Cultural English 448 -“Que Sera Sera”; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 448.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 448. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Today we’re going to talk about another famous song – this one is called “Que Sera, Sera.” We’ll also talk about a well-known book called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a book that changed how many people thought about American history. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

We begin this Café with a popular song from the 1950s called “Que Sera, Sera.” “Que Sera, Sera” was a song written by Ray Evans and Jay Harold Livingston.

They wrote the song for the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much, which is a very good movie. The movie is a remake of Hitchcock’s 1934 movie of the same name. A “remake” (remake) is when basically you do the same movie again. It is rather unusual, at least nowadays, for the same director to remake one of his own movies, but that’s what Hitchcock did, and the movie was very successful in its 1956 edition. So, this song, “Que Sera, Sera,” was written especially for that 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much.

The Man Who Knew Too Much starred Jimmy Stewart, one of the great American actors of his era, as Ben McKenna and Doris Day as his wife, Jo. In the movie, the two go to the country of Morocco in Africa with their son. They go there on a family vacation. While on vacation, they meet a man named Louis Bernard. Later, the McKennas are out for a walk, and they see Louis again, just after he is stabbed. “To be stabbed” (stabbed) means to be stuck with a knife. Someone takes a knife and puts it into your body.

Well, as Louis is dying, he tells Ben and his wife Jo that there is going to be an assassination. An “assassination” (assassination) is the killing, usually the planned killing, of an important person such as a political leader. When Ben and Jo return to their hotel room, they find that their son has been kidnapped – someone has taken their son from them. Well, Ben and Jo decide to go to London to find their son and to stop this assassination.

In London, they find themselves at a dinner party in the home of an ambassador. The “ambassador” (ambassador) of a country is an official representative of that country in another country. So, the ambassador’s job is to represent his or her country’s “interests,” we would say, in another country. Jimmy Stewart’s character Ben wants to look around the house to see if he can find their son. So, he has his wife, Jo – played by Doris Day – distract everyone at the party. “To distract” is to get people to pay attention to something so that they don’t see something else.

In this case, Jo sings a song so that everyone listens and is watching her while Ben hopes to look around the house. What does she do to distract everyone at the party? Well, of course she sings a song. Doris Day was not only a famous actress at this time, but also a famous singer. She began her career as a singer before going into acting. What song does she sing? “Que Sera, Sera.”

This song for Doris Day became what we might call her “signature song.” When we say something is your “signature (signature) song” or “signature” anything, really, we mean that it is the one that you are most famous for, the one that people associate with you. The song became the most well-known song for these composers, Evans and Livingston.

In 1957, “Que Sera, Sera” won the Academy Award for best original song. The Academy Awards are given to the best movies and things associated with movies in the United States. They’re also called the Oscars. “Que Sera, Sera” is a song about accepting the fact that you cannot know what will happen in the future. It begins with a young girl asking her mother what she will be like as an adult.

The song begins:

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother,
“What will I be?
Will I be pretty?
Will I be rich?”
Here’s what she said to me

Jo, the singer of the song, begins by saying that when she was a little girl, she asked her mother, “What will I be?” meaning, “What will I be like as an adult?” or perhaps even, “What will I become when I grow up?” We sometimes ask children what they want to be when they grow up – firefighter, a doctor, a lawyer.

When I was going up, you know what I wanted to be? A podcaster. Yeah. That’s right. I thought to myself, “As soon as someone invents the Internet and something called podcasting, that’s what I want to do.” And here I am.

The girl in the song wants to know if she will be pretty and rich as an adult. She wants to know if her future will be happy. Her mother tells her that no one can know what the future holds – that is, what will happen in the future. So, the mother responds to her little girl:

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

“Que sera, sera” here means “whatever will be, will be.” Her mother tells her that “the future is not ours to see,” meaning we can’t know what will happen in the future. Instead, we can only say, “Whatever will be, will be,” meaning whatever happens will happen, and there’s nothing you can do about it, really.

Now, you may be asking yourself what language this expression “Que sera, sera” is from. Well, the expression in English is, “Whatever will be, will be.” That’s been used in English since at least the sixteenth century. You can find it written on the walls, for example, of a church in England. In Italian, there is apparently also an expression, “Che sarà sarà,” that was also used as a family motto or saying representing a certain person or group.

One of the song’s writers, Livingston, first heard the Italian version – “Che sarà sarà” – in a 1954 movie called The Barefoot Contessa. He thought it would be a good title for a song. Evan suggested changing the word “Che” in Italian to “Que,” which is Spanish, because he said there are more Spanish-speaking people in the world. However, this expression – “Que sera, sera” – is not exactly how it might be said in Spanish. So, in some ways, it’s an expression that no one would say other than in singing this song.

Next in the song, the girl has become a woman. She asks her sweetheart – which is an old-fashioned way of saying her boyfriend, in this case – if they will be happy. The word “sweetheart” (sweetheart) – one word – can be used for either a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Well, the girl in the song asks her sweetheart if they will be happy. She says:

When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart,
“What lies ahead?
Will we have rainbows
Day after day?”
Here’s what my sweetheart said

She begins by saying, “When I grew up” – when I got older – “and fell in love, I asked my sweetheart, ‘What lies ahead?’” The question “What lies ahead?” means “What will happen in the future?” She says, “Will we have rainbows day after day?” A “rainbow” (rainbow) is an arch, like a half circle, of many colors we sometimes see in the sky after it rains. And then the sun comes out.

What she’s really asking here is, “Will we be happy?” People associate rainbows with happiness. In this case, her sweetheart gives her the same answer that her mother gave her.

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

Finally, the woman in the song is fully grown. She’s an adult, and she has her own children. She’s now a mother, and she tells her own children that they cannot know their futures, either; they must just accept whatever comes to them.

Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother,
“What will I be?
Will I be handsome?
Will I be rich?”
I tell them tenderly

Her children ask her if, when they grow up, they will be handsome and rich. “Handsome” (handsome) is what we use to describe a good-looking boy or man. “Pretty” (pretty) is usually used for a beautiful woman. The opposite of “handsome” would be “ugly,” and the opposite of “pretty” would also be “ugly.”

The mother in the song doesn’t tell her boys they would be ugly. She instead gives them the news about their future “tenderly.” “Tenderly” (tenderly) means gently. She’s not going to tell them in a mean voice. She’s going to give them this information, but in a nice way.

Many people today still know this song, especially the chorus of the song, the lines of the song that are repeated during the song several times. When something happens that is out of a person’s control, you might hear an American say, “Que sera, sera,” coming from this song.

For example, if a person is waiting to find out about some important event, like getting a promotion for their job or seeing whether this beautiful girl will say yes to going out on a date, the American might say or be told by someone else, “Que sera, sera,” meaning you should relax. Don’t worry about it, because you can’t control the future. This is a lot easier to say than to do, of course – or, as we say in English, “It’s easier said than done.”

Now let’s turn to our next topic on this Café, the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. Dee Brown was born in 1908 and died in December of 2002. He was a librarian at the University of Illinois for many of those years, but more importantly, he was a writer, an author. During his life, he published 30 books, including the one we’re going to talk about, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which was published in 1970.

The book tells the story of the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, in 1890. A “massacre” is the killing of many people who are unable to defend themselves, who typically don’t have any guns or weapons. Often, a massacre is done by an army or another group of people who have weapons that the people they are killing do not. Brown’s history of this event is important because it changed how people understood what happened not only at Wounded Knee Creek, but to Native Americans in general in American history.

At the time of the Battle of Wounded Knee in the late nineteenth century, and until the time of Brown’s book, many people believed the Native Americans were mostly violent and cruel during the years of the American Expansion, or movement into what is now the Midwestern and Western United States. The average person believed that the U.S. Army was only defending itself and protecting the settlers during these many battles with the Native Americans or, what were more commonly called at the time, simply “Indians.”

Brown’s book showed that this was not always true. When the American West was being settled, or moved to, by white Americans who were setting up permanent homes there, there were already, of course, people living there. Who knew? These people we now call “Native Americans” or sometimes called “American Indians.” The white American settlers, people who were moving in to settle the areas, just took the land from the Native Americans. Many settlers and Native Americans died during this process of expansion, which was really of course a slow conquest, or taking by force of this territory from those who were already living there.

Many times, the Native Americans were not able to fight against the U.S. Army, which was used to make the land safe for these white settlers, because the Army, of course, had more powerful weapons than the Native Americans. The Native Americans had knives. The Army had guns. Guess who wins in that fight? Many battles were fought, and slowly the Native Americans lost almost all of their land. Eventually, the Native Americans were either killed or moved to smaller areas of land set aside especially for them, called “reservations.” These reservations are still around today. There is one about two hours from where I live here in Los Angeles.

One of the last major, or important, battles between the U.S. Army and the Native Americans was at a place called Wounded Knee in the state of South Dakota, which is in the north-central part of the United States, just west of the great state of Minnesota, where I was born. During this Battle of Wounded Knee, approximately 300 Native American men, women, and children from the Sioux “tribe,” or group of Native Americans, were killed.

Dee Brown – who, by the way, was a white man, not a Native American – used the autobiographies, or stories written about one’s own life, and other descriptions written by Native Americans. This was the first time most people had heard the story as told not by the winners of the battle – the white settlers in the Army – but by the losers, the Native Americans. There’s an old saying that winners write history, so we usually get only to understand the point of view, or the perspective, of the people who win a war. Well, here Brown tried to give us the other side of the story: the story of those who lost.

It was a very different story than the one people knew. This book also talked about other battles and massacres that involved Native Americans. It talked about the many things that Native Americans were promised, that they were never given. The Battle of Wounded Knee began when Native Americans were being collected and taken from their lands by the U.S. Army. Some got away, or escaped, but were later captured. “To be captured” (captured) means you are caught by someone and basically made a prisoner.

While at Wounded Knee, there was a fight between a Native American and an American soldier, and the American soldier was shot. In response to this, the other soldiers massacred the Native Americans, 300 Native Americans. When Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee was published in 1970, people began to realize how terribly the Native Americans were treated during the late nineteenth century in the United States. The book showed evidence of planned destruction or elimination of the Native Americans during this part of our history, and because of that, changed the way that a lot of people understood American history.

I remember when I was growing up in the 1970s, my father would often talk to us about how poorly the American government had treated the Native Americans. My guess is he probably read this book. I remember seeing this book on our bookshelf. So, I’m pretty sure that’s where he got his information. I remember him telling us about the terrible things that were done and how poorly, as I say, the American Indians, or Native Americans, were treated by the white settlers who moved into the Midwestern and Western parts of the United States. Of course, the Native Americans were also mistreated in the Eastern part and Southern part of the United States, too.

So, if you want a very different view of Native Americans than what you would get by watching American movies, especially old American movies, I can definitely recommend Dee Brown’s book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Now let’s answer some of the questions you have sent to us.

Our first question comes from Phoebe (Phoebe) in China. Phoebe wants to know the difference between “demand,” “request,” and “requirement.” I’m going to start with “requirement” (requirement). A “requirement” is something that you have to do. It’s something that is necessary. It must be done or it must take place.

A “request” (request) is when you ask for something. It’s when you ask, usually, someone to do something or to give you something. A “demand” (demand) is when you tell someone they must do something. You in effect give someone something that they are required to do or tell them that they must do something. They don’t have a choice. They have to do it. “Request” is like asking. You’re asking a question or you’re asking, typically, for something.

A “demand” is when you are ordering someone. You are telling someone what they must do. The government, for example, doesn’t request that you pay your taxes. It demands that you pay your taxes. It’s a requirement of being a citizen and working in the United States of America. In fact, it’s a requirement of anyone working in the U.S., even if you’re not a citizen.

“Demand,” “request,” and “requirement” are all nouns, but there are also verb forms. You can “require” someone to do something, you can “request” someone to do something, and you can “demand” someone to do something.

Our next question comes from Yuko (Yuko) in Japan. Yuko wants to know the difference between “discrimination” and “segregation.”

“Discrimination” (discrimination) is any unjust or unfair treatment of people because of some particular characteristic that they have – for example, their race (that is, the color of their skin), or their age, or whether they’re a man versus a woman. All of these could be ways of discriminating against someone. If you say, “I’m only going to allow white people into my restaurant,” that is discrimination against African Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, and so forth – anyone who is not white. There are certain kinds of discrimination which are illegal in the United States, which you cannot do even in your own private business.

“Segregation” (segregation) is when people are separated into groups and treated as a group away from people who are different from whatever characteristic you are using to segregate them, to divide them. Segregation usually involves people of a certain race, for example, being sent to a different school. So, all the African-American children will have to go to this school, and all the Asian-American children will have to go to that school, and all the white children can go to this school. That would be an example of segregation.

In United States history, segregation was a common policy in some places up through the 1950s and 1960s. African Americans had to ride in the back of the city buses. They were segregated. There was a separate place for them and they couldn’t go in the places that were just for the white people. That’s an example of segregation. During the 1950s and ‘60s, the government, through both court cases and legislation, changed the laws and made that kind of segregation illegal. Segregation is a kind of discrimination.

Now, I should point out that we use the verb “to discriminate” sometimes to mean “to distinguish.” It’s sometimes used as an adjective. “He’s a discriminating reader” – that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t read things by African Americans; it means that he only likes certain things. He only likes things of good quality, for example. So, there are some uses of that word “discriminate” – “discriminating” and “discrimination” – that could be positive or neutral.

Generally, however, when you hear the word “discrimination,” most people associate it with a negative meaning, which is when you treat people unjustly or unfairly because of some particular category that they happen to be in.

Our final question comes from Thuc Anh (Thuc Anh). I don’t have a country, but I’m guessing from, at some point, Vietnam. The question has to do with the phrase “a great deal,” which is something I often use in explaining things. I’ll use this expression a great deal. “A great deal” just means a lot, very much – a large amount. “I am hoping to make a great deal of money this year.” I am hoping to get a lot of money. I’m going to buy lottery tickets every week and hope that I win. Actually, that’s a pretty poor plan for trying to get rich.

You could also say, “I love pizza a great deal.” I like it a lot. I really like it. If I say, “This person had a great deal to do with some activity or action,” I mean they had a lot to do with it. They were very much involved in it. We can talk about having “a great deal of patience.” “A great deal of patience” would be a lot of patience – someone who is very patient. That would not be me, for example.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on the English Café.

Glossary

to stab – to stick someone or something with a sharp object

* Sheila stabbed her steak with her fork to hold it in place so she could cut it with her knife.

assassination – the planned killing of an important person

* Some people still believe that President John F. Kennedy’s assassination was planned by the U.S. government.

to distract – to get someone to pay attention to someone or something else

* Theo liked to watch movies on long flights to distract himself from the boredom of long hours sitting in an airplane.

signature – a song, book, piece of art, or saying that someone is famous for and that he or she is associated with

* Michelangelo’s signature work is the painting of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

sweetheart – an old-fashioned word for boyfriend or girlfriend

* My grandmother often talked about when she and my grandfather were sweethearts in the 1940s.

chorus – the lines of a song that are repeated several times throughout a song

* Usually the only part of a song anyone can remember is the chorus.

massacre – the killing of many people or animals at one time who are unable to defend themselves

* There was a massacre of the deer at the zoo when the lion got out of its cage.

to settle – to move somewhere and build a permanent home

* Diane travelled the world after college but finally decided to settle in the town where she grew up.

reservation – a piece of land set aside by the United States government where Native Americans were forced to live when their land was taken away from them

* Tourists can still visit some reservations in the American Southwest, especially ones in Arizona and New Mexico.

tribe – a small group of people who share a culture and history

* There are a number of different tribes in Africa who practice traditions that are hundreds of years old.

to capture – to take someone as a prisoner; to take someone by force

* Police captured the man who robbed the bank only hours after he committed the crime.

destruction – the action of causing so much damage to something that it cannot be repaired and no longer exists

* Many scientists worry about the affect the destruction of the rainforests will have on the planet’s weather.

demand – an urgent requirement or request; a requirement that something must be done

* I’m working late because of the boss’s demand that this work be done today.

request – the act of asking for something; expressing a desire for something

* The teacher granted the students’ request for two extra days to work on their difficult assignment.

requirement – something that must be done or provided; a necessity

* A requirement for becoming a professional soccer player is speed.

discrimination – the unjust or unfair treatment of different categories of people, especially because of race, age, or sex

* Our company is being sued for discrimination because none of our top managers are women.

segregation – the action of setting someone or something apart from other people or other things

* Before the 1960s, some parts of the U.S. had laws for the segregation of people of different races.

a great deal – a large amount; very much; to a great extent

* Kaila spent a great deal of time helping Mila with her college application.

What Insiders Know

Hair Drops

A hair drop is an “ornament” (something worn on the body or placed on something to make it more attractive) that was worn by men of the Plains tribes or the Plains Indians. The Plains Indians are a group of “indigenous” (native to an area) people who lived on the “plains” (flat areas of land) and “rolling hills” (rounded hills) of the Great Plains of North America. The Great Plains are a large area in the center of the country and includes the states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.

The hair drop is usually tied to a man’s hair and traditionally made of a “strip” (thin piece) of “leather” (material made from the skin of an animal, most often cows) that was decorated with “beads” (small, round pieces with a small hole through its center) and “porcupine” (an animal with many “quills” or needle-like pieces all around its body) quillwork. “Quillwork” is a form of “textile” (cloth; fabric) decoration that uses quills from porcupines and sometimes bird feathers.

During the 1800s as more and more Europeans arrived on the lands where the Plains Indians lived, new forms of design and decoration were used in making hair drops. “Glass beadwork” (ornaments made from glass beads), for example, became more common. In the late 19th century, hair drops were “incorporated in” (included as part of something else) with German silver “disks” (flat circles) which came to be known as “hair plates.” These hair plates were most popular from 1835 to 1870. Hair drops often had a “ceremonial importance” and considered an important part of celebrations or rituals that had spiritual or religious meaning.

Today, there is a lot of interest in hair drops, especially those made in the 1800s. They are considered highly “collectible” (wanted by people who want to have many of the same type of thing) and are sometimes sold at very high prices.