COMPLICATED B (Esl Song Activities)

BEFORE YOU LISTEN
1. Where do these abbreviations come from?

a) Life's like this
b) That's the way it is
c) Cuz life's like this
d) Whatcha yelling for?
e) It's all been done before
f) We're driving in your car
g) You're talking to me one-on-one
h) You've become somebody else
i) Why'd you have to go ?
j) I'm never gonna find you
2. Which of these verbs are synonyms of "relax"?
a) fake
b) yell
c) lay back
d) to be cool
e) chill out
3. Match these English expressions with their meanings
a) watch your back 1. to trick

b) Talk one-on-one 2. expensive private school
c) Strike a pose 3. have direct, personal communication
d) Fool someone 4. to hold your body in a particular way to
e) Preppy create a particular impression
5. to protect yourself against danger
WHILE YOU ARE LISTENING
1. Listen to the first part of the song and fill in the gaps with the right
preposition
Chill _______
Whatcha yelling _________?
Lay _________
it's all been done before
And if you could only let it be you would see
I like you the way you are
When we're driving ______ your car
And you're talking ________ me one-______-one
But you've become
2. Listen to the chorus and change the errors
Somebody else, 'round everyone else
You're watching your face, like you can't chill out
You're trying to be cool, you look like an idiot to me
Tell me
Why'd you have to go and make things so easy?
I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else
gets me annoyed
Life's like this, you
You fall and you crawl and you talk and you take what you get
And turn it into
Honeslty you promised me
I'm never gonna see you fake it.
No no no.
3. Rearrange the lines which are not in order (Every other one)
a) You know you're not fooling anyone 1. __________

b) Dressed up like you're something else 2. B)
c) You come over unannounced 3. __________
d) You're making me, laugh out 4. D)
e) Where you are & what it is that you see 5. __________
f) All your preppy clothes 6. F)
g) When you strike a pose, take off 7. __________
h) When you become 8. H)
AFTER LISTENING
In pairs, answer the following questions
1. Which things do you value most in friendship?

2. Have you ever found people like the one described in the song? How
did you feel about them?
3. What makes you frustrated?
4. Imagine this song belongs to a film soundtrack, what type of film
would it be? Which scene would the song be in? Find a title for the film
and draw the scene. Did you both imagine the same type of film or
scene?
Read Avril's biography and answer the following questions
1. Where was she born?

2. Does she have any brothers or sisters?
3. Where did she start singing?
4. Where in the United States has she lived?
5. Who writes her songs?
6. What is the mos important thing for Avril?
7. Do you think the song "Complicated" describes her attitude to life?
8. How would you describe her?
Anything but ordinary. That's putting it mildly when describing

Avril Lavigne. A skater-punk, a dynamic spirit, a true wild child.
One of those rare creatures who started wowing people with her
voice and character at around age 2. A small-town kid who
couldn't sit still in class but had the confidence and
determination to take off, virtually on her own, to improve her
songwriting skills in New York City and Los Angeles. A startlingly
up-front and outrageous 17-year-old with everything it takes to
reach stardom-completely on her own terms. "I'm just coming
out and I'm going to clearly be myself-I write what I feel, I never
worry what others think, " Avril says. "I'm gonna dress what's me,
I'm gonna act what's me and I'm gonna sing what's me."
Avril was born in Napanee, Ontario. A middle child who "always
wanted to be the center of attention, I always knew this was
what I had to do," she says. "I remember when I was really
young, standing on my bed like it was a stage, singing at the top
of my lungs and visualizing thousands of people surrounding me."
She sang whenever and wherever she could-starting in church
singing gospel music, and on to festivals, then singing country
music at fairs and talent contests-until she was discovered by
Arista Records.
At 16, she moved to Manhattan and began work on her debut
CD. Avril plunged into the creative process. "I love writing," she
explains. "When I get upset and really need to get it out of me I
go to my guitar. Sometimes I feel like my guitar is my therapist."
Although Avril virtually lived in the studio during that New York
period, her efforts didn't pay off at first. "I started working with
these really talented people, but I just wasn't feeling it; the songs
weren't representative of me," she admits. "Then they started
talking about having people write for me, but I had to write
myself. I had to do my music. It was a really stressful time, but I
never considered giving up." Instead, she changed coasts. Los
Angeles gave Avril the fresh start she needed.

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BEFORE YOU LISTEN

1. Where do these abbreviations come from?

a) watch your back 1. to trick

a) You know you're not fooling anyone 1. __________

1. Which things do you value most in friendship?

1. Where was she born?

Anything but ordinary. That's putting it mildly when describing

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