Karaoke Korner

Get over it

Dido finds it hard to say goodbye to holiday hunk

Photograph courtesy of DPA

What clues can we get about what Dido�s singing about this week? Well, first she talks about the world changing two weeks ago then coming home with sand in her shoes. Yes, Dido�s had a holiday romance and now she�s back in her city flat, wishing she could recapture the magic of being able to �watch the sunset� and trying to remember she was happy before � before she knew she could �fly away,� that is. However, being a realist, Dido knows she has to forget this guy. She tells herself, �I should get on, forget you.� Get on can mean to physically get on top of something. However, it does have many other meanings, often idiomatic. Here, it is used to mean to manage or survive or to continue doing something, especially after an interruption and is often combined with things or life to show that, while whatever it is that has affected you, normal life must go on.

About Dido Armstrong

Name: Dido Armstrong

Nationality: British

Style: Pop

Label: Arista

Albums: No Angel (1999), Life for Rent (2003)

In brief: Born Florian Cloud De Bounevialle Armstrong, Dido took to music at an early age, entering London�s Guildhall School of Music aged 6, and by the time she was 10, Dido had already mastered the piano, violin and recorder. Dido�s teenage years were spent touring the UK as a classical musician and working as a waitress. She also enrolled as a law student in university. In 1995, Dido joined her brother Rollo and his band Faithless and she appeared on their multi-million selling debut album Reverence. In 1997, Dido met producer Clive Davis of Arista records. He heard some of Dido�s demos and later signed her on. Her debut album No Angel was released in 1999. Dido shot to fame when rap superstar Eminem used the track �Thank You� from No Angel for the chorus of his hit single �Stan.� She also made an appearance in the �Stan� video wearing a pregnancy suit and lying in the boot of a car before being dumped into a river. The track �Thank You� became a smash hit for Dido and the album went on to sell 12 million copies.

Official website: www.didomusic.com

If you like Dido, check out: Norah Jones, Nelly Furtado, Joss Stone, Beth Orton

Exercise

As discussed above, get on has many different usages, especially when combined with other words. We�ve given some here � all you have to do is check the usage and definition and then complete the sentences.

Phrase                       Usage

get on with someone            to have a friendly relationship with somebody

get onto someone            to contact somebody by telephone or letter

get on with something            to continue doing something, especially after an interruption

Sentences

Use the above definitions to complete the following spoken sentences: 1.            �Jane�s got a real attitude problem. She really doesn�t ..................             anyone.�

2.         �Look, I�m too busy � if I don�t .......................... this work now, I�ll never finish it.�

3.                   �Give me Noi�s number � I�ll ........................... her later.�

�Sand In My Shoes�

By Dido

Two weeks away it feels like
the whole world should�ve
changed
But I�m home now
And things still look the same
I think I�ll leave it till tomorrow
to unpack
Try to forget for one more night
That I�m back in my flat on the
road
Where the cars never stop going
through the night
To a life where I can�t watch the
sunset
I don�t have time
I don�t have time

Chorus
I�ve still got sand in my shoes
And I can�t shake the thought of you
I should get on, forget you
But why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would�ve been confused but
I wanna see you again

Tomorrow�s back to work and down to sanitation
Should run a bath and then clear up the mess I made before I left here
Try to remind myself that I was happy here
Before I knew that I could get on the plane and fly away
From the road where the cars never stop going through the
night
To a life where I can watch sunset and take my time
Take all our time

Chorus

I wanna see you again
Two weeks away, all it takes to change and turn me around I�ve
Fallen
I walked away and never said that I wanted to see you again

(Chorus x2)

I wanna see you again
I wanna see you again

Vocabulary

flat (n): a set of rooms for living in, including a kitchen, usually on one floor of a building
sanitation (n): in literal use, the equipment and systems that keep places clean, especially by removing human waste; here, probably used cleverly to mean a general return to sanity (the state of having a normal healthy mind)
recapture (v): to win back a place, position, etc. that was previously taken from you
realist (n): a person who accepts and deals with a situation as it really is and does not try to pretend that it is different
interruption (n): something that temporarily stops an activity or a situation; a time when an activity is stopped
classical (adj): (of music) written in a Western musical tradition, usually using an established form
multi- (prefix): used to signify many of the object it prefixes
debut (n): the first public appearance of a performer or sports player
demo (n): a record or tape with an example of somebody�s music on it