Hey there! This is TOP episode 240. Learn English with HIM ‘Join Me In Death’
Are you tired of lacking confidence when speaking English? Does it block you from achieving your true goals? This podcast is the place for you. This is Teacher Ola Podcast. My name’s Ola Mierniczak and I empower English learners to become confident speakers. The key to fluency is in your pocket. You’ll boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar and improve your pronunciation. Enjoy your journey to fluency!
Hello there! Thank you for pressing play, for deciding to work on your English! I’m stoked you chose this podcast. Thank you! Today I saw that Ville Valo gave a concert in Katowice last Saturday or something and it brought so many memories! He used to be a vocalist in the band HIM. Are you a millennial who remembers HIM? OMG! That romantic dark music was so important to me when I was a teenager, oh my lord! It brought back memories! Jeezz! The band called it quits in 2017. But I had no idea that the leader of that band started his solo career. Do you remember that heartagram?! Oh! Ok! Let’s jump in into today’s lyrics!
One. Baby join me in death
How dark is that! Well, notice that the word ‘join’ is not followed by any preposition. Join someone or join something.
Join the club.
Join us.
Join them.
The word ‘join’ CAN be followed by a preposition. Listen to this:
Join WITH somebody or something.
Join with that group.
You can also join A to B. For instance:
That house on an island is joined to the mainland.
One more example sentence:
If you can’t beat them, join them.
Two. Our lives have just begun
I just wanted to point out the use of present perfect tense. ‘Our lives have just begun’. ‘Have’ because the subject is plural ‘our lives’. ‘Just’ because it happened recently, and ‘begun’ is the third form of the irregular verb ‘begin’. So it’s ‘begin – began – begun’. ‘Just’ is commonly an indicator of present perfect tense. Or past perfect. But perfect! For instance:
I’ve just finished work.
I’ve just begun work.
Three. But already we’re considering escape from this world.
To consider is to think about something carefully, especially in order to make a decision. For instance:
I’d like some time to consider.
We are considering various possibilities.
In the song, they are considering escape from this world. It should be in fact either:
We’re considering AN escape from this world.
or:
We’re considering escapING from this world.
So you can consider something or doing something. For example:
Have you considered starting your own business?
Four. And we’ve waited for so long.
It’s just another example of a present perfect tense. This is exactly how I learned this tense. From songs. Here we go:
I’ve waited for so long.
Five. Was so anxious to be together.
Anxious has more than one meaning. We’ve already talked about it in other episodes, but hey! Learning is repeating. So the word ‘anxious’ has two meanings that are… opposite. So anxious means ‘worried or nervous’, but also: ‘wanting something very much’. See? It’s the opposite! Listen to these two example sentences:
The bus was late and I was getting anxious.
I was getting nervous, right?
And this:
I’m anxious to see you.
I can’t wait to see you.
Six. Won’t you die tonight for love.
Won’t you. Will you not? Won’t you? Nothing special really, but good to practice the negative form of will. Remember about the /əʊ/ sound. Won’t, won’t.
Won’t you come?
Won’t you agree?
Seven. This world is a cruel place.
Again, it’s all about pronunciation. /ˈkruːəl/, /ˈkruːəl/. Ok, to be cruel is to have a desire to cause physical or mental pain and make somebody suffer. Cruel is causing physical or mental pain and making somebody suffer. A short example sentence:
The truth is cruel.
Eight. So before life tears us apart let death bless me with you.
To tear apart. To make somebody feel very unhappy or worried. Or: to destroy something violently, especially by pulling it to pieces. Two example sentences:
It tears me apart to see you cry. Yes? It worries me, it makes me unhappy.
Nothing can tear us apart! Ok, nothing can destroy us, separate us.
Nine. So before life tears us apart let death bless me with you.
To bless someone. This word is actually a C1 level, so normally I’d say is not something you need for daily communication. But. There are expressions in daily life you do need. For instance:
Bless you. You use it when somebody sneezes.
Or
God bless you. It’s like asking God to protect somebody.
And to be blessed with something is to have a special quality, a special ability.
I’m blessed with good health.
Ten. This life ain’t worth living.
Once again in this podcast we see a verse with ‘ain’t. That is a negation. This life ain’t worth living means this life is not worth living. Let me give you another sentence with this expression:
It ain’t worth buying.
Notice how we use the verb with an -ing ending after ‘worth’. Worth doing something.
This film is worth watching.
Practice time! Listen to these ten sentences and repeat them out loud. Let’s go:
If you can’t beat them, join them.
I’ve just begun work.
Have you considered starting your own business?
I’ve waited for so long.
I’m anxious to see you.
Won’t you agree?
The truth is cruel.
Nothing can tear us apart!
Bless you.
This film is worth watching.
I hope you learned something new today. If you want to support my work please leave a review or a like or a heart that will keep this podcast running. Thank you! Also! Go to YouTube and listen to the song and see how much you understand.
Don’t forget to download the Worksheet. If you’re a member of TOPeople you already get my newsletter. If not, go and grab it at teacherola.com/240.
See you next week! Stay fearless and say it out loud! I’m your teacher, Teacher Ola, and you were listening to Teacher Ola Podcast. Bye for now!