Questions tagged [lyrics]
For questions related to song lyrics.
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1answer
40 views
Tense use in the Rolling Stones song “As tears go by”
Is the use of the Present Simple grammatically accurate in these lyrics, or is it an example of so-called poetic license that allows for violating grammar rules for the sake of rhyme:
It is the ...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
“Begin” or “Beginning”… which one should be used?
The text bellow is part of the lyrics of a song from a Brazilian singer called Raul Seixas - The name of the song is "How could I know":
"Reformulation, rearrange the game you're in
Let us start ...
2
votes
1answer
24 views
You haven't felt the fire, had a little fun, hadn't had a smile in a little while
It's from a song called "Blue Ain't Your Color":
Well, it's probably not my place
But I'm gonna say it anyway
'Cause you look like
You haven't felt the fire
Had a little fun
Hadn't had a ...
0
votes
2answers
23 views
is this sentence from "baby honey(the Pastel's song),an example of good english grammar
There is magic in her beautiful eyes
Justify the tears I’ve cried
found this sentence in the pastel's song" baby honey " ,I know that songs are not always the best example of "good grammar" but the ...
2
votes
2answers
74 views
Usage of “has” vs “have” nowadays
I'm here again with misunderstanding of some grammar rules. So there is sentence where it's said " 4 days has never felt so long". why a song writer used "has" instead of "have", when I asked question ...
0
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2answers
50 views
What does “late” mean in this sentence? [closed]
What does late mean in this sentence?
Late in the winter of my seventeenth year...
0
votes
1answer
24 views
Meaning of a sentence from Not About Angles
We know full well there's just time.
I can't understand the meaning of this sentence.
Does it mean there's only one time or there just remains a little time?
Is this phrase common?
Another ...
0
votes
1answer
179 views
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and should old lang syne be forgot?
Does #1 mean #2?
auld lang sine or old lang sine means "the old days" ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
What does “let's shoot the shit” mean?
English lyrics by Halestorm rock band:
Here's to us:
Get another bottle out
Lets shoot the shit //What does it mean?
Sit back down
For just one more drink,
oh yeah
In some sites it's translated ...
1
vote
3answers
140 views
Out of student loans and “tree house homes”, we all would take the latter
THIS IS LYRIC OF 'STRESSED OUT' BY TEWENTY ONE PILOTS.
Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young How
come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from? I'd make a
...
0
votes
2answers
86 views
“We was” vs. “We were” and “Be you” vs “Are you” in song lyrics
Listening to an english song, I noticed the following sentences:
"We was hitchhiking down..." (1:15) https://youtu.be/_lK4cX5xGiQ?t=75
"Be you angels?" (2:36) https://youtu.be/_lK4cX5xGiQ?t=155
Why ...
2
votes
1answer
57 views
to “freeze on” somebody
In Kate Bush's song Babooshka, we can hear these lines right before the second chorus:
Uncanny how she
Reminds him of his little lady
Capacity to give him all he needs
Just like his wife ...
2
votes
3answers
92 views
“The old jive broad split” meaning - Bill Withers Song (Ain't no Sunshine)
"The old jive broad split"
It's a part of what Bill Withers says at the beginning of "Ain't no sunshine".
It's a part of the story behind this song. But it lacks everything. I have absolutely no ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
What is the subject of the “Got me…” lines in Iron Maiden's song “Prowler”?
I'm trying to understand more in depth / translate some Iron Maiden songs, and this is something that has bugged me since the first time I listened to "Prowler".
Here are the lyrics of the song I'm ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
What does “I wanna be who I couldn't say I'd ever been” mean?
I was asked to translate a song. I tried to understand the lyrics but I couldn't seem to get it right. The lines are:
(Say Amen, Panic at the Disco)
And every morning when I wake up
I wanna be ...
1
vote
1answer
182 views
What does “'wheres' and 'whys'” mean in Queen's I Want It All?
In the song I Want It All by Queen, there are these lyrics:
I'm a man with a one track mind
So much to do in one lifetime (people do you hear me?)
Not a man for compromise and 'wheres' and '...
1
vote
1answer
334 views
What does “with a one track mind” mean in Queen's I Want It All?
In the song I Want It All by Queen, there are these lyrics:
I'm a man with a one track mind
So much to do in one lifetime (people do you hear me?)
Not a man for compromise and 'wheres' and '...
0
votes
1answer
53 views
What does “put out someone's joint” mean? [closed]
While listening to "Furious" by Jade Bird, I found a line I don't fully understand.
The lyrics:
When did you make up your mind?
When did you decide to let me down?
When was the turning point?
...
0
votes
1answer
103 views
What's the grammar of “rescued” in “may the Heaven rescued land”?
"The Star-Spangled Banner" the 4th stanza
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued ...
0
votes
3answers
275 views
How to understand song titles like: “Hit me off”
I'm listening R&B and would like to know what singer says.
Google translator cannot help and and linguee has no records.
How should I understand "hit me off" in the lyrics for the New Edition ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
What is the meaning of “then you mean it” in this song?
I wonder if you know,
How they live in Tokyo,
If you seen it then you mean it
Then you know you have to go.
Fast and furious! (Kitaa!) (Drift, Drift, Drift)
Fast and furious! (Kitaa!) (Drift, ...
0
votes
0answers
244 views
“Under the bright but faded lights”. Why “faded” other than “fading”?
Alan Walker's "I'm Faded":
Under the bright but faded lights
music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ItHLz5WEA
lyrics: https://genius.com/Alan-walker-faded-lyrics
Why was "faded" other than "...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Is it ok to use “spit” as past tense of “spit” or should I use “spat”?
I was actually going through lyrics written by Eminem and there was a part where it was written
Went to Burger King, they spit on my onion rings
So my question is since this is in simple past so ...
0
votes
1answer
92 views
(lyrics) I'm a-pushin' and a-shovin' it
This is one of the lyrics which from the song "Young Lust" of Aerosmith.
I've already known what "push and shove" means, but what is the usage of "a-xxing"? How can I understand the whole sentence?
...
0
votes
3answers
46 views
Don't or doesn't
With some little boy in blue
Who don't know you like I do
--
Why don't? Does it have any secret content?
Song: Elliott Smith - Between The Bars
3
votes
2answers
437 views
The lyric of a song, “wayfaring stranger”
I am Korean. I like a song, "Wayfaring Stranger" sung by Emmylou Harris. Then I can't understand one line of the lyrics:
Where Gods redeemed their vigils keep
What does it mean? What does "their ...
0
votes
2answers
67 views
Meaning of “reel” in songs? [closed]
I feel like the word reel occurs often in Irish folk songs. Does it refer to turning around as in dancing? Is there used the same meaning as in There's a reason?
So let that feeling
Grap you ...
-1
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1answer
75 views
Phrase 'to be shaded'
Recently was listening to the song Shaded by Fred V & Grafix
What is meant by "Maybe we're shaded"?
12
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3answers
3k views
Distinction between “bend” and “bow”
The nursery rhyme “London Bridge is Falling Down” includes a line
Iron and steel will bend and bow
To me as a non-native speaker, both “bend” and “bow” evoke essentially the same kind of mental ...
4
votes
1answer
621 views
What does “fix the flat on your car” mean?
I listened Hannah Montana's song "Rock Star". Then I watched the lyrics of the song:
I'm unusual
Not so typical
Way too smart to be waiting around
Tai chi practicing
...
1
vote
2answers
887 views
Gonna “miss me by the hair”?
Is the phrase miss someone by something an actual phrase as in the song Cups?
When I’m gone
When I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me by my hair
You’re gonna ...
0
votes
4answers
51 views
“There is to do something” natural?
In the song "Everyday" by Phil Collins there's a lyric:
Every way there is to cry, ourselves to sleep we will.
Is the phrase "there Is to do something" valid and natural English?
I'm striving hard ...
-1
votes
2answers
3k views
What does “expensive fate” mean?
In Pop Singer Billie Eilish's song, there are the lyrics "Maybe it's in the gutter/Where I left my lover./What an expensive fate!". What does it mean?
0
votes
0answers
90 views
What is the meaning of 'would' in “I was always told that only time would heal the pain”
I was always told that only time
Would heal the pain (source: #lyrics: until you were gone)
To me it sounds like it is related to willpower
Like she was told that time had potential to heal or the ...
3
votes
1answer
304 views
“A cat named Easter” [closed]
There is a song called "Crucify" by Tori Amos from the album Little Earthquakes, where the following part caught my attention:
...
I know a cat named Easter
He says, "Will you ever learn?
You'...
3
votes
1answer
373 views
Meaning: “Trip wires fill this house with tip-toed love”- Eminem's song
What does the following mean?
Trip wires fill this house with tip-toed love.
It's a part of Eminem song "Guts over Fear". Previous and next sentences are as:
"I didn’t wanna go another round
An ...
2
votes
2answers
143 views
Why does a song say “put me six foot down”?
Here is the lyric:
I told you on the day we wed
I was gonna love you 'til I's dead
Made you wait 'til our wedding night
That's the first and the last time I wear white
So if the ties ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
The Yearly Silly Trip - Chant vs Jingle?
I was looking for a trick [mnemonic] for little children to remember the months of the year in order but I couldn't find any online. Then I made this below and called it The Yearly Silly Trip.
My ...
1
vote
1answer
118 views
Meaning of “from my god it will depart”
What is the meaning of the sentence "from my god it will depart " mean ?
I found this in a song of Nightwish "Sleeping sun" and I cannot understand it at all. I think it poetic but unfortunately my ...
0
votes
1answer
197 views
What is the meaning of these lines from Speed of Sound by Coldplay?
In the song Speed of Sound by Coldplay, there are the following lines:
Every chance that you get,
Is a chance you seize
What is the meaning of these lines? Do they mean that you should seize ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
Lyrics grammar parsing
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 ...
3
votes
2answers
6k views
What does 'by the water' mean? [closed]
I am newbie here have been learning English since few months I recently heard a song 'Rockabay' (Google Play lyrics) and couldn't get the meaning of 'By the water' in this context.
She works the ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
What does “break it down” mean (slang) in Meghan Trainor's “I'm a Lady”?
I heard a song that said something about "breaking it down". I looked it up, and it was Meghan Trainor's "I'm A Lady". The lyric goes
When I break it down, it's a work of art.
What does it mean ...
2
votes
1answer
487 views
Is “I have no story to be told” correct or should it be “I do not have a story to tell”?
I do not have a story to be told . or I do not have a story to tell .
In the "Rolling in the deep" song of Adele.
Baby, I have no story to be told
What if i use " to tell " here instead of " to be ...
0
votes
1answer
5k views
What does “run” in “Run the world” mean?
I saw the image below:
It's a reference to Beyonce (how you can see at the title here), her song is called Run The World (Girls).
Inside the context of the song. How about this substitution?
"...
1
vote
1answer
200 views
Some questions about hustle and hurry from a song
I was listening to a old song, but I found that some of the words in the lyrics made me confused.
Here is the sentence:
I was never in love, never had the time in my hustle and hurry world.
...
-2
votes
1answer
381 views
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry — what levee exactly is he talking about? [closed]
From the song American Pie by Don McLean:
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be ...
7
votes
1answer
3k views
What does the use and meaning of You's in song 'No more “I love you's”'?
I listened this song written by David Edward & Daniel Freeman. I like that song but I didn't get complete meaning as I don't know the use of "You's" in lyrics.
Lyrics is as below:
I used to ...
1
vote
2answers
202 views
Is it incorrect to say, “You say you will if you could but you can't”?
Sorry for my bad English.
I was listening the music Seaside Rendezvous from the Queen and in this song Freddie Mercury sings this phrase, but the correct way to write wouldn't be "You say you will if ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Can anybody tell me what “blue” means here?
I have a question about the lyrics of "Blue" by Zayn. When he says "I need somebody to love me blue", what does that mean? Where does that expression come from?
