MICHAEL JACKSON. THRILLER. TUNE INTO ENGLISH

Hi my dear friends.  Today we are going to read about Michael Jackson and his "Thriller" an iconic song and choreography that Michael made worldwide famous!

Hola mis queridos amigos. Hoy vamos a leer sobre Michael Jackson y su "Thriller" una icónica canción y coreografía que Michael hizo mundialmente famosas.

Info:  SPEAK UP magazine.

Photos:  RTVE.es (3)  /  posterlounge.es /  Posters.es

TUNE INTO ENGLISH.   MICHAEL JACKSON'S THRILLER

"Thriller" is Michael Jackson's biggest-selling single.The seventh and final release from the 1982 eponymous biggest-selling album ever, and accompanied by a fourteen-minute video by iconic horror-director  John Landis.  This is, to date, the only music video included in the US National Film Registry.

The song is in the form of a ghost story, with Jackson using the present simple and second person throughout, placing the listener directly in the moment.  The first verse sets the scene, late at night, an ominous presence, and the protagonist frozen with fear.  The next verse takes the listener inside a house, trapped and with something scary coming closer.  The tone shifts in the third verse, with Jackson revealing that the listener is his girlfriend and they are at the cinema, with "the terror on the screen"

The song ends with a chilling monologue and laugh from legendary horror actor Vincent Price, revealing that the thriller is in fact the urge to dance.  Price foolishly accepted $20,000 payments for his work instead of royalties, not expecting the song to be a hit.  After all, as Jackson's record company asked: "Who wants a single about monsters?"

Written by Rod Temperton, the original title was "Starlight" but producer Quincy Jones asked him to rewrite it more like Edgar Allan Poe.  He came up with "Thriller" and used numerous horror motifs (midnight, evil, terror, etc) to write a song forever associated with Halloween, despite the single being released in November.

THRILLER -  THE SONG

It's close to midnight  /something evil's  lurking in the dark / Under the moonlight

You see a sight that almost stops your heart  /  You try to scream

But terror takes the sound before you make it  /  You start to freeze

as horror looks you right between the eyes  /  You're paralyzed  / You hear the door slam

and realize there's nowhere left to run  /  You feel the cold hand

and wonder if you'll ever see the sun  /  You close your eyes / and hope that this is just imagination, girl

But all the while you hear a creature creepin' / up behind  / You are out of time

They're out to get you  / There's demons closing in on every side / They will possess you

unless you change that number on your dial 

Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close / together, yeah

All through the night I'll save you from the terror  / on the screen /I'll make you see

Darkness falls across the land   /   The midnight hour is close at hand  /  Creatures crawl in search of blood  /  To terrorize y'alls neighbourhood  /  And whosoever shall be found  /  Without the soul for getting down  /  Must stand and face the hounds of hell  /  And rot inside a corpse's shell  /  The foulest stench is in the air  /  The funk of forty thousand years  /  And grisly ghouls from every tomb  /  Are closing in to seal your doom  /  And though you fight to stay alive  /  Your body starts to shiver  /  For no mere mortal can resist  /  The evil of the thriller

Cause this is thriller  /  Thriller at night  /

And no one's gonna save you from the beast  / about to strike  / 

You know it's thriller, thriller at night  /  Your fighting to your life inside a killer  / thriller

Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul  /  would ever dare try  / So let me hold you tight and share a killer-diller chiller

                                ***********************************************

VOCABULARY WORDS

biggest-selling:  más vendido  /  release:lanzamiento  /  eponymous:epónimo  /  to date: hasta hoy  /  to shift:cambiar  /  chilling: escalofriante  /  urge: deseo  /  to come up with; decidir  /  to lurk: acechar  /  to slam the door: dar un portazo  /  to creep up: acercarse  /  to cuddle: acurrucarse  /  to crawl: reptar

/whosoever: quienquiera  / to rot: pudrirse  /  shell: carcasa  /  grisly: espeluznante  /  ghouls: demonios, espíritus malignos  /  doom: fatalidad  /  to shiver: tiritar  /  to dare: atreverse  /  killer-diller: sensacional  /  chiller: historia de miedo  /  hounds: sabuesos  /  foulest: más fétido  /  stench: hedor  /  

MICHAEL JACKSON FOREVER!!!

WAITANGI DAY. A CELEBRATION OF NEW ZEALAND'S HISTORY.

Hi my dear friends. Today we are going to know a bit more about New Zealand and its Waitangi Day. 

Hola mis queridos amigos. Hoy vamos a saber un poco más sobre Nueza Zelanda y su Día Waitangi.

Info: Speak Up magazine

Photos: ABC.news  /  speakeasy.news.  /  easy.milano  /  speak.up  /  stuff  /  RNZ  /  holidays.calendar

WAITANGI  DAY  -  A CELEBRATION OF NEW ZEALAND'S HISTORY

Waitangi Day is an annual public holiday celebrated in New Zealand / Aotearoa  every 6 February.  It commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.  Considered New Zealand's founding document, The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement between Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown. It established the framework for a relationship between the government and Maori people and it continues to be a guide for the treatment of New Zealand's Maori population today.

EARLY ARRIVALS

The first European settlers to arrive in New Zealand were sealers and whalers, followed by missionaries and merchants.  The merchants traded natural resources, such as flax and tinder, for guns, and clothing and other products with the local tribes.  With the arival of multiple immigrant settlers, Maori chiefs sought to protect themselves by making alliances with the British.

FIVE HUNDRED CHIEFS

The Treaty of Waitangi is named after the site where the agreement was made, in the Bay of Islands in the country's far north.  The document was originally signed by forty-three Maori chiefs, with more than five hundred chiefs across New Zealand adding their signatures over an eight month period.  The treaty was written in both English and Maori. However, differences in its translation led to misunderstandings about the promises it made.  This caused serious disagreements over its terms.

COLONIAL CULTURE

Well into the 20th century, Maori felt pressured to assimilate into the colonial culture while struggling to preserve their own traditions.  Since the 1950s, Maori have taken a firmer stance to defend their rights.  The first oficial commemoration of Waitangi Day took place in 1934 but it only became a public holiday in 1974.  While for many it is a celebration, for Maori it can be a day of sadness or outrage at more than a century of colonial plunder and oppression.  Today, many Maori use the day to grieve the loss of their land, language and culture.  Increasingly,though, Waitangi Day also represents hope for greater understandimg and unity.

PRESENT AND FUTURE

Waitangi Day commemorates the past and the present, and looks forward to the future.  It highlights ongoing efforts to honour Maori heritage, ensuring they thrive for generations to come.  As New Zealand grows as a diverse society, Waitangi Day remains a powerful reminder of the nation's identity and the shared commitment to honouring its founding document.

VOCABULARY

-TREATY: tratado  /  -FRAMEWORK: marco  /  -SETTLERS: colonos  /  -SEALERS: cazadores de focas  /  -WHALERS: balleneros  /  -FLAX: lino  /  -TINDER: leña  /  -STANCE: postura  /  -OUTRAGE: indignación  /  -PLUNDER: expolio  /  -TO GRIEVE: lamentar  /  -ONGOING: en curso  /  -TO THRIVE: prosperar  /  -REMINDER: recordatorio  /  -COMMITMENT: compromiso