Break the Cycle

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• rock
• lyrics
• lead singer
• disturbing

• childhood
• alienation
• powerful
• pregnant

• essential

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

2001 was a great year for music. Now that it’s almost over, I want to review some of the best albums released in the last 12 months.
The first album I want to talk about is Break the Cycle by Staind. It was one of the best pure rock & roll records I’ve heard in a long time. It was also the best-selling American rock record of 2001. It sold over 4 million copies.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

The thing that makes Staind better than other rock bands is the quality of their lyrics. Aaron Lewis, the lead singer of Staind, uses his disturbing childhood experiences and feelings of alienation to write incredibly powerful lyrics.
For example, in the song “Outside,” Aaron sings:
All the times that I cried
All this wasting
It’s all inside
And I feel all this pain
Stuffed it down
It’s back again
And I lie here in bed
All alone
I can’t help what I feel
Tomorrow will be okay
Aaron says that he is still full of pain, and will always be able to write lyrics like this. But he also admits that, during a year when he was on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, sold 4 million records, put lots of money in the bank, and got his wife pregnant, he has no complaints.

 

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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