Van Halen uses the long, dark introduction to build tension to a near breaking point before they kick into the famous Oh, Pretty Woman riff.
He admired her strength but knew everyone had a breaking point.
Piedmontese finances had been strained to breaking-point to organize an army obviously intended for other than merely defensive purposes.
The tension which had prevailed between the two kingdoms during the last years of Gustavus Vasa reached breaking point on the accession of Gustavus's eldest son Eric XIV.
Having fought the oligarchy of privilege, the monarchy next tried to rally it to its side, and all the springs of the old rgime were strained to the breaking-point.
