Tonight’s song is a list of funny compliments. The singer tells the girl he loves what she could have been: a candle, because she is so bright, for example.
Learn from Songs · Unit 8: Modals · B1
The Way You Do the Things You Do
A Motown classic, sung by UB40 with a reggae beat: could have been for imaginary possibilities (you could have been a candle), the way you…, and playful comparisons with like and as… as, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
A candle? That’s a strange compliment.
SOPHIA
That’s the fun of it. Each one is a joke and a compliment at the same time. And each one uses could have been.
MARCOS
Demetria, you could have been a trumpet, the way you shout at me.
Before you listen: the song
Detroit, 1964, and Birmingham, 1990
The song was written by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers of the Miracles, and in 1964 it became the first hit for the Temptations, on the Motown label in Detroit. It was full of clever, playful comparisons, which was Smokey Robinson’s speciality.
UB40 are a reggae band from Birmingham, in England, named after the form unemployed people had to fill in. In 1990 they recorded the song for their album Labour of Love II, an album of songs they loved, and their reggae version reached the top ten in America.
In the song, the singer tells the girl that she could have been all sorts of things, because of the way she does the things she does: she is bright, sweet and clever, and she sweeps him off his feet.
A good compliment makes people smile.
Listen: the compliments
PHILO
Listen once. How many things could she have been? Why?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A. Listen for the reggae rhythm.
🕯️ Listen to the song: “The Way You Do the Things You Do” (Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers, 1964), by UB40.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “The Way You Do the Things You Do”, UB40.Read the lyrics →
Could have been: imaginary possibilities
MARCOS
You could have been a candle (you’re so bright). You could have been a teacher (you’re so clever).
SOPHIA
could have + past participle = it was possible, but it didn’t happen: She could have been a doctor, but she chose music. In the song it is a playful way of praising someone.
The way you…
DEMETRIA
I love the way you smile. It’s the way she talks that I like.
SOPHIA
the way + subject + verb = how someone does something. I don’t like the way he speaks to his sister. No “how” after the way: not “the way how you smile”.
Like and as… as
PHILO
Your eyes are like stars. You’re as bright as a candle. You’re as sweet as honey.
SOPHIA
like + noun for comparisons; as + adjective + as for things that are equal. Some are fixed: as cold as ice, as busy as a bee, as light as a feather.
Sophia’s comparison: the Song of Songs
PHILO
The Song of Songs is full of comparisons like these: your eyes are doves, your hair is like a flock of goats coming down the mountain, your teeth are like newly washed sheep.
SOPHIA
Goats and sheep! And Sappho said a bride was like a sweet apple, high on the highest branch, that the apple-pickers forgot. No, not forgot: they couldn’t reach it.
DEMETRIA
I think I prefer the candle.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| could have + past participle | possible but didn’t happen | You could have been a teacher. |
| the way + subject + verb | how someone does something | I love the way you smile. |
| like + noun | comparison | Your eyes are like stars. |
| as + adjective + as | equal comparison | as bright as a candle |
| as cold as ice, as busy as a bee | fixed comparisons | He’s as busy as a bee. |
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 is the song?
2. Why could she have been a candle?
3. Who first had a hit with the song?
4. Who wrote it?
5. What kind of band is UB40?
6. What was the album called?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. You could have a teacher. (be)
8. I love the you smile.
9. Your eyes are stars.
10. You’re as sweet honey.
11. She could have a doctor, but she chose music. (become)
12. Brr! My hands are as cold as .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I like the way how you laugh.”
14. “You could have been a singer.”
15. “She’s as tall like her brother.”
16. “He could have went to university.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Compliment chain. Give the person next to you a playful compliment: You could have been a…, the way you… They thank you and pass a new one on.
Discuss. 1. Is it easy for you to give or receive compliments? 2. What is the nicest compliment you have ever had? 3. What could you have been, if your life had been different?
Write (100–120 words). Write a short, funny poem or letter for someone you admire (a friend, a grandparent). Use could have been, the way you…, like and as… as.
Now play the gamebook: a shy poet, a wedding, and the right words.Play the gamebook →