Everything at Once

by Lenka

1) As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox
As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear
As free as a bird, as neat as a word
As quiet as a mouse, as big as a house

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

2) As mean as a wolf, as sharp as a tooth
As deep as a bite, as dark as the night
As sweet as a song, as right as a wrong
As long as a road, as ugly as a toad

3) As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be
Bright as day, as light as play
As hard as a nail, as grand as a whale

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

4) As warm as the sun, as silly as fun
As cool as a tree, as scary as the sea
As hot as fire, cold as ice
Sweet as sugar and everything nice

5) As old as time, as straight as a line
As royal as a queen, as buzzed as a bee
Stealth as a tiger, smooth as a glider
Pure as a melody, pure as I wanna be

All I wanna be, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

6) Fluffy like a bunny, sweet as some honey
Comfy like a cap and all things like a snap
Charming and kind and carefree of mind,
Sunny like summer and as fast as a runner.

7) As gentle as a fawn, as wide as a yawn,
as single as a sock, as dense as a rock,
as fit as a glove, as special as love,
as agile as a fish, as precious as a wish.

8) As nice as spice, as gross as lice,
as freaky as a snake, as slink as a lake,
as sour as a lime, as fine as a rhyme,
as snide as a tide, blow like a tornado.

Vocabulary Aids

Alles auf einmal

von Lenka

Deutsche Übersetzung © von Volker Pöhls

1) So schlau wie ein Fuchs, so stark wie ein Ochs
So schnell wie ein Hase, so mutig wie ein Bär
So frei wie ein Vogel, so treffend wie ein Wort
So leise wie eine Maus, so groß wie ein Haus.

Ref.) Alles was ich sein will ist alles.

2) So böse wie ein Wolf, so scharf wie ein Zahn
so tief wie ein Biss, so dunkel wie die Nacht
so süß wie ein Lied, so richtig wie Unrecht
so lang wie eine Straße, so hässlich wie eine Kröte

3) So hübsch wie ein Bild, das an einem Nagel hängt
Stark wie eine Familie, stark wie ich sein will
Hell wie der Tag, so leicht wie ein Spiel
So hart wie ein Nagel, so großartig wie ein Wal

4) So warm wie die Sonne, so albern wie Spaß
so kühl wie ein Baum, so beängstigend wie das Meer
So heiß wie Feuer, so kalt wie Eis
Süß wie Zucker und alles Schöne

5) So alt wie die Zeit, so gerade wie eine Linie
so königlich wie eine Königin, so duselig wie ein Biene
so getarnt wie ein Tiger, glatt wie ein Gleiter
Rein wie eine Melodie, rein wie ich sein möchte.

Talking Points

1. Find out everything you can about Lenka!
2. What is the song about? [An enumeration of how someone/the singer wants to be]
3. Analyze the structure of the lyrics! [Always the same structure: comparisons with as+adjective+as+noun]
4. Translate the lyrics into German! Do it your way!
5. Analyse the rhyme scheme. => Wiki on rhyme schemes Find out if it is the same one throughout the song!
6. Classify the rhyming words. Which ones are perfect rhymes / different kinds of imperfect rhymes? => Wiki on rhymes
7. Creative Writing:
   1. Write your own stanzas! Follow these rules:
      1. Do not be rude to anybody!
      2. Focus on rhyme-words with one syllable and adjectives with one syllable! (2 syllables at the most)
      A rhyming dictionary might be helpful. Look for online rhyming dictionaries such as these: => Rhymezone (This rhyming dictionary is particularly useful, because the number of syllables can be differentiated) => Rhymer
      If you have found a wonderful comparison and you cannot find a matching rhyme word, try to do it like in the last half of stanza 4, where only the last words rhyme (and "fire" and "queen" have no rhyming partners). If necessary you are allowed to use impure rhymes (cf. stanza 5: time-line, queen-bee). Variants
   1. Crazy rhymes (i.e. the words do not have to make sense)
   2. Reasonable rhymes (the words make sense and apply to you - this is harder to create!)
   If you have no idea which rhyming words to take, here are some examples:
   hawk-chalk, fish-wish, horse-force, bog-dog, steel-eel, moon-loon, cop-pop, brother-mother, granny-nanny, girl-pearl, tank-bank, pink-drink, cake-lake, eagle-beagle, star-car, drum-mum, flower-tower.
   In weaker courses the teacher could provide a list of adjectives and nouns in mixed order, and the students are asked to join the right words together.
   2. Write corresponding lyrics in German! This might be more difficult because one-syllable-words are rare in German.
   3. Write a parody of the lyrics (e.g. "I don't wanna be …" "as dumb as a cow, as fat as a sow" "as male as a mama, as white as Obama")
8. Create a video in which the objects mentioned in the lyrics are shown simultaneously (i.e. show the picture of a fox, when it says "as sly as a fox" etc.)
   1. The original lyrics
   2. Your self-made lyrics
9. Play the music on instruments. All you need are 5 chords (4th fret: a - G - E plus F and C in the break). Sing along.
10. Try to dance like Lenka! (Cf. video on Youtube)
11. What makes this song special?
12. Who else could sing this song well?