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Have you heard the song ‘Bloodline‘ by Alex Warren and Jelly Roll?

The song is a message of hope and encouragement to *break the cycle of past pain and struggles. 

*break the cycle = end a repetitive, negative pattern, often one passed down through generations

The message is that you don’t have to be trapped in harmful behaviour because of where you come from. You can be better than that.

Don’t Have To

English students often get ‘don’t have to’ and ‘must not’ confused. This is understandable because ‘have to’ and ‘must’ have a similar meaning. However, ‘don’t have to’ means that something is not necessary.

Jelly Roll sings “You don’t have to follow in your bloodline”. He means that it is not necessary to follow the negative behaviour of your bloodline (ancestors: parents, grandparents etc). You have a choice. You can change your life. 

You can watch the YouTube video below with subtitles. However, they are not all correct so I’ve provided the Lyrics video also. Enjoy!