{"id":2237,"date":"2015-12-17T12:21:53","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T18:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2025-04-07T16:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T22:56:10","slug":"hotline-bling-english-practice-from-a-drake-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/hotline-bling-english-practice-from-a-drake-song\/","title":{"rendered":"hotline bling: impressive english practice from drake&#8217;s hypnotic hit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>even if u are not a fan of <strong>drake<\/strong>&#8216;s music,\u00a0<strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">odds<\/span><\/em><\/strong><em><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>are<\/em> (probabilities) u will hear\u00a0<em><strong>hotline bling<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0somewhere between 5 and 500 times in the next few months.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Drake - Hotline Bling\" width=\"758\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uxpDa-c-4Mc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>here&#8217;s a few things to remember next time\u00a0it comes on.<\/p>\n<p>drake is nostalgic for an <strong><em>old<\/em><\/strong> <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/the-world-is-going-up-in-flames-we-didnt-start-the-fire-though\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flame<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (girlfriend). <em><strong>bling<\/strong><\/em> is <em>the sound his cell phone makes<\/em> and <em><strong>hotline<\/strong> <\/em>gives the idea of an\u00a0<em>urgent phone call<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-owl-hoodie.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2373\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2373\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-owl-hoodie-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"drake owl hoodie\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-owl-hoodie-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-owl-hoodie-638x360.jpg 638w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-owl-hoodie.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h6>\n<h6><em>a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">wistful<\/span> drake wearing an owl hoodie in the <strong>hotline bling<\/strong> video (apple music)<\/em><\/h6>\n<p>in\u00a0the line<\/p>\n<h4>i know when that <em>hotline bling<\/em>, that can only mean <em>one thing<\/em><\/h4>\n<p>the <em>one thing<\/em>\u00a0in this song is sex. drake\u00a0is <em><strong>wistful<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(nostalgic) for <strong><em>booty calls<\/em><\/strong> (phone calls for sex, usually late night).<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-cell-phone.jpe\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2369\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2369\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-cell-phone-300x145.jpe\" alt=\"drake hotline bling\" width=\"300\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-cell-phone-300x145.jpe 300w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-cell-phone.jpe 323w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h6>\n<h6><em>that can only mean one thing (<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">booty call<\/span>!!)<\/em><\/h6>\n<p>the lyric<\/p>\n<h4>u <em>used to call<\/em> me on my\u00a0cell phone<\/h4>\n<p>is\u00a0one way we know this relationship has ended. \u00a0is used for\u00a0activities that were <em>common in the past but don&#8217;t happen anymore<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/incoming-call-drake-1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2376\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2376\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/incoming-call-drake-1-209x300.jpg\" alt=\"u used to call me drake\" width=\"209\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/incoming-call-drake-1-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/incoming-call-drake-1.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px\" \/><\/a><\/h6>\n<h6><em>u <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">used to call<\/span> me on my cell phone<\/em><\/h6>\n<p>the line<\/p>\n<h4><em>since i left<\/em> the city<\/h4>\n<p>appears multiple times and the use of (from that time) indicates that drake is talking about the past as well.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/h4>\n<p>some of the things drake&#8217;s ex is doing since he left include<\/p>\n<h4><em>running out<\/em> <em>of<\/em> pages in your passport<br \/>\n<em>hanging<\/em> with some girls I&#8217;ve never seen before<\/h4>\n<p>represents a resource that is <em>diminishing, being reduced<\/em>. drake wants to say that she is doing a lot of international travelling; the pages in her passport are full. <em><strong>hanging<\/strong><\/em> (or ) refers to\u00a0social time.<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/running-out-of-pages-in-your-passport.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2372\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2372\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/running-out-of-pages-in-your-passport-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"running out of pages in your passport drake\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/running-out-of-pages-in-your-passport-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/running-out-of-pages-in-your-passport.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h6>\n<h6><em>this passport is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">running out of<\/span> pages (commons.wikimedia.org)<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><em>hotline bling<\/em>&#8216;s\u00a0bridge is full of <em><strong>jealous<\/strong><\/em> (suspicious, insecure) lines. at 2:55, drake says that these days all he does is<\/p>\n<h4><a class=\"has_comments hover_active\" href=\"http:\/\/genius.com\/7447246\" data-id=\"7447246\" data-editorial-state=\"accepted\" data-classification=\"accepted\" data-group=\"9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n<\/a><em>wonder<\/em> if you&#8217;re <em>bendin&#8217; over backwards<\/em> for <em>someone else<\/em><br \/>\n<em>wonder<\/em> if you&#8217;re <em>rolling up a backwoods<\/em> for someone else<br \/>\ndoing things I taught you, <em>gettin&#8217; nasty<\/em> for someone else<\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>bend over backwards<\/strong><\/em> is an expression that means <em>strongly trying to impress someone<\/em>, which is the idea\u00a0here, but it also can be taken literally to mean that physically and sexually she is <em>bending over backwards <\/em>for someone other than drake.\u00a0drake <em><strong>wonders<\/strong><\/em> (thinks about) who <em>someone else<\/em> might be. \u00a0<strong><em>gettin nasty<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is\u00a0<em>sex<\/em>; maybe crazy, experimental sex.<\/p>\n<h6><a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rihanna-bending-over-backwards-drake.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2350\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2350\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rihanna-bending-over-backwards-drake-300x203.jpg\" alt=\"rihanna bending over backwards drake\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rihanna-bending-over-backwards-drake-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rihanna-bending-over-backwards-drake.jpg 634w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/h6>\n<h6><em>rihanna <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">bending over backwards<\/span> in vogue magazine.\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><em><strong>rolling up a backwoods<\/strong> <\/em>is a reference to smoking <a href=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/inch-by-inch-pound-for-pound\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">marijuana<\/a>, an activity drake and his ex enjoyed. <em><strong>backwoods<\/strong><\/em> is a brand of cigars.\u00a0the tobacoo in the backwoods cigar is removed and the cigar&#8217;s paper is filled with <span style=\"color: #00ff00;\"><em>weed<\/em><\/span> (marijuana) and then rolled up into the form of a cigar again.\u00a0the phrase works well in the lyrics because <em>backwoods<\/em> sounds like <em>backwards<\/em>\u00a0from the previous line.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/backwoods-smokes-drake.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2352\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2352 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/backwoods-smokes-drake-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"backwoods smokes drake\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/backwoods-smokes-drake-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/backwoods-smokes-drake-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/backwoods-smokes-drake.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rolling-a-backwoods-drake.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2351\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2351\" src=\"http:\/\/richyrocks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/rolling-a-backwoods-drake-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"rolling up a backwoods drake\" width=\"197\" height=\"197\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h6><em>rolling up a backwoods<\/em><\/h6>\n<p>in a few different places in this song,\u00a0drake gets a little <em><strong>preachy<\/strong><\/em> (judgmental, moralizing). for example, listen at 3:15<\/p>\n<h4><em>used to always stay<\/em> at home, be a good girl<br \/>\nu was <em>in the zone<\/em>, yeah<br \/>\nu should just be yourself<br \/>\nright now, you&#8217;re someone else<\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>in the zone<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0as drake uses it on this track, means <em>really good.\u00a0<\/em>it can also mean <em>performing perfectly. <\/em>this <strong>kia<\/strong> commercial featuring <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/get-over-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">la\u00a0clippers<\/a><\/strong> power forward <strong>blake griffin<\/strong> presents an abstract representation of being <em>in the zone.<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 758px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-2237-1\" width=\"758\" height=\"426\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/in-the-zone-blake-griffin.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/in-the-zone-blake-griffin.mp4\">https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/in-the-zone-blake-griffin.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>the guy driving the car in the ad asks blake if he is just <em><strong>chillin out<\/strong><\/em>, which means <em>relaxing. chilling (chillin) out<\/em>\u00a0is sometimes interchangeable with <em>hangin out<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>if u think drake doesn&#8217;t have any business telling an old girlfriend how to act, then this version of the song by <strong>ceresia<\/strong> is for u;\u00a0more or less the same song, but from a female perspective.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hotline Bling - Drake (Female Perspective) Remix by Ceresia\" width=\"758\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dAwGBlI5b8Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>are u a drake fan? do u like this song? what other vocabulary in the song is new to u? share your observations under <strong>leave a reply<\/strong><\/p>\n<form name=\"s2form\" method=\"post\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"ip\" value=\"216.73.217.120\" \/><span style=\"display:none !important\"><label for=\"firstname\">Leave This Blank:<\/label><input type=\"text\" id=\"firstname\" name=\"firstname\" \/><label for=\"lastname\">Leave This Blank Too:<\/label><input type=\"text\" id=\"lastname\" name=\"lastname\" \/><label for=\"uri\">Do Not Change This:<\/label><input type=\"text\" id=\"uri\" name=\"uri\" value=\"http:\/\/\" \/><\/span><p><label for=\"s2email\">Your email:<\/label><br><input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" id=\"s2email\" value=\"Enter email address...\" size=\"20\" onfocus=\"if (this.value === 'Enter email address...') {this.value = '';}\" onblur=\"if (this.value === '') {this.value = 'Enter email address...';}\" \/><\/p><p><input type=\"submit\" name=\"subscribe\" value=\"Subscribe\" \/>&nbsp;<input type=\"submit\" name=\"unsubscribe\" value=\"Unsubscribe\" \/><\/p><\/form>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>even if u are not a fan of drake&#8216;s music,\u00a0odds\u00a0are (probabilities) u will hear\u00a0hotline bling\u00a0somewhere between 5 and 500 times in the next few months.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":""},"categories":[75,4],"tags":[1053,1050,1057,1045,1059,1056,209,1042,8,9,11,10,1052,1048,873,3150,1049,1058,1040,1041,455,1055,1051,1047,1046,357,1044,1054],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/drake-owl-hoodie.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2237"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15224,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2237\/revisions\/15224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}