Soul

Connie, go for it!

Today started out as the best day of my life.

Yes! Woohoo!

You know what this is going to say?

Joe Gardner!

I did it! I got the gig!

What the–?

What is this place?

I play this jazz teacher who’s sort of stuck—

Happily stuck, but still stuck, in a job where he’s teaching Jazz, which is a sort of – throwback of a trade when it comes to musical trade.

He’s teaching jazz to these, to his little, you know, his little kids in school.

So in the following clip from Soul, Joe received some news.

Watch it and then answer in the comments how would you explain his reaction to that news.

I’ll be right back. Practice your scales.

Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Gardner.

You’re doing my ears a favor.

Hey!

Not you, though, you’re good.

He’s not.

What can I do for you, Principal Arroyo?

I wanted to deliver the good news personally. No more part-time for you. You’re now our full-time band teacher.

Job security. Medical insurance. Pension.

Wow. That’s, uh, great.

Welcome to the M.S. 70 family, Joe. Permanently.

Thanks.

But Joe has always dreamed of being something else.

In his part heart – He’s a musician at heart.

And since he was very young, Joe always wanted to be a professional jazz musician.

You could say that jazz that jazz music is the dream that Joe’s been pursuing on night and weekends his entire adult life.

I play this jazz teacher who’s sort of stuck – Happily stuck, but still stuck, in a job where he’s teaching Jazz—

When you say you’re stuck, you’re unable to escape from a bad or boring situation.

Your Mom let you get a tattoo?

It’s not a tattoo, it’s a birthmark. OK, I’ve been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before.

Yes, it was.

Then I realized, we had done this same silly charade our entire lives.

I tried to get my mind off how I was feeling, but I just felt stuck.

Joe, the character that Jamie Foxx plays, has big dreams. However, he feels stuck because he’s unable to make progress towards that dreams.

In which of these three clips is the word stuck used literally, meaning “unable to move”?

I’ve been stuck in that job for eons. I needed a change.

You’re stuck.

Stuck? Nah. What? Stuck? Nah. This is one of my –

Yeah, I’m stuck.

McQueen’s probability of winning is 1.2%

Wow!

Numbers never lie.

I mean, I knew his career was stuck in the mud—

You’re stuck.

Stuck? Nah. What? Stuck? Nah. This is one of my –

Yeah, I’m stuck.

Help him.

Happily stuck, but still stuck, in a job where he’s teaching Jazz, which is a sort of – throwback of a trade when it comes to musical trade.

Jazz is a throwback music genre because you associate it with the past.

This is true of Jazz, and you could say Blues as well.

Here’s an example:

Her whole outfit was a throwback to the 1970s.

If you use Instagram, you’d probably be familiar with Throwback Thursday, which is a day that people commonly upload old pictures of themselves.

Back to Jamie, he refers to jazz as a trade. What do you think that means?

A job

A music genre

An item of clothing

If you chose A, you’re right!

However, trade is not an exact synonym of job. In a general way, a trade is a particular business or industry.

It also refers to the skills a person needs to do a particular job. See here how Joey from Friends teaches “Tricks of the (acting) Trade.”

Okay, some tricks of the trade.

Let’s say I want to convey that I’ve, uh, just done something evil.

Well, that would be your basic I’ve-got-a-fish-hook-in-my-eyebrow-and-I-like-it.

I’ll be right back. Practice your scales.

We say this or be right back, for short, to announce that we’re leaving a place for a short period of time.

Totally! Yeah.

This is incredible!

I’ll be right back.

Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Gardner.

You’re doing my ears a favor.

What he means by you’re doing my ears a favor is that his students are playing music so badly that he is relieved to take a break from hearing them.

Let’s now take a look at the connected speech in this sentence: What can I do for you, Principal Arroyo?

I wanted to deliver the good news personally

First this is one single word chunk:

What can I do for you

What can I do for you

Have is reduced of uhv and connects to people.

What-kuh-ny

What is said with a stop T (what), not with a true T (whaT)

Can is reduced to [kihn]

I do for you, for is also reduced: fuhr

This is the whole sentences with IPA symbols:

What can I do for you

No more part-time for you. You’re now our full-time band teacher.

If you job is part-time, it means that you work for only a part of the usual working day.

In this clip, Joe is a substitute teacher, meaning ha’s stepping in for [replacing momentarily] the regular teacher who at the moment isn’t available (because of illness or other reasons).

On the other hand, a full-time job is one in which you spend most of your available time doing (usually considered 40 hours a week).

But Joe has always dreamed of being something else.

Let’s analyze the pronunciation of this sentence. He barely emits the T in but, he says “but Joe”.

Note the clear Z sound in has and always.

But Joe has always dreamed of being something else.

Normally, when you see the letter S in final position after a vowel sound it is pronounced as [z].

In “dreamed of being” there’s a link between the last ‘d’ in dream and ‘of’ dreamed of being

But Joe has always dreamed of being something else.

But Joe has always dreamed of being something else.

In his part heart – He’s a musician at heart.

And since he was very young, Joe always wanted to be a professional jazz musician

We say at heart to describe someone’s basic character, sometimes as opposed to what one is currently doing or pretends to be.

Example: He’s a businessman at heart.

He says this to mean that even though Joe’s day-job is being a teacher, his real passion is being a musician; more specifically, a pianist.

jazz music is the dream that Joe’s been pursuing on night and weekends his entire adult life.

To pursue a dream is a way of saying that you’re working hard to make your dreams comes true.

We also commonly say to go after a dream or to chase a dream.

When, oh when, will you quit police work and pursue your dream of poetry?

Because it takes a lot of work to achieve your dreams, there’s always the idea that they are elusive [hard to get].

So, that’s why we use these words that in their literal sense mean to try to catch a person or an animal.

Hello?

How you been, Mr. G? Uh, it’s Curley. Lamont. Lamont Baker.

Hey, Curley! Hey, good to hear your voice, man.

Uh… Listen. You can call me Joe now, Curley. I’m not your teacher anymore.

Oh, okay, Mr. Gardner. Hey, look, I’m the new drummer in the Dorothea Williams Quartet, and we’re kickin’ off our tour with a show at The Half Note tonight.

Dorothea Williams! Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Congratulations, man. Wow! I would die a happy man if I could perform with Dorothea Williams.

Oh, well, this could be your lucky day.

There’s this big gig that’s coming up.

And he wants to go play for it and he finally goes and auditions and—

He gets lost, and for musicians, or anybody out there when you get lost in your craft—

He’s just in his thing auditioning.

No nerves, just went and they say, “Wow! You’re great! You will have the gig!”

And then has an accident that causes his soul to leave his body and almost goes to the great beyond. And so he is trying to get back into his body and back to his life.

Hello?

How you been, Mr. G? Uh, it’s Curley.

This question is also interesting as an expression. A lot of students ask me what the difference is between How are you? And How have you been?

When you ask “How have you been?” you’re casually asking how life has been for that person since the last time that you saw him or her.

Also, natives often reduce this to “How’ve you been?”

How’ve you been?

I’m doing all right. I tried fencing today.

Hey, what have you guys been up to?

Oh, we want to see a collection of Victorian door knobs at the Cooper-Hewitt museum.

How are you? Is simply used to ask about a person’s state or feeling in the present moment.

Hey, look, I’m the new drummer in the Dorothea Williams Quartet, and we’re kickin’ off our tour with a show at The Half Note tonight.

Dorothea Williams! Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Congratulations, man.

The phrasal verb to kick something off means to start that thing.

In this case, they’re starting the tour, which is a journey in which a person or group visits several different places in order to play or perform.

When Joe hears ha’s playing with Dorothea Williams, he is very surprised.

So, he expressed this by saying, “are you kidding me?”

Wow! I would die a happy man if I could perform with Dorothea Williams.

Oh, well, this could be your lucky day.

To die a happy man/woman is a phrase that expresses extreme happiness.

This is also used to literally describe a person’s status or condition before they passed away.

Example: He died a hero.

Now, let’s go back to hearing Jamie Foxx talk about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Joe came across.

There’s this big gig that’s coming up.

A gig is a performance by a musician or a group of musicians.

Example: The Beatles tribute band play several gigs every weekend. This is also an informal word used to refer to a job, especially one that doesn’t last for a long time.

Check out this example:

You’re gonna be great, Jared.

I’m just so excited about this gig, sir.

I mean, what a – what a sweet gig. I’ve got a gig.

Yeah, you’re saying “gig” a lot.

Oh, it’s just I haven’t worked in a while.

And he wants to go play for it and he finally goes and auditions and—

By play for it he means that he needs to play well enough to convince Dorothea (or the person in charge of selecting the best musician).

An audition is an occasion where an actor or singer performs in front of a judge and if they’re good enough they can get a role in a play, movie, etc. or as in this case, play an instrument in a concert (or gig).

This is commonly used as a verb, to audition.

He gets lost, and for musicians, or anybody out there when you get lost in your craft—

He’s just in his thing auditioning.

No nerves, just went and they say, “Wow! You’re great! You will have the gig!”

Uh, sorry. I zoned out a little back there.

And then has an accident that causes his soul to leave his body and almost goes to the great beyond. And so he is trying to get back into his body and back to his life.

The soul is defined by the part of a person that is not physical, and that contains their character, thoughts and feelings.

This great beyond is another term for heaven, the afterlife or a mystical place where the soul of a person goes after they die.

Uh, hey, is this heaven?

No.

Is it H-E-double hockey sticks?

Hell.

Hell, hell, hell.

Shh. Quiet coyote.

Hell.

It’s easy to get turned around. This isn’t the Great Beyond. It’s the Great Before.

The Great Before?

I play a character named 22 who is a soul that’s never been born because even thought the people in the Great Before have been trying to convince her—

She’ s had a lot of mentors trying to convince her that life is great and she should go live on earth—

She is very suspect of it. She thinks it sounds scary, painful, difficult, depressing, smelly. She just doesn’t want any part of it.

She is Joe’s chance if he can kind of convince her to go back then maybe he’ll get a chance to go back also.

Uh, hey, is this heaven?

No.

Is it H-E-double hockey sticks?

Hell.

Hell, hell, hell.

Heaven (or paradise) is the opposite of hell.

Joe’s soul apparently so scared at the possibility that where he wound up is hell that he doesn’t even want to utter [say] it.

So he spells it—and in a rather childish way.

By double hockey sticks he means double L (a hockey stick looks like a capital L).

Hell.

Hell, hell, hell.

Shh. Quiet coyote.

By quite coyote she is gently asking these young souls to be quiet.

Then she made this hand gesture because it looks like a coyote closing its mouth (so as to not make any noise).

Also, notice the pronunciation: coyote.

Hell.

Hell, hell, hell.

Shh. Quiet coyote.

Hell.

It’s easy to get turned around. This isn’t the Great Beyond. It’s the Great Before.

The Great Before? To get turned around means to get lost.

Hey, did we get turned around somewhere? I feel like we’re lost.

No, I was just stalling. Don’t think about it. Come on! This way.

I play a character named 22 who is a soul that’s never been born because even thought the people in the Great Before have been trying to convince her—

There are some interesting features of connected speech in how she says have been trying to convince her.

Have is reduced of uhv and connects to people.

[pee-puh-luhv]

The g in trying, isn’t pronounced. In fact, to gets reduced and morphs with trying, resulting in tryna.

Finally, the h in her is dropped as well and connects to convince.

She’s had a lot of mentors trying to convince her that life is great and she should go live on earth—

A mentor is an experienced person who advises and helps a less experienced person.

You took away my future.

I’m simply returning the favor.

Don’t worry, I’ll be a good mentor. Supportive, encouraging. Everything you weren’t.

She is very suspect of it. She thinks it sounds scary, painful, difficult, depressing, smelly. She just doesn’t want any part of it.

If you suspect something or are suspect of something, you think there’s something wrong with it.

Example: No one suspected anything was wrong.

Then, if you say you don’t want any part of something, it means that you’re unwilling to participate in something or be involved in any way.

I play this jazz teacher who’s sort of stuck—

Happily stuck, but still stuck, in a job where he’s teaching Jazz, which is a sort of – throwback of a trade when it comes to musical trade.

He’s teaching jazz to these, to his little, you know, his little kids in school.

I’ll be right back. Practice your scales.

Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Gardner.

You’re doing my ears a favor.

Hey!

Not you, though, you’re good.

He’s not.

What can I do for you, Principal Arroyo?

I wanted to deliver the good news personally. No more part-time for you. You’re now our full-time band teacher.

Job security. Medical insurance. Pension.

Wow. That’s, uh, great.

Welcome to the M.S. 70 family, Joe. Permanently.

Thanks.

But Joe has always dreamed of being something else.

In his part heart – He’s a musician at heart.

And since he was very young, Joe always wanted to be a professional jazz musician.

You could say that jazz that jazz music is the dream that Joe’s been pursuing on night and weekends his entire adult life.

Hello?

How you been, Mr. G? Uh, it’s Curley. Lamont. Lamont Baker.

Hey, Curley! Hey, good to hear your voice, man.

Uh… Listen. You can call me Joe now, Curley. I’m not your teacher anymore.

Oh, okay, Mr. Gardner. Hey, look, I’m the new drummer in the Dorothea Williams Quartet, and we’re kickin’ off our tour with a show at The Half Note tonight.

Dorothea Williams! Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Congratulations, man. Wow! I would die a happy man if I could perform with Dorothea Williams.

Oh, well, this could be your lucky day.

There’s this big gig that’s coming up.

And he wants to go play for it and he finally goes and auditions and—

He gets lost, and for musicians, or anybody out there when you get lost in your craft—

He’s just in his thing auditioning.

No nerves, just went and they say, “Wow! You’re great! You will have the gig!”

And then has an accident that causes his soul to leave his body and almost goes to the great beyond. And so he is trying to get back into his body and back to his life.

Uh, hey, is this heaven?

No.

Is it H-E-double hockey sticks?

Hell.

Hell, hell, hell.

Shh. Quiet coyote.

Hell.

It’s easy to get turned around. This isn’t the Great Beyond. It’s the Great Before.

The Great Before?

I play a character named 22 who is a soul that’s never been born because even thought the people in the Great Before have been trying to convince her—

She’ s had a lot of mentors trying to convince her that life is great and she should go live on earth—

She is very suspect of it. She thinks it sounds scary, painful, difficult, depressing, smelly. She just doesn’t want any part of it.

She is Joe’s chance if he can kind of convince her to go back then maybe he’ll get a chance to go back also.

Uh, hey, is this heaven?

No.

Is it H-E-double hockey sticks?

Hell.

Hell, hell, hell.

Shh. Quiet coyote.

Hell.

It’s easy to get turned around. This isn’t the Great Beyond. It’s the Great Before.

The Great Before?