Tonight’s song is less than two minutes long. In 1967, it was the number one song in America for a whole month.
Learn from Songs · Unit 11: Reported speech · A2–B1
The Letter
The shortest number-one hit of the 1960s: a young man gets a letter and rushes home. Reported statements with said and told, tenses that move back (can → could, will → would, am → was), and time and place words (tomorrow → the next day, here → there), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Two minutes? That’s shorter than one of Philo’s questions!
PHILO
Very funny. What happens in it?
SOPHIA
A young man gets a letter from the girl he loves, and he wants to go home at once. Listen for what the letter said.
Before you listen: the song
Memphis, Tennessee, 1967
The song was written by Wayne Carson. His father gave him the idea for the first line, about buying a ticket for a plane. It was recorded in Memphis by a group of teenagers who had hardly rehearsed. Their singer, Alex Chilton, was only sixteen, but he sang in a rough, grown-up voice.
The producer, Dan Penn, added the sound of a real aeroplane taking off at the end, from a sound-effects record he had borrowed from the local library. The studio owner told him to take it off. Penn replied that the record would go out with the aeroplane on it, or not at all. In September 1967 it reached number one in the USA and stayed there for four weeks. Joe Cocker made another famous version in 1970.
In the song, the young man is in a hurry. His girlfriend has written to him: she says she can’t live without him. So he tells the man at the ticket office that money doesn’t matter. He wants the fastest way home, and even a fast train is too slow.
A few words on paper can send a person across the world.
Listen: the letter
PHILO
Listen once. Where does he want to go? How does he want to travel? Why?
SOPHIA
Then listen for what the letter said, and answer Section A.
📨 Listen to the song: “The Letter” (Wayne Carson, 1967), sung by The Box Tops.Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “The Letter”, The Box Tops.Read the lyrics →
Said and told
DEMETRIA
She said she missed him. She told him she missed him.
SOPHIA
say + (that): She said (that) she was lonely. tell + person: She told him (that) she was lonely. Never “said him” or “told that”. For letters, we often use wrote: She wrote that…
Tenses move back
MARCOS
“I can’t wait.” → She said she couldn’t wait. “I miss you.” → She said she missed him.
SOPHIA
After said or told, the tense usually moves back: am / is → was, present simple → past simple, can → could, will → would, have done → had done. Pronouns change too: I → she, you → him.
Time and place words
PHILO
“I’ll be here tomorrow.” → She said she would be there the next day.
SOPHIA
We report from a different time and place, so these words change: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the day before, here → there, this → that, now → then.
Sophia’s comparison: letters from Egypt
PHILO
When Jacob’s sons came back from Egypt, they told him that Joseph was alive. Jacob said that it was enough: he would go and see his son before he died.
SOPHIA
And I have read thousands of letters on papyrus from the villages of Egypt. One day a cheeky boy called Theon will write to his father that if he doesn’t take him to Alexandria, he will never write to him again!
DEMETRIA
So letters have always made people want to travel. Or stay at home and sulk!
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| said (that) | reporting what someone said | She said (that) she was lonely. |
| told + person (that) | reporting who heard it | She told him (that) she missed him. |
| wrote (that) | reporting a letter or message | She wrote that she couldn’t wait. |
| can → could, will → would, is → was | tenses move back | “I can’t wait.” → She said she couldn’t wait. |
| tomorrow → the next day, here → there | time and place words change | She said she would be there the next day. |
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. Where does the singer want to go?
2. How does he want to travel?
3. Why is he in a hurry?
4. What did the letter say?
5. What does he think about the price of the ticket?
6. What sound can you hear at the end of the record?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. She him that she missed him. (tell)
8. She that she was lonely. (say)
9. “I can’t wait.” → She said she wait.
10. “I will be there.” → She said she be there.
11. “I am lonely.” → She wrote that she lonely.
12. “Come tomorrow.” → She asked him to come the next .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “She said me that she was lonely.”
14. “He told her that he was coming home.”
15. “She told that she missed him.”
16. “She said she would be there the next day.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Pass the message. In a group, one student writes a short message of three sentences and whispers it to the next person. Each person reports it: She said that… He told me that… Does the message arrive correctly?
Discuss. 1. Why do you think the song is so short and so fast? 2. Have you ever had a letter or message that changed your plans? 3. Are letters more special than text messages? Why?
Write (80–100 words). The letter. Imagine the girl’s letter and write it. Then write a short paragraph reporting it: She wrote that… She said she… She told him…
Now play the gamebook: a letter calls Philo home.Play the gamebook →