Karaoke Korner

Give and take

Joss Stone leaves her addicted lover and gets on with her life

By Matt Leppard, Photograph courtesy of AP

Joss Stone clearly isn�t shy of singing about the big issues. This song is actually about drug abuse destroying a relationship. In the song, we hear that Joss�s ex-boyfriend (we can assume) is wasted, which can mean strongly affected by alcohol or drugs; that he needs a fix, which can mean something that you need frequently, especially an illegal drug; and that her boyfriend is �sniffing on snow� � snow is street slang for cocaine.

So Joss wants to take her life back from this user and abuser � and who can blame her?

In actual fact, taking something back can be used in two ways. The first is obvious � you are simply taking back what you�ve lent or given somebody else. The other usage, common in spoken English, is to take back a comment or statement. For example: �I don�t like what you said about my friend and I want you to take it back.� The natural response would be �OK, I take it back.� That is, if you mean it; if not, then you would probably say, �I stand by my comments and will not take them back.� In this use, can you guess from the context what stand by means?

�You Had Me�

By Joss Stone

You had me
You lost me
You�re wasted
You cost me
I don�t want you here messing with my mind

Spitting in my eyes and I still see
Tried to keep me down
I�m breaking free
I don�t want no part in your next fix
Someone needs to tell you this is it

Hey listen, you�ll be missin�
Out on all my love and my kissing
Make your mistakes on your own time
When you come down you�re just no good to
have around
Instead of making money, you took mine

Chorus
You had me
You lost me
You�re wasted
You cost me
I don�t want you here messing with my mind
I�ve realised in time
That my eyes are not blind
I�ve seen it before
I�m taking back my life

You tried to trade on my naivety
But the things you do and say embarrass me
See once upon a time I was your fool
But the one I leave behind is you

Hey listen, you�ll be missin�
Out on all my love and my kissing
Make your mistakes on your own time
When you come down you�re just no good to
have around
Instead of making money you took mine

(Chorus)

Vodka and a packet of cigarettes
That�s all it used to be, but now
You�re sniffing on snow when you�re feeling low
Suffocating dreams that could have been
Maybe for a minute I was down with that
But it didn�t take long for me to see the light
You swore you had control of it
But when I stepped back you slipped on your supply

(Chorus)

Taking it back, I�m taking it back
Taking back my life
Taking it back, I�m taking it back
Taking back my life
Ain�t nobody got no business stressing all the time
Taking it back, I�m taking it back
Taking back my life

(Chorus)

Taking it back, I�m taking it back
Taking back my life
Taking it back, I�m taking it back
Taking back my life
Ain�t nobody got no business stressing all the time
Taking it back, I�m taking it back
Taking back my life

About Joss Stone
Name: Joscelyn Eve Stoker
Nationality: British
Style: Soulful pop
Label: S-Curve Records
Albums: The Soul Sessions (2003) and Mind, Body and Soul (2004)
In brief: Joss who? Joscelyn Eve Stoker, that�s who. Stoker was born and raised in the south of England on a diet of soul classics. Taking a chance, she auditioned for a BBC TV show, Star For a Night, aged just 14, and captivated the audience with her interpretation of �(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.� Distancing herself from the plastic pop of Britney and Christina and aligning herself with serious musicians like Norah Jones, Joscelyn Stoker became Joss Stone. She then flew to New York to find fame and fortune through meeting S-Curve Records� CEO Steve Greenberg. Impressed by her talents, Greenberg immediately teamed Stone up with a selection of Miami soul session musicians and the result was her debut album, The Soul Sessions, which sold more than two million copies despite being an album of cover versions. This was followed up by Mind, Body and Soul, which features 12 tracks written or co-written by Stone herself.
Official website: www.s-curverecords.com/joss/
If you like Joss Stone, check out: Norah Jones, Jill Scott and Nikka Costa.

Exercises

The word take is used in a number of idioms. Some are given here along with definitions. The problem for you is that we�ve mixed up the words and definitions � and your job is to match them up and then complete the sentences that follow. Check the answers on the Cheat Sheet on page 40 and try to use these idioms in your conversations.

Idioms

1. take the biscuit
2. can�t take somebody
3. have (got) what it takes
4. take it from me (that ...)
5. take it or leave it

Definitions

A. you cannot trust somebody to behave well in public
b. to be the most surprising, annoying, anywhere etc. thing that has happened or that somebody has done
c. used to say that you do not care if somebody accepts or rejects your offer
d. used to emphasise that what you are going to say is probably the truth
e. to have the qualities, ability, etc. needed to be successful

Sentences

1. �I don�t believe you did that! You really ...............................................�

2. �You always make a mess. I ...............................................�

3. �You�re going to be a football hero. You�ve ...............................................�

4. �.................................... Arsenal are going to win the Premier League this year.�

5. �You can ..................................... � that�s all I�m going to give you.�

Vocabulary

naivety (n): the quality of being innocent, usually in a situation where somebody takes advantage of that innocence
embarrass (v): to make somebody feel shy, awkward or ashamed, especially in a social situation
low (n): a very difficult time in somebody�s life or career
suffocate (v): to die because there is no air to breathe; to kill somebody by not letting them breathe air
swear (v): to make a serious promise to do something
supply (n): an amount of something that is provided or available to be used
abuse (v): to treat a person or an animal in a cruel or violent way
audition (v): to take part in a short performance given by an actor, a singer, etc., so that somebody can decide whether they are suitable to act in a play, sing in a concert, etc.
captivate (v): to keep somebody�s close attention by being extremely interesting, attractive, etc.
align (yourself) with somebody (phrasal v): to publicly support an organisation, a set of opinions or a person that you agree with