Tonight, a song that is a list of promises: everything the singer is never going to do to the person he loves.
Learn from Songs · Unit 4: The future · A2–B1
Never Gonna Give You Up
The most famous promise song on the internet: going to (and its spoken form gonna) for intentions and promises, going to or will?, never with the future, and phrasal verbs of loyalty (give up, let down), with Marcos, and a promise that is hard to keep.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
I know this one! It’s the biggest joke on the internet!
SOPHIA
It is. But it’s also very good grammar.
DEMETRIA
A joke? How?
Before you listen: the song
London, 1987
Rick Astley was a 21-year-old from a small town near Liverpool, who worked as a tea boy in a recording studio. The producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman heard his surprisingly deep voice and wrote this song for him. In 1987 it went to number one in Britain, and in 1988 in the USA.
In the song, the singer promises that he is never going to do any of the bad things that people do in love: he will always be loyal and honest. In speech, going to often sounds like gonna, and that is how he sings it.
Twenty years later, the song became an internet joke called “rickrolling”: someone sends you a link that seems to be about something interesting, and instead it opens this video. Millions of people have been “rickrolled”, and the song became more famous than ever.
A promise is a plan for the future.
Listen: the promises
PHILO
Listen once. Count how many times you hear never gonna. What is he promising?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A. Then try saying the chorus fast: you will hear why going to becomes gonna.
🤝 Listen to the song: “Never Gonna Give You Up” (Stock, Aitken and Waterman, 1987), sung by Rick Astley.Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Never Gonna Give You Up”, Rick Astley.Read the lyrics →
Going to: intentions and promises
DEMETRIA
I’m going to help you. I’m never going to let you down.
SOPHIA
be going to + verb for intentions and plans you have already decided: I’m going to study medicine. With never, it becomes a strong promise. Spoken: gonna. But in writing and in exams, always write going to!
Going to or will?
MARCOS
So what’s the difference? I’m going to help you, or I’ll help you?
SOPHIA
going to = a plan already decided, or a prediction from what you can see (Look at those clouds: it’s going to rain). will = a decision made now, a promise, an offer, or a general prediction (I’ll carry that for you! I think it will be fine.). Often both are possible.
Phrasal verbs of loyalty
PHILO
give up on someone, let someone down, stand by someone…
SOPHIA
give up (on) = stop believing in someone; let down = disappoint; stand by = support; count on = trust; turn up = arrive. You can count on me: I won’t let you down.
Sophia’s comparison: Ruth’s promise
PHILO
The most beautiful promise in our scriptures: Ruth tells Naomi, “Where you go, I will go; where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people.”
SOPHIA
And in Homer, Penelope promises to wait for Odysseus, and keeps her promise for twenty years.
MARCOS
Twenty years! That’s a lot of never gonna.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| be going to + verb | intentions and plans | I’m going to help you. |
| never going to | a strong negative promise | I’m never going to give you up. |
| gonna | spoken form of going to (not for writing!) | I’m gonna be there. |
| will / going to | decision now vs plan already made | I’ll help! / I’m going to help. |
| give up, let down, stand by, count on | phrasal verbs of loyalty | I won’t let you down. |
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 kind of song is it?
2. What does he promise?
3. What does “gonna” mean?
4. What was special about Rick Astley’s voice?
5. What is “rickrolling”?
6. How does the song sound?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I’m to help you. (going)
8. I’m never going to you down.
9. Look at the sky! It’s to rain. (prediction from evidence)
10. That bag looks heavy. I carry it for you! (decision now)
11. You can count me.
12. Don’t give ! (stop trying)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I’m gonna study medicine.” (in a formal letter)
14. “She’s going to visit her aunt next week.”
15. “I going to help you.”
16. “I won’t let you down.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Five promises. Write five promises to a friend, a team or a family member using I’m never going to… and I’ll always…. Read them to the class.
Discuss. 1. Why do you think “rickrolling” became so popular? 2. Is it easy to keep promises? 3. What is the most important promise you have made?
Write (80–100 words). My plans. Write about your plans for next year, using going to for plans you have decided and will for predictions.
Now play the gamebook: Marcos, a promise, and a very tempting chariot race.Play the gamebook →