Difficulty: Intermediate
Canada
Crash Test Dummies, a Canadian folk-rock band, perform their song “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.” The song was featured on their second album, God Shuffled His Feet
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
English ghetto pop artist and songwriter Jessie J performs her 2010 hit Do It Like A Dude .
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
Katie Melua accompanies herself on the guitar in a performance of "Fields of Gold", a simple, nostalgic song made famous by Sting, who wrote it and originally recorded it.
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
"Lonely Together" is a song by Swedish DJ Avicii, featuring British singer Rita Ora. The song is about heartbreak, facing the facts, but also an attempt to feel better through companionship, feeling a bit less lonely.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Ireland
Listen to U2's “You're the Best Thing about Me.” Rolling Stone magazine defines the song as “a joyous ear-worm about romantic dissatisfaction.” The video is set in New York City. The opening and closing lines of the video come from “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, a sonnet written to raise funds for the Statue of Liberty's pedestal.
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
Sometimes all you need is a flashlight to find your way in the dark. That's how Jessie J feels about her boyfriend.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Jamaica, United Kingdom
The title "Rockabye" is taken from the famous nursery-rhyme lullaby "Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top." The song is an electronic pop lullaby, and touches on the hardships of single mothers trying to bring up their babies right. It is sung by Anne-Marie in the role of the mother comforting her baby, and by Sean Paul who gives his support, singing in Jamaican English, so be on the lookout for unconventional grammar in the lines he sings.
Difficulty: Intermediate
USA Hawaii
Bruno Mars talks about his musical background and his collaboration with Philip Lawrence. They started working together in Los Angeles and their collaboration has led to numerous recordings, concerts, and awards. Both artists are Grammy-winners. Music critic Sarah Rodman wrote that Bruno Mars has an “indefatigable ecstatic approach to performing.”
Difficulty: Intermediate
USA
Barbadian singer Rihanna is one of the best-selling artists of all time. Here, she performs "Stay," an intimate, melancholy piano ballad from her seventh album Unapologetic. It also features Mikky Ekko on the vocals.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Ireland, United Kingdom
The Pogues' alternative Christmas song is not about snowflakes, mistletoe or angels, but broken promises and ruined dreams, as well as time spent in the drunk tank. There have always been lots of policemen in New York City with Irish ancestry, hence the connection with the NYPD (New York Police Department).
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
Katie Melua lends her characteristic style to this gentle rendition of a well-known and loved Christmas song "O Holy Night". Melua accompanies herself on an acoustic guitar, and background vocals are provided by a choir.
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
The band Bastille performs their version of the popular Christmas carol "O Holy Night." They have modified and modernized the lyrics, especially in the second verse, to be more earthly, rather than heavenly, and more pessimistic than optimistic. Dan Smith is the lead vocalist of the UK band. His birthday is on July 14th, Bastille Day, hence the name of the band.
Difficulty: Intermediate
USA
"What Christmas Means to Me" was written by Allen Story, Anna Gordy Gaye, and George Gordy. It has been recorded by many artists, and here is a very catchy version performed by Cee Lo Green on his album Cee Lo's Magic Moment.
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
Harry Edward Styles is a young English singer, songwriter, and actor. He rose to stardom as a member of the boy band "One Direction." "Kiwi" is a particularly personal and explicit song, possibly about an ex-girlfriend, who might have been from New Zealand, since "Kiwi" is slang for "New Zealander."
Difficulty: Intermediate
United Kingdom
Katie Melua sings "Where Does the Ocean Go?" It is a single from Ketevan, her sixth studio album. In the video, as she sings, a painter-seaman paints the ocean. The song was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
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