BBC Learning English Thursday
British Broadcasting Corporation 2007
SIG
William:
Hello and welcome to the Music Show, my name is William Kremer. Today were going to be learning some words about being in a group or system. Well also be hearing from the rock band Thursday, who have recently been touring the UK with their friends, My Chemical Romance.
I say rock band, but Thursday are famously careful about categories in music in fact, they even chose the name Thursday because it didnt give any indication of the kind of music they made. Well, this is the kind of music that Thursday makes:
Thursday - Counting 5-4-3-2-1 That was Counting 5-4-3-2-1 from Thursdays 2006 album A City by the Light Divided.
Thursdays attitude to musical categories is typical of the bands desire to do what they want, without worrying about what people will think. Im going to play you a clip from an interview with Thursdays singer Geoff Rickly. Geoff is talking about how bands can educate, or teach their fans. As you listen, try to hear a phrase which means to do or say what you want without worrying about what other people will think:
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Geoff:
I think the only way that a band can educate is to just really be themselves fearlessly
William:
Listen again. What is it that bands can do fearlessly?
Geoff:
I think the only way that a band can educate is to just really be themselves fearlessly
William:
Geoff says that the only way a band can educate its fans is to be themselves. This phrase to be yourself means to not change the way you are because of what you think other people want. For example, imagine your friend has a job interview, you might say, Just be yourself. Youll be fine. If your friend tries very hard to be the person the interviewers are looking for, he might get confused, so its better for him to just be himself, to be natural.
One thing to note here is that we dont say I am myself the phrase always takes the infinitive to be oneself. So, if you wanted to talk about yourself, you might say, I always try to be myself.
Thursday Sugar in the Sacrament
William:
Sugar in the Sacrament by Thursday. Sometimes, it's hard to be yourself. In the next clip, Geoff Rickly says that in his country, the USA, there are many people that are afraid to say what theyre actually thinking. Try to hear what he thinks they are afraid of:
Geoff:
In my country I think the biggest social problem is people feeling that theyre not allowed to say what they actually think because theyre afraid that people will misconstrue them as being un-American or as being soft or weak I think
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thats a huge problem. You know, on a personal level, like, people just, they feel like they need to fit into something.
William:
Geoff says that they, the American people, are afraid of being misconstrued, which means misunderstood. If you misconstrue a situation or a person, you get the wrong idea about it or them. So we misconstrue people as being something they arent. But what does Geoff think the American people are worried theyll be misconstrued as being? Listen again.
Geoff:
In my country I think the biggest social problem is people feeling that theyre not allowed to say what they actually think because theyre afraid that people will misconstrue them as being un-American or as being soft or weak I think thats a huge problem. You know, on a personal level, like, people just, they feel like they need to fit into something.
William:
Geoff says that people are afraid of being misconstrued as being un-American. Un-American is an adjective sometimes used in the United States to describe people or activities that are thought to be dangerous to American society, or maybe things that are just different from normal American ways of thinking. It's a slightly unusual word, because we dont normally say un-English or unFrench or un-Japanese and so on.
Geoff also says that people need to fit into something. To fit in is a phrasal verb. If you fit in, it means you become part of a group of people who accept you. So, for example, children at school try to fit in with their classmates But sometimes, they try so hard to fit in, they feel they cant be themselves.
If something or someone fits into something it can mean that they become part of a system.
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Geoff is proud of not fitting in! After all, hes sure that Thursdays music doesnt fit into any traditional music categories, remember?
As always, you can find out more about the music in this programme and the vocabulary by going to the Music Show page on BBC Learning English dot com. Ill leave you with another Thursday track - At this Velocity.
Thursday At this velocity
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