Improve your listening and writing skills by filling in the blanks of the song lyrics. In support of the human rights and anti-racial movements currently underway in the USA and echoing globally, we bring you today the main theme from the film Selma: Glory. In this video, the Oscar-winning song is performed by its composers John Legend and the rapper Common -who also plays a lead role in the film- and shows scenes from the movie. The film is a historical drama about the marches that famous activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and the black community conducted in 1965, from Selma to Montgomery (Alabama, USA), demanding that blacks be allowed to vote without restriction. A must-see to understand the many civil rights obstacles that blacks have been facing historically in the USA. The lyrics of the song are quite difficult and important, so today, in addition to the usual exercise, you can find the full transcript of the lyrics below.
These activities are designed for Beginners and Intermediates so that they can learn new vocabulary related to a specific topic in a quick and fun way.
Exercise
Fill in the missing words. ⇩
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See Transcript 
One day when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
One day when the war is won
We will be sure, we will be sure
Oh glory
(Glory, glory) oh (glory, glory)
Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon
Formed against, yes glory is destined
Every day women and men become legends
Sins that go against our skin become blessings
The movement is a rhythm to us
Freedom is like religion to us
Justice is juxtapositionin’ us
Justice for all just ain’t specific enough
One son died, his spirit is revisitin’ us
True and livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us
That’s why Rosa sat on the bus
That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up
When it go down we woman and man up
They say, stay down, and we stand up
Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up
King pointed to the mountain top and we ran up
One day when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
One day when the war is won
We will be sure, we will be sure
Oh glory
(Glory, glory) oh (glory, glory)
Now the war is not over, victory isn’t won
But we’ll fight on to the finish, and when it’s all done
We’ll cry glory (glory), oh glory (glory), oh (glory, glory)
We’ll cry glory, oh glory, oh (glory, glory)
Selma is now for every man, woman and child
Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd
They marched with the torch, we gon’ run with it now
Never look back, we done gone hundreds of miles
From dark roads he rose, to become a hero
Facin’ the league of justice, his power was the people
Enemy is lethal, a king became regal
Saw the face of Jim Crow under a bald eagle
The biggest weapon is to stay peaceful
We sing, our music is the cuts that we bleed through
Somewhere in the dream we had an epiphany
Now we right the wrongs in history
No one can win the war individually
It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy
Welcome to the story we call victory
The comin’ of the Lord, my eyes have seen the glory
One day when the glory comes
It will be ours, it will be ours
One day when the war is won
We will be sure, we will be sure
Oh glory
(Glory, glory) oh (glory, glory)
Oh glory
(Glory, glory) oh (glory, glory)
Grammar – Informal Contractions 
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Informal Contractions
- Informal contractions are short forms of words people use when speaking informally. They are similar to slang. In lyrics we often find such informal type of vocabulary.
- Some examples of contractions and slang we can find in lyrics:
- – in’ ending like in thinkin’ or losin’ (it looses the g in -ing to sound more informal)
- – ’bout = about
- – don’tcha = don’t you
- – ain’t = am not, is not, are not, has not or have not
- – ’cause / ‘coz = because
- – dunno = don’t know
- – lemme = let me
- – gimme = give me
- – gonna = going to
- – gotta = got to
- – wanna = want to
- – kinda = kind of
Very nice Song
Thanks Sunny
No problem.
Great song
It sure is.
Great, thank you so much
Black Lives Matter
They absolutely do.
Hi! I’d like to suggest the song “Sad eyed lady of the lowlands”, singed by Joan Baez and written by Bob Dylan.