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There is a song by Larry Graham (It ain't no fun to me) with the following words:

October sun is shining
These tears they cause the pain
It simply make up
Only just to break up, oh baby

What do the words in bold mean? If it is the subject, then why make up and not makes up?

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  • I do not know the song and technically we don't explain lyrics but -- I think it means they made up after a painful break up only to break up again. (Break up = break off their love relationship.) – WRX Apr 18 '17 at 14:22
  • Lyricists, like poets, are granted considerable artistic license. Not only are lyrics not required or even expected to conform to any grammatical rules, they do not have to make any sense at all. – choster Apr 18 '17 at 14:46
  • And don't forget the rhymes. In lyrics and poetry, rhyme can trump grammar. I don't know why anyone would want to parse lyrics to learn about grammar – you might as well try to learn arithmetic by studying the lottery. – J.R.♦ Apr 18 '17 at 15:13
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This is popular music, which often uses vernacular forms. Omitting the third-person -s inflection on present-tense verbs is very common in AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), and both the lyricist, Al Green, and the performer, Larry Graham, are African-Americans.

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