Tonight, a song about a guitar. B.B. King, the king of the blues, talks to his guitar as if she were a woman. Her name is Lucille.
Learn from Songs · Unit 2: Past time · B1
Lucille
A blues guitarist and the story of his guitar: the past continuous for the background (he was playing, the men were fighting), the past simple for what happened, and so that / to remind me for reasons, with Marcos, his lyre, and a cold night at the Dolphin tavern.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
A guitar with a name! I want to name my lyre.
DEMETRIA
Why Lucille?
SOPHIA
That is the story. A dance, a fight, a fire, and a very foolish thing he did.
Before you listen: the song
Twist, Arkansas, 1949, and the song, 1968
B.B. King (1925–2015) was one of the greatest blues guitarists who ever lived. He liked to say that he couldn’t sing and play at the same time, so he sang, and then his guitar answered him.
In the winter of 1949, he was playing at a dance hall in a small town in Arkansas. It was cold, and a barrel of burning fuel was heating the room. Two men started fighting, and they knocked the barrel over. The wooden hall caught fire, and everybody ran outside.
Then King realised his guitar was still inside. He ran back into the burning building to get it, and he only just got out before it collapsed. The next day, he learned that two men had died, and that the fight was about a woman called Lucille. He named his guitar Lucille, and every guitar he had after it, to remind himself never to do anything so foolish again.
In 1968 he recorded “Lucille”, a long, slow blues of more than ten minutes, in which he talks about his guitar, what she means to him, and how she sings for him.
To remind me never to do anything like that again.
Listen: B.B. King and Lucille
PHILO
This song is long and slow. Listen to part of it. How does he talk about Lucille? Like a guitar, or like a person?
SOPHIA
Listen to how the guitar answers his voice. Then answer Section A, using the song and the story.
🎸 Listen to the song: “Lucille” (B.B. King, 1968).Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Lucille”, B.B. King.Read the lyrics →
Background and events
DEMETRIA
He was playing. A barrel was heating the room. Then two men started fighting.
SOPHIA
In a story, the past continuous sets the scene (it was snowing, people were dancing); the past simple tells what happened (a fight started, the hall caught fire, everybody ran).
Irregular verbs in the story
MARCOS
Ran, caught, got, knew… It’s a list of irregular verbs!
SOPHIA
Exactly: run → ran, catch → caught, get → got, learn → learned / learnt, know → knew, lose → lost. And some regular ones: start → started, knock → knocked, realise → realised, name → named.
To remind me…
PHILO
He named it Lucille to remind himself not to fight. So that he would never forget.
SOPHIA
Purpose: to + verb (to remind himself), or so that + subject + would / could (so that he would never forget). And remind ≠ remember: Lucille reminded him; he remembered.
Sophia’s comparison: an instrument with a soul
SOPHIA
Hermes made the first lyre from a tortoise shell, the day he was born, and gave it to Apollo. Greek poets talk to their lyres too: Sappho calls hers “divine shell, become a voice for me”.
MARCOS
So my lyre needs a name.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| was / were + -ing | background in a story | He was playing at a dance. |
| past simple | events, one after another | Two men started fighting. |
| ran, caught, got, knew, lost | irregular past simple | He ran back into the fire. |
| to + verb; so that + would | purpose | He named it Lucille to remind himself. |
| remind / remember | make someone remember / have in your memory | Lucille reminded him. |
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 does B.B. King talk about Lucille in the song?
2. What kind of song is it?
3. Where was King playing in 1949?
4. What started the fire?
5. What foolish thing did King do?
6. Why did he name the guitar Lucille?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He playing when the fight started. (be)
8. Two men fighting. (start)
9. Everybody outside. (run)
10. The hall fire. (catch)
11. He named it Lucille remind himself.
12. That song always me of my grandfather.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “The guitar remembered him of the fire.”
14. “They were dancing when the fire started.”
15. “He runned back inside.”
16. “He did it so that he would never forget.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Retell. Tell the story of the fire in 1949, as if you were there: what were people doing? What happened? What did King do?
Discuss. 1. Was it brave or foolish to go back for the guitar? 2. Do you have an object you love like King loved Lucille? 3. Why do people give names to cars, boats and instruments?
Write (80–120 words). The story of my favourite object. How did you get it? What was happening at the time? Why is it special? Use the past continuous and the past simple.
Now play the gamebook: Marcos, his lyre, and a fire at the Dolphin tavern.Play the gamebook →