieved: I’ve been playing the guitar for two years. I’ve learned twenty songs.
Discuss. 1. Is it ever too late to stop something? 2. What keeps old couples together? 3. Why do so many singers want to sing Otis Redding’s songs?
Write (120–150 words). Too long to stop. Write about a habit, hobby or friendship you have kept for years. Use the present perfect continuous, the present perfect simple, and too and enough.
Now play the gamebook: an old man and his late wife’s garden.Play the gamebook →