Learning by Song: PaPa (Paul Anka)

Mừng Father’s Day ngày chủ nhật thứ ba của tháng sáu này, chúng ta hãy cùng thưởng thức ca khúc PaPa – một ca khúc được xem là kinh điển nhất về người cha. Những ca từ đầy ý nghĩa về tình yêu thương vô bờ bến của một người cha dành cho vợ và các con mình đã làm đắm say biết bao thế hệ người yêu nhạc trên khắp thế giới.

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Everyday my papa would work
To try to make ends meet
To see that we would eat
Keep those shoes upon my feet
Every night my papa would take me
And tuck me in my bed
Kiss me on my head
After all my prayers were said
And there were years
Of sadness and of tears
Through it all
Together we were strong
We were strong
Times were rough
But Papa he was tough 
Mama she stood beside him all along
Growing up with them was easy
The time just flew on by
The years began to fly
They aged and so did I
And I could tell
That mama wasn’t well
Papa knew and deep down so did she
So did she
And when she died
Papa broke down and he cried
And all he could say was, “God, why her? Take me!”
Everyday he sat there sleeping in his rocking chair 
He never went upstairs
Cause she wasn’t there
Then one day my Papa said,
“Son, I’m proud of how you’ve grown”
He said, “Go make it on your own.
Don’t worry. I’m O.K. alone.”
He said, “There are things that you must do;
Places you must see”
And his eyes were sad as he
As he said goodbye to me
Every time I kiss my children
Papa’s words ring true
He said, “Your children. They live through you.
Let them grow! They’ll leave you, too”
I remember every word my Papa used to say
I kiss my kids and pray
That they’ll think, think of me
That way
Someday

• Vocabulary:

– rough /rʌf/ (adj): khó khăn

– tough /tʌf/ (adj): bền bỉ

– fly by: thời gian trôi nhanh (fly on by dùng trong thơ văn, ca nhạc)

– deep down (phrase): trong thâm tâm, trong lòng

– broke down  /brəʊk /daʊn/ (adj): suy sụp

– rocking chair /rɒkɪŋ tʃeə(r)/ (n): ghế xoay