Tonight’s singer says he was born ten thousand years ago. He says he met Eve in the Garden, and Samson, and the great men of the last war.
Learn from Songs · Unit 2: Past time · B1
The Liar
Tommy Makem’s comic song about the biggest liar in history: irregular past simple verbs, the past continuous with when, have something done, so… that and the biggest… ever, and how to correct a story (Actually…, In fact…), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Is any of it true?
SOPHIA
Not one word. He is the biggest liar in history, and he is very proud of it.
PHILO
Samson? Now I’m interested. I know that story very well.
Before you listen: the song
Springfield, 1995
Tommy Makem (1932–2007) came from Keady, in County Armagh. He sang with the Clancy Brothers, played the banjo and the tin whistle, and wrote songs that are still sung in Irish pubs all over the world. One of his comic songs is “The Liar”. Ireland has a long tradition of the tall tale: a story so impossible that nobody believes it, and everybody enjoys it.
Seamus Kennedy is a folk singer from Belfast who has lived and worked in the United States since the 1970s. His live album In Concert (1995) opens with “The Liar”, and you can hear the audience laughing at every verse.
In the song, the liar says he was born ten thousand years ago in Belmullet, County Mayo. He says he chased the vermin while Saint Patrick was preaching, that Eve offered him an apple, that Delilah married Samson, and that during the Second World War Hitler was hanging wallpaper in his hall. And the story about Cromwell, he says, is the biggest lie of all.
A tall tale is a lie that everybody is in on.
Listen: the biggest liar in history
PHILO
Listen once. Which famous people does he say he met? Which story does he call the biggest lie?
SOPHIA
Listen to the chorus too, and the audience laughing. Then answer Section A.
🤥 Listen to the song: “The Liar” (Tommy Makem), sung by Seamus Kennedy.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words on Seamus Kennedy’s website (the lyric sheet for In Concert, page 1).Read the lyrics →
Irregular verbs in a tall tale
MARCOS
He was born in Mayo. He saw Eve. She came over to him. He went home for tea. He met Churchill.
SOPHIA
Tall tales are full of irregular verbs: be → was, see → saw, come → came, go → went, meet → met, cut → cut, hear → heard. Learn them in a story and you won’t forget them.
Past continuous with when
DEMETRIA
Eve was picking apples when she saw him. Delilah was cutting Samson’s hair when he walked in.
SOPHIA
was / were + -ing for the longer action in the background; the past simple for the short event. while + the long action: While Saint Patrick was preaching, he chased the vermin.
Have something done
PHILO
He says he was having his house painted. (Somebody else was painting it.) I had my hair cut last week.
SOPHIA
have + object + past participle when another person does the job for you: I’m having my bike repaired. She had her photo taken. And Samson? He didn’t have his hair cut: Delilah cut it while he was asleep!
So… that, the biggest… ever
MARCOS
He lies so well that everybody laughs. It’s such a silly story that nobody believes it. He’s the biggest liar there has ever been.
SOPHIA
so + adjective / adverb + that; such (a) + adjective + noun + that; the + superlative + ever. These are the tools of every boaster.
Truth or lie? Actually…, In fact…
PHILO
Actually, Delilah didn’t marry Samson. She sold his secret for silver, and the Philistines took him away. That is in the book of Judges.
SOPHIA
And Cromwell’s army in fact killed thousands of people in Ireland in 1649, at Drogheda and Wexford. That is why the singer calls it the biggest lie: the joke is that it is the opposite of the truth. To correct a story politely, use Actually…, In fact…, That’s not quite right…
Sophia’s comparison: Odysseus the liar
SOPHIA
When Odysseus came home to Ithaca, he met Athena in disguise and told her a long, false story about being a Cretan on the run. Athena laughed and said that even a god would have to be clever to beat him at lying.
PHILO
The Law says: do not bear false witness. But is a story that everybody knows is false really a lie?
MARCOS
Not if they laugh. That’s my rule.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| irregular past forms | the events | was born, saw, came, went, met |
| was / were + -ing + when / while | background and event | Eve was picking apples when she saw him. |
| have + object + past participle | another person does it | He was having his house painted. |
| so… that / such (a)… that / the… ever | exaggeration | the biggest liar ever |
| Actually… / In fact… | correcting a story | Actually, Delilah didn’t marry Samson. |
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 liar say he was born?
2. When does he say he was born?
3. What does he say he did while Saint Patrick was preaching?
4. What did he do when Eve offered him an apple?
5. According to the song, what did Delilah do after she married Samson?
6. Who does he say was hanging wallpaper in his hall?
7. Who wrote the song?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
8. He says he born ten thousand years ago. (be)
9. He says he Churchill during the war. (meet)
10. Eve was picking apples when she him. (see)
11. He was having his house . (paint)
12. He’s the biggest liar I’ve heard.
13. , Delilah didn’t marry Samson. (in reality)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
14. “I painted my house.” (= a painter did it for me)
15. “He was having his hair cut when the phone rang.”
16. “He meeted Churchill in the war.”
17. “Actually, Cromwell’s army killed thousands of people.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Liars’ contest. In groups, each person tells a tall tale about meeting a famous person from history. Use I was … -ing when …, one have something done, and three irregular verbs. The others correct you: Actually, … The group votes for the best liar.
Discuss. 1. Why does the singer call the Cromwell story the biggest lie? 2. Is it all right to joke about history? Where is the line? 3. Is a tall tale really a lie?
Write (100–120 words). The day I met… Write a completely impossible story about meeting someone famous from the past. Then add two sentences correcting it with Actually… and In fact…
Now play the gamebook: a sailor’s tall tale, and a boy who believed it.Play the gamebook →