America is one of the greatest songs ever from possibly the greatest musical ever, West Side Story.
A distinctive characteristic of this song is its rhythm, which mixes 6/8 time with 3/4 time (see Wikipedia link below). Some cover versions see fit to remove this feature, in my opinion totally ruining the song.
"In the 1961 film version of the musical, Anita (played by Rita Moreno) sings in favor of the United States, while Bernardo responds to her praises with corresponding criticisms satirizing latent racism in American society, especially towards Puerto Ricans"- Wikipedia
The song uses a lot of rhyme, both at the end of lines and internally (inside the lines). Use this to help you to choose the right answers to fill the gaps. Then listen to the video to check.
America from West Side Story
Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
| ANITA (spoken) | Stop it | |
| BERNANDO (spoken) | She's given up Puerto Rico, and now she's queer for Uncle Sam | |
| ANITA (spoken) | Oh, no! That's not true | |
| ANITA | Puerto Rico . . . | |
| My (1) 's devotion | ||
| Let it (2) back in the ocean | ||
| Always the (3) blowing | ||
| Always the (4) growing | ||
| And the (5) owing | ||
| And the (6) streaming | ||
| And the (7) steaming | ||
| I like the island Manhattan (I know you do) | ||
| Smoke on your (8) | ||
| And put that in! |
| GIRLS | I like to be in America! | |
| O.K. by me in America! | ||
| Ev'rything free in America | ||
| BERNANDO | For a small (1) in America! | |
| ANITA | Buying on (2) is so nice. | |
| BERNANDO | One look at us, and they (3) twice. | |
| ROSALIA | I have my own washing machine. | |
| INDIO | What will you have, though, to keep (4) ? | |
| ANITA | Skyscrapers (5) in America, | |
| ROSALIA | Cadillacs (6) in America, | |
| CONSUELO | Industry (7) in America. | |
| GUYS | Twelve in a (8) in America! |
| ANITA | Lots of new (1) with more space. | |
| BERNANDO | Lots of doors (2) in our face. | |
| ANITA | I'll get a (3) apartment. | |
| BERNANDO | Better get rid of your (4) . | |
| ANITA | Life can be (5) in America. | |
| GUYS | If you can (6) in America. | |
| GIRLS | Life is (7) in America. | |
| GUYS | If you're (8) in America. | |
| DANCE | ||
| GUYS | la-la-la-la-la America | |
| ... America | ||
| la-la-la-la-la America | ||
| ... America |
| GIRLS | Here you are free and you have (1) . | |
| GUYS | Long as you stay on your own (2) . | |
| GIRLS | Free to be anything you (3) . | |
| GUYS | Free to wait tables and shine (4) ! | |
| BERNANDO | Everywhere grime in America, | |
| Organized (5) in America, | ||
| Terrible (6) in America. | ||
| ANITA | You forget (7) in America. | |
| DANCE | ||
| BERNANDO | I think I'll go back to San Juan. | |
| ANITA | I know a (8) you can get on. | |
| GIRLS | bye bye! BERNANDO - uh-huh | |
| BERNANDO | Everyone there will give a big cheer! | |
| ANITA | Everyone there will have moved here. | |
| ALL | Ole! |
Idiom
In the introduction there's a line about a pipe. This has intentionally mixed up a particular idiom and is 'a rude way of telling someone that they must accept what you have just said, even if they do not like it' (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary). See if you can complete the idiom by entering the remaining words in the right order.
smoke and it pipe in your
Put that
Now enjoy the video
Answers
Printer friendly post
You can make a teacher copy with answers by clicking on 'Show All'. Make sure you 'Clear All' before printing student copies. I strongly recommend doing a Print Preview first. You might want to change your margins and you probably won't want to print every page. The song goes from Pages 2 -5
Links
- America - Wikipedia
- West Side Story - Wikipedia
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