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Friday Coffee Break: Gerunds

Posted at 8:42 AM on May 27, 2011 by Steve Seel (55 Comments)
Filed under: 9:30 Coffee Break

Today's 9:30 Coffee Break touches on one of those terms from english class you'll remember: gerunds. You know - verbs that are turned into nouns by adding "ing" to the end: swimming, running, calling, looking ... there are thousands of songs that have gerunds in the title. Help us out with our gerund set today.

Comments (55)

Hearing Damage - Thom Yorke
Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley
Fresh Feeling - Eels

Posted by Jami | May 27, 2011 8:55 AM

Crawling From the Wreckage -- Dave Edmunds

Working In the Coal Mine -- Lee Dorsey

Twisting the Night Away -- Sam Cooke

Aching To Be -- Replacements

Fakin' It -- Simon + Garfunkel

Shooting Dirty Pool -- Replacements

Posted by lou | May 27, 2011 8:56 AM

The Police - Walking on the Moon

Chuck Berry - Reelin' and Rockin'

Morrissey - I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris

Posted by Oj | May 27, 2011 8:58 AM

You! Me! Dancing! - Los Campesinos

Posted by Patrick | May 27, 2011 9:00 AM

The Dreaming- Kate Bush

Posted by dave in nc | May 27, 2011 9:02 AM

Please, please, please play this one for my wonderful boyfriend, Josh, who wakes me up to go running every morning by singing a song! Today he chose "Run, Run, Run," by Phoenix, which includes in the refrain:

"You didn't catch me falling
falling falling falling falling
falling falling falling...."

Posted by Meg | May 27, 2011 9:03 AM

Sound of Settling - Death Cab for Cutie
Spirialling - Keane
Wishing for Contentment - Andrew Bird('s Bowl of Fire)

Posted by matt | May 27, 2011 9:04 AM

Jumping Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones
Running with the Wolves - Cloud Cult

Posted by Mike | May 27, 2011 9:04 AM

Missing - Beck
Standing on the Verge of Getting It On - Funkadelic

Posted by tommy | May 27, 2011 9:05 AM

Cryin' by Aerosmith

Posted by Michelle | May 27, 2011 9:05 AM

Billy Idol - "Dancing with my self"
Talking Heads - "Burning Down the House"
Loverboy - "Everybody's Working for the Weekend"
Atmosphere - "Always Coming Back Home to you"

Posted by Brent B | May 27, 2011 9:05 AM

Gerund = the English -ing form of a verb when functioning as a noun, as writing in "Writing is easy."
Verb ending in -ing doesn't count! It has to be the noun.

Posted by Anonymous | May 27, 2011 9:06 AM

"Dancing in the Moonlight" by King Harvest.

"I Keep Forgetting" (gotta have some Michael McDonald on this Friday and Steve MUST sing along over the music at some point)

Posted by Breanne | May 27, 2011 9:09 AM

Running from the Cops - Phantogram
Watching the Wheels - John Lennon
Calling Dr. Love - KISS
Coming Up - Paul McCartney
Vicki Waiting - Prince
Nightswimming - R.E.M.
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
Waiting on a Friend - Rolling Stones
Twisting - They Might Be Giants

How's that for a variety?

Posted by tmpletz | May 27, 2011 9:09 AM

Coheed & Cambria - The Suffering

Weezer - Keep Fishin'

U2 - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World

Bright Eyes - Another Travelin' Song

Pavement - Stop Breathin'

Modest Mouse - Workin' on Leavin' the Livin' (triple whammy!)

Posted by Chris | May 27, 2011 9:10 AM

Burning Photographs - Ryan Adams
Crying - TV On the Radio
Everlasting Everything - Wilco
Walking After You - Foo Fighters

Posted by Stephanie | May 27, 2011 9:11 AM

It would shatter The Current's 'no Journey' policy, but "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' .... that's three!

That said, I'd much rather hear Living for the City...

Posted by Chris | May 27, 2011 9:11 AM

Wishing and Hoping -- Dusty Springfield

Knowing Me Knowing You -- Abba

Posted by lou | May 27, 2011 9:11 AM

It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry - Glasvegas

Burning Down the House - The Talking Heads

Posted by ken | May 27, 2011 9:13 AM

Sticking w/ the Mike Mills theme, how about the most beautiful piano part he ever wrote, a little "Nightswimming"?

Posted by Kevin | May 27, 2011 9:13 AM

Bob Dylan-Rollin' and Tumblin'

Posted by Jim | May 27, 2011 9:14 AM

"Rolling In The Deep" - Adele

"Fixing A Hole" - The Beatles

"Wishing and Hoping" (and thinking and planing and dreaming and praying) - Dusty Springfield (you laid out the challenge)


Posted by Patrick | May 27, 2011 9:14 AM

Elvis Costello & the Attractions-Sittin' and Thinkin'
Wilco-Wishful Thinking

Posted by Jim | May 27, 2011 9:16 AM

"Licking Stick — Licking Stick" by James Brown

Posted by tmpletz | May 27, 2011 9:18 AM

"Swimming" by Breathe Owl Breathe

Posted by Sarah | May 27, 2011 9:18 AM

"Gin Blossoms - Cheatin'" from the album "new miserable experience"

To tie it in even better this is what I was listening to at 14.

Posted by James | May 27, 2011 9:19 AM

It's a bit of a morose instrumental (used to great effect in, well, "Jerry Maguire") but you probably can't beat "Sitting Still Moving Still Staring Outlooking" by His Name Is Alive for sheer gerund density.

Posted by Jonathan | May 27, 2011 9:20 AM

I don't think some people understand what a gerund is. It is a noun. The majority of suggestions are using verbs that end in "ing" instead of nouns that end in "ing"

Posted by Sarah | May 27, 2011 9:20 AM

His Name Is Alive: "Sitting Still Moving Still Staring Outlooking"

Posted by Jonathan | May 27, 2011 9:22 AM

Workin' on Leavin' the Livin' - Modest Mouse

Posted by tj | May 27, 2011 9:22 AM

Thank you Sarah...I AGREE!! It's giving me seizures!!

Posted by Word-Nerd | May 27, 2011 9:23 AM

"Running, Jumping, Standing Still" -- Pat DiNizio (lead singer of The Smithereens)

Posted by (JL) | May 27, 2011 9:24 AM

"Jackie-ing" Thelonius Monk

Posted by jeff skarphol | May 27, 2011 9:24 AM

"Jackie-ing" Thelonius Monk

Posted by jeff | May 27, 2011 9:26 AM

Kicking and Screaming- Miley Cyrus

Posted by dave in nc | May 27, 2011 9:26 AM

"Crying, Waiting, Hoping" - Buddy Holly

Posted by IndyR | May 27, 2011 9:27 AM

Missing Persons
Walking in LA

Cheers

Posted by Sam Fsicher | May 27, 2011 9:27 AM

More than a FEELING by Boston!!!!

By the way, I have a degree in English and also cannot explain gerunds. I know grammar but can't explain it.

Posted by Heather | May 27, 2011 9:28 AM

Coming to America - Neil Diamond

Just because I don't feel embarassed requesting it after someone else requested Miley Cyrus.

Posted by Tommy | May 27, 2011 9:28 AM

Hmm...maybe none of mine work. :-P

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gerund

Posted by tmpletz | May 27, 2011 9:29 AM

I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
Twisting the Night Away - Sam Cooke

Posted by Shelley | May 27, 2011 9:29 AM

What's He Building in There - Tom Waits (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE????)

Trampolining - Ice Palace

The Only Living Boy in New York - Paul Simon

Looking at the World From the Bottom of a Well - Mike Doughty

Posted by Jess | May 27, 2011 9:30 AM

Lovin', touchin', squeezin' - Journey
Stayin' alive - Bee Gees
Learning to fly - Pink Floyd

Posted by Jen K | May 27, 2011 9:30 AM

"The Bidding" by Tally Hall is a pretty darn good song!

Posted by Sarah | May 27, 2011 9:30 AM

"Rolling" -- Soul Coughing (is that 2?)

Posted by Jim | May 27, 2011 9:31 AM

Oops- Sarah, you're right, I just got fixated on the "-ing" thing.

Posted by Jonathan | May 27, 2011 9:32 AM

"I'm Not Calling You a Liar" - Florence and the Machine
"Drumming Song" - Florence and the Machine
"Blinding" - Florence and the Machine
"Falling" - Florence and the Machine

All from the Lungs album. They love the gerund.

Posted by Tommy | May 27, 2011 9:33 AM

Walking after midnight by pasty cline

Posted by Tyler brickle | May 27, 2011 9:34 AM

Wow! People really did not get this one did they?...

Posted by wellst | May 27, 2011 9:39 AM

The Politics Of Dancing - Re-Flex

Posted by Joshua | May 27, 2011 9:45 AM

You guys have the gerunds right - "Dreaming" is the subject - as in "Dreaming is free"
Nightclubbing - again the subject
Burning Down the House - a gerund phrase, as in "Burning down the house (subject) wasn't a very good idea."

Thanks for making all of us grammar nerds out here feel smart! :)

Posted by Michelle | May 27, 2011 9:50 AM

This is from Wikipedia, if it helps:
As applied to English, it refers to the usage of a verb (in its -ing form) as a noun (for example, the verb "learning" in the sentence "Learning is an easy process for some").[2]

Posted by Amy | May 27, 2011 9:50 AM

This whole discussion is what makes me love the Current and MPR so much. Yay grammar nerds! (Or yay for people like me who are not grammar nerds but just want to understand what a gerund is!)

Posted by Sarah | May 27, 2011 9:57 AM

Obviously the idea of gerunds has been clouded by the overly simplistic application of the rule "verb+ing = gerund." That's not true, because there is also a pure verb form that uses the -ing form, as in, "I'm ranting about grammar." (Present progressive form, I think.) Most of the song suggestions fall into this category.

There is also a use of the verb+ing form as an adjective, as in 'burning logs' or 'a blinding flash."

Gerunds are uses of the verb form as a noun, which means you would still need a verb in your sentence. Thus, "Dreaming is free" clearly uses "dreaming as a gerund, while "I'm rolling" uses rolling as a verb. Keep trying!

Posted by Dave Linton | May 27, 2011 10:27 AM

Obviously the idea of gerunds has been clouded by the overly simplistic application of the rule "verb+ing = gerund." That's not true, because there is also a pure verb form that uses the -ing form, as in, "I'm ranting about grammar." (Present progressive form, I think.) Most of the song suggestions fall into this category.

There is also a use of the verb+ing form as an adjective, as in 'burning logs' or 'a blinding flash."

Gerunds are uses of the verb form as a noun, which means you would still need a verb in your sentence. Thus, "Dreaming is free" clearly uses "dreaming as a gerund, while "I'm rolling" uses rolling as a verb. Keep trying!

Posted by Dave Linton | May 27, 2011 11:08 AM

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