Impara l’inglese con le canzoni – Jailhouse Rock

Pronto a ballare? Perché con la canzone che ti proponiamo, è impossibile non muoversi a tempo!

Si tratta di una delle hits del Re del Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. Jailhouse Rock venne pubblicata nel 1957 finendo dritta alla posizione #1 nelle classifiche di Stati Uniti e Gran Bretagna,

Allora, pronto a ballare?

1. Leggi il testo
2. Impara il vocabolario
3. Canta!

Lyrics

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing.
You should’ve heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone,
Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone.
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
the whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Number forty-seven said to number three:
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see.
I sure would be delighted with your company,
come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me.”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

The sad sack was a sittin’ on a block of stone
way over in the corner weepin‘ all alone.
The warden said, “Hey, buddy, don’t you be no square.
If you can’t find a partner use a wooden chair.”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Shifty Henry said to Bugs, “For Heaven’s sake,
no one’s lookin’, now’s our chance to make a break.”
Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said, “Nix nix,
I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks.”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Vocabolario

Warden – direttore/guardiano di una prigione.

County jail – county è contea/provincia e si caratterizza per un proprio governo, che si occupa di fatti locali, tra cui la prigione,  jail.

Band – complesso, gruppo musicale.

Wail – piangere, gemere.

Joint –un posto in particolare.

Knocked out – pestato, picchiato, incosciente.

Jailbirds – la gente in prigione.

Cell block – un grande edificio singolo o una parte di un complesso suddiviso in celle separate.

Tenor saxophone – un membro di media grandezza della famiglia dei saxofoni.

Slide trombone –  ottone con suono più grave rispetto a una tromba.

Delighted – contentissimo, lieto, felice.

Weeping – piangente.

Don’t you be no square – espressione che vuol dire “non essere così antiquato, conservatore o senza fantasia”.

Stick around a while – rimanere un po’ più a lungo.

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