The Final Countdown – Europe – Notes

• Activity types: Phonetics, listening for specific words, gap fill

• Level: Pre-intermediate/Intermediate

• Grammar Focus: Use of the personal pronoun her referring to things

• Notes: This is the best-known song by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released in
1986 and became a number one hit in 25 countries, selling over 8 million copies. In 2011
readers of Rolling Stone Magazine voted it as the second worst song of the 1980’s.

Pre-listening activities
Give each student a folded copy of the worksheet and ask them to list the words in the correct
column according to their final vowel sounds.
Key:

/e/ // // /:/ /əʊ/ /e/

/e/ /aʊ/
/aʊ/ /ŋ/

farewell still come tall no blame ground leaving

tell will us all so same countdown heading
guess miss go found things

Note: There is a Phonetic Chart on the Teacher’s Area of www.tuneintoenglish.com

Listening activities
1. Play the song. Students tick each word as they hear it. They will have to change the form
of some words (e.g. from singular to plural: thing-things).

2. Ask them unfold the worksheet and to complete the lyrics with the words from Activity 1
according to the context and the rhyming words.

3. Play the song. Students check their answers in pairs or in groups. For the Key see the
complete version of the song.

4. Correct in open class, play the song again and sing together!

Grammar Focus

Can your students say who/what the pronoun her refers to in the line I’m sure that we’ll all
miss her so? Key: It refers to the Earth.

The personal pronouns she/her usually refer to a female person.

Ex. Jane is 14. She is American.

Sometimes they are referred to “personified” ships, cars, motorbikes and countries when the
reference is affectionate.

Ex. In 1776 England lost her American colonies.

This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only

Activity © Tune into English 2011 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Prof. Mena Bianco, Naples

The Final Countdown – Europe

Activity 1. List the words below in the correct column according to their final vowel sounds.

all ground so
blame guess still
come heading tall
countdown leaving tell
farewell miss thing
found no us
go same will

/e/ // // /:/ /əʊ/ /e/

/e/ /aʊ/
/aʊ/ /ŋ/

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

__________________________________________________FOLD_________________________________________________

Activity 2. Complete the lyrics with the words above.

We’re _____ together

But _____ it’s farewell
And maybe we’ll _____ back
To Earth, who can _____?
I ________ there is _____ one to _____
We’re l_____ _____ (_____ _____)
_____ _____ ever be the _____ again?

It’s the final _____

The final _____

Ohh It’s the final _____

We’re _____ for Venus, Venus The final ______
And _____ we stand _____ The final ______
’Cause maybe they’ve seen _____ (final _____)
and welcome _____ _____, yeah Ohh oh ohh
with _____ many light years to _____
and _____ to be _____ (to be _____) The final _____, ohh
I’m sure that we’ll _____ _____ her _____ It’s the final _____
The final ______
The final ______

This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only

Activity © Tune into English 2011 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Prof. Mena Bianco, Naples

The Final Countdown – Europe – Complete

We’re leaving together
But still it’s farewell
And maybe we’ll come back
To Earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We’re leaving ground (leaving ground)
Will things ever be the same again?

It’s the final countdown

The final countdown

Ohh
We’re heading for Venus, Venus
And still we stand tall
’Cause maybe they’ve seen us
and welcome us all, yeah
with so many light years to go
and things to be found (to be found)
I’m sure that we’ll all miss her so

It’s the final countdown

The final countdown
The final countdown
(final countdown)
Ohh oh ohh

The final countdown, ohh

It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(final countdown)

ohh
It’s the final countdown
We’re leaving together, ohh
The final countdown
We’ll all miss her so
It’s the final countdown
(final countdown)
ohh, it’s the final countdown
Yeah

This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only

Activity © Tune into English 2011 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Prof. Mena Bianco, Naples