“VIVA LA VIDA”

Coldplay

PRE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES

1. What does a king/queen do? What is his/her job? How is being a king or queen different now than it was a long time
ago (in the 15th century, for example)?

2. Collocations – Match the verbs with the nouns to form phrases from the song.

 blow down someone’s name

 call the dice
 give the doors
 hold the key
 roll the windows
 rule the word
 shatter the world

LISTENING ACTIVITIES

3. Listen to the song and fill in the gaps with the phrases.

used to rule feel the fear gave the word used to roll Long live the king
I held the key of salt of sand used to own

I _________________ the world,

Seas would rise when I _____________ One minute I___________________,

Now in the morning I sleep alone, next the walls were closed on me

Sweep the streets I _______________ And I discovered that my castles stand

I ____________ the dice, upon pillars ________and pillars _______

______________ in my enemies’ eyes

Listen as the crowd would sing:
“Now the old king is dead! ____________________!”

4. Listen again and write the underlined words into the correct column
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
/i:/ /ai/ /au/ /ɔ:/

I used to roll the dice

Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

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 5. Listen to the chorus and complete using the words in the box. There some extra ones you don’t need to use.
I hear _____________ bells a ringing
__________________ choirs are singing
Be my __________ my sword and shield
Missionaries in a ___________________ Roman Catholics /honest/
Hebrew/oldest/ Roman
For some reason I can't explain Cavalry/ foreign
land/Jerusalem/mirror/
Once you’d gone there was never, never an___________ word foreign field
And that was when I ruled the world

6. Listen to the 2nd part of the song and match the halves
1. It was the wicked a) wait
2. Blew down the doors b) on a lonely string
3. Shattered windows c) on a silver plate
4. People couldn't believe d) want to be king?
5. Revolutionaries e) and wild wind
6. For my head f) and the sound of drums
7. Just a puppet g) to let me in.
8. Oh who would ever h) what I’d become

7. Order the sentences that form the chorus. WATCH OUT! Some sentences are different from the previous one!

___ For some reason I can't explain ___ I know Saint Peter won't call my name
___ My missionaries in a foreign field ___ Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
___ I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing ___ Never an honest word
___ But that was when I ruled the world ___ Be my mirror my sword and shield

POST LISTENING ACTIVITIES

8. Global comprehension: Who is the song about? What is it about?

9. Look at these sentences and phrases from the song. Do they refer to things that happen in the present or in the past?
“I used to rule the world.”
“…the streets I used to own.”
“The crowd would sing: now the old king is dead, long live the king.”
“Seas would rise when I gave the word.”

SPEAKING
10. Talk about your childhood and use USED TO / DIDN'T USE TO

11. In pairs, imagine you saw your partner doing one of these actions. Take turns to ask and answer questions to find out
more, e.g.

--I saw you [crying] in the street yesterday, why were you [crying]?
--Because I was sad.
--Why were you sad? etc., etc.

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 Coldplay – Viva la vida

I used to rule the world

Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sweep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing

Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind

Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
Chorus
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

(Ooooh Oooh Oooh)

Repet chorus