My favorite holiday is May 1, and that is for one reason, and one reason only: “The Lusty Month of May”. 🌼 To me, this tongue-in-cheek song from the movie Camelot embodies the playful, whimsical aspect of human nature, and everything that is delightful about springtime. The song gives us the feeling that spring is a time when we come alive and give in to the passionate, life-loving parts of our natures. It’s a time for us to run, and dance, and love, and not have a care in the world. It’s a time to exist in the moment, and revel in the earth as it blooms around us. But “The Lusty Month of May” is not only a great song. If you’re learning English, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to grow your vocabulary!
In this vocabulary post, you will learn 33 new English words through the lyrics to “The Lusty Month of May”. I hope you enjoy today’s vocab jam, Stepper! (And if you do like it, please share it! 🥰)
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Level Up Your Vocabulary with “The Lusty Month of May”
In English, we say that April showers bring May flowers. But, if this song is anything to go by, a lot more than flowers arrive in May! 😉💖
(By the way… Isn’t Vanessa Redgrave incredible?! I love her!)
It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray!
It’s here! It’s here! That shocking time of year
When tons of wickedlittle thoughts merrily appear!
It’s May! It’s May! That gorgeous holiday
When every maiden itches for fun, wholesomeor un-.
It’s mad! Oh, it’s gay! Depraved in every way!
Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks…
Everyone makes divinemistakes!
The lusty month of May!
It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May!
That darling month when everyone throws self-control away!
It’s time to do a wretchedthing or two,
And try to make each preciousday one you’ll always rue!
It’s May! It’s May! The month of “yes you may!”
The time for every frivolous whim, proper or im-.
It’s wild! It’s wild, it’s gay!
A libelous display!
The birds and bees with all of their vast amorous past Gazeat the human race aghast!
The lusty month of May!
This song is very playful with language. So, she’s using the word ‘lusty’, but we’re also meant to think of the word ‘lust’, which refers to sexual desire.
The song is being playful when it says “wholesome or un-“, but in conversation, we don’t do this. We would use the whole words, “wholesome or unwholesome”.
The song is being playful with words, so it’s not talking literally about libel. What it means is “such naughty behavior that it will sound like libel when people talk about it”.
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This cultured poem is certainly more useful for vocabulary development than the slightly unsophisticated short ditty I grew up with in Liverpool to celebrate this very special time of year!
It goes like this….
Hooray, hooray
The first of May
Outdoor sex
Begins today
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Hi Jennifer,
This cultured poem is certainly more useful for vocabulary development than the slightly unsophisticated short ditty I grew up with in Liverpool to celebrate this very special time of year!
It goes like this….
Hooray, hooray
The first of May
Outdoor sex
Begins today
All the best from Hamburg
Will
Ha! This is the Reader’s Digest version, I suppose! 🙂
Love it, Will. Thanks for visiting my post! Hope all is well in Hamburg!
Hi Jennifer！It seems that you made a typo of the IPA of “dreary”.
Zhanzhan
Oh dear! Thank you so much for catching this, Zhanzhan! I will change it this weekend! 🙂
High five for your eagle eyes!