Our next song about the past tells a little story: a letter, a quarrel, and a postman.
Learn from Songs · Unit 2: Past time · A2–B1
Return to Sender
A short, happy song about a sad story: the past simple to tell what happened, step by step (I gave… he put… it came back), irregular verbs, sequence words (first, then, the next morning), and the vocabulary of letters and the post, with Philo, whose own letter has just come back.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Elvis! My grandmother loves Elvis.
PHILO
I know how that singer feels. My letter came back yesterday.
MARCOS
Then today you can find out where it went.
Before you listen: the song
Hollywood, 1962
“Return to Sender” was written by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott, and Elvis Presley sang it in the film Girls! Girls! Girls! in 1962. It was a big hit all over the world.
The idea came from real life: the two songwriters once sent a demo recording to a record company, and it came back with the words “Return to sender” stamped on it.
In the song, a young man and his girlfriend had a quarrel. He wrote her a letter to say sorry and gave it to the postman. But the letter came back: “Return to sender. Address unknown.” She wrote that on it herself. He doesn’t give up: he writes again, and in the end he decides to take the letter to her house himself.
Listen for the saxophone: Elvis chose it instead of a guitar.
Address unknown. No such number. No such zone.
Listen: the story
DEMETRIA
Listen once. What did he give the postman? What happened to the letter? Why?
SOPHIA
Then listen again for the past simple verbs. Answer Section A.
✉️ Listen to the song: “Return to Sender” (Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott, 1962), sung by Elvis Presley.Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Return to Sender”, Elvis Presley.Read the lyrics →
The past simple: telling a story
PHILO
He wrote a letter. He gave it to the postman. It came back.
SOPHIA
The past simple tells finished events, one after another. Irregular verbs: write → wrote, give → gave, come → came, put → put, send → sent, say → said. Negatives and questions with did: She didn’t open it. Did she read it?
First, then, the next morning
MARCOS
First he wrote it. Then he sent it. The next morning, it came back. In the end, he took it himself!
SOPHIA
Sequence words make a story clear: first, then, next, after that, the next morning, later, finally, in the end. Careful: then (next) is not than (comparisons).
Letters and the post
DEMETRIA
Letter, envelope, stamp, address, postman, post office.
SOPHIA
And the verbs: send, post, deliver, receive, return. Return to sender = send it back to the person who sent it. Address unknown = nobody knows this address.
Sophia’s comparison: the king’s messengers
SOPHIA
Our kings, the Ptolemies, have a royal post: messengers on horseback who carry letters from station to station, and an official writes every letter in a record book.
PHILO
And Herodotus says the Persian messengers were the fastest in the world: nothing stopped them, not snow, not rain, not heat, not night.
MARCOS
They would never write “address unknown”.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wrote, gave, came, put, sent, said | irregular past simple | He gave the letter to the postman. |
| quarrelled, returned, delivered | regular past simple | They quarrelled. |
| didn’t + verb; Did…? | negatives and questions | She didn’t read it. |
| first, then, the next morning, in the end | sequence words | The next morning, it came back. |
| letter, envelope, stamp, address, deliver | letters and the post | Return to sender. Address unknown. |
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. Why did he write the letter?
2. Who did he give the letter to?
3. What happened to the letter?
4. What was written on it?
5. Who wrote “return to sender” on it?
6. What does he decide to do at the end?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He a letter to her. (write)
8. He it to the postman. (give)
9. The next morning, the letter back. (come)
10. She open it. (negative)
11. First he wrote it, he posted it.
12. You need a on the envelope to send a letter.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “He writed a letter.”
14. “The letter came back.”
15. “Did she received it?”
16. “First we had lunch, then we went out.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Retell. In pairs, tell the story of the song in the past simple, using first, then, the next morning, in the end.
Discuss. 1. Do you still write letters or cards? To whom? 2. Is it better to say sorry in a letter, a message, or face to face? 3. Why do you think she sent the letter back?
Write (80–120 words). A letter that came back. Write a short story: who sent a letter, why, what happened, and how it ended. Use the past simple and sequence words.
Now play the gamebook: Philo, a letter, and an address unknown.Play the gamebook →