FOLK ROCK

Hit Single 2: COUNTING STARS

POP ROCK SONG

OneRepublic is an American pop

rock band from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Formed in 2002 by Ryan
Tedder and Zach Filkins, the band achieved commercial success
on Myspace as an unsigned act.
OneRepublic's varied style of music has been described by Ryan Tedder:
"We're no respecter of genre. If it's a good song or a good artist whether
rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they've probably influenced us on some level...
nothing's new under the sun, we're a sum of a bunch of parts." They
cite The Beatles and U2 as heavier influences on their music. OneRepublic
has expressed a desire to move listeners onstage the way U2 does.
Song background
"Counting Stars" is a song by American pop rock band OneRepublic from
their third studio album, Native (2013). The song was written by lead
singer Ryan Tedder, and produced by Tedder and Noel Zancanella.
Musically, it is a popsong with strong elements of folk music. It was
released as the album's third single on June 14, 2013 in Austria, Germany,
and Switzerland.
Ryan Tedder started writing "Counting Stars" while waiting for Beyonc to
turn up to a studio session, about a month after starting to write "Love
Runs Out".
The music video was filmed on May 10, 2013, in New Orleans, Louisiana,
and premiered on May 31, 2013. The video features the band performing
the song in a gloomy ground floor of a building surrounded by
hanging light bulbs which is interspersed with scenes of several people in
a religious revival service on the upper floor. At the end of the video, one
of the people in the service falls through the floor, coming through the
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POP ROCK SONG

ceiling of the room the band is performing in. The video also shows clips of
an alligator crawling
through
the
ground
floor.
www.wikipedia.com

Chorus
Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we

I feel her love

And I feel it burn down this river every
time
Hope is our four-letter word, make that
money watch it burn

could be
But, baby I've been, I've been praying
hard
Said no more counting dollars, we'll be

Old but, I'm not that old

Young, but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
I'm just doing what we're told

counting stars
Yeah, we'll be counting stars
I see this life like a swinging vine,
Swing my heart across the line

And I I I I feel something so wrong by

doing the right thing
I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?
Everything that drowns me makes me
wanna fly

In my face is flashing signs,

Seek it out and ye shall find.
Old but I'm not that old
Young but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
I'm just doing what we're told
And I I I I feel something so right by
doing the wrong thing
And I I I I feel something so wrong by

Repeat Chorus

Oh, take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money watch it burn,
Sing in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money watch it burn,
Sing in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money watch it burn,
Sing in the river the lessons I learned

doing the right thing

Everything that kills me makes me feel

alive

I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?

Repeat Chorus

Every thing that kills me makes me feel

alive.

Ajarn Alexis

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money watch it burn,
Sing in the river the lessons I learned
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Repeat Chorus

Take that money watch it burn,

Sing in the river the lessons I learned
Take that money watch it burn,
Sing in the river the lessons I learned

Yeah

Song exercises
1. Write the meaning of the following words or phrases found in
the songs lyrics.
a. counting b. swinging c. vine
d. line
e. bold

2. In your own words, what does the singer mean with the
following lines from the song:
I see this life like a swinging vine,
Swing my heart across the line
In my face is flashing signs,
Seek it out and ye shall find
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And I feel something so right by doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing
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POP ROCK SONG

I could lie, couldn't I, couldn't I?

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

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3. Identify and write the lyrics which describe a particular figure
of speech found in the song.

4. Do you like this song? Why or why not?

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POP ROCK SONG

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