21 Guns – English Lyrics

• By: Green Day

Lyrics & Translation

Learn English through Green Day's powerful rock anthem, '21 Guns.' The song's introspective lyrics about struggle, surrender, and finding inner peace offer a great opportunity to explore complex themes and vocabulary. The questioning nature of the lyrics provides a unique way to practice and understand interrogative sentences and metaphorical language in English.

[English]

♪♪

♪ Do you know what's worth fighting for ♪

♪ When it's not worth dying for? ♪

♪ Does it take your breath away ♪

♪ And you feel yourself suffocating? ♪

♪ Does the pain weigh out the pride? ♪

♪ And you look for a place to hide? ♪

♪ Did someone break your heart inside? ♪

♪ You're in ruins ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms ♪

♪ Give up the fight ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ When you're at the end of the road ♪

♪ And you lost all sense of control ♪

♪ And your thoughts have taken their toll ♪

♪ When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul ♪

♪ Your faith walks on broken glass ♪

♪ And the hangover doesn't pass ♪

♪ Nothing's ever built to last ♪

♪ You're in ruins (you're in ruins) (you're in ruins) ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms ♪

♪ Give up the fight ♪

♪ One (one), twenty one guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ (Did you) Did you try to live on your own ♪

♪ (When you) When you burned down the house and home? ♪

♪ (Did you) Did you stand too close to the fire? ♪

♪ Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone ♪

♪ When it's time to live and let die ♪

♪ And you can't get another try ♪

♪ Something inside this heart has died ♪

♪ You're in ruins (you're in ruins) ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms ♪

♪ Give up the fight ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms ♪

♪ Give up the fight ♪

♪ One, twenty one guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

Beautiful, beautiful

Yep, do it again

Hahahaha

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
fight /faɪt/ B2	verb - to take part in a violent struggle or combat noun - an act of fighting
arms /ɑːrmz/ B1	noun - weapons used in fighting
guns /ɡʌnz/ B2	noun - weapons that fire bullets
soul /soʊl/ B2	noun - the spiritual or immaterial part of a person
pride /praɪd/ B1	noun - a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction from one's achievements
control /kənˈtroʊl/ B2	noun - the power to govern or direct
spirit /ˈspɪrɪt/ B2	noun - the non-physical part of a person regarded as their true self
faith /feɪθ/ B2	noun - belief in something without proof
glass /ɡlæs/ B2	noun - a hard, brittle material used to make windows and containers
broken /ˈbroʊkən/ B2	adjective - damaged or not functioning
life /laɪf/ A2	noun - the condition that distinguishes living from non-living
ruins /ˈruːɪnz/ B2	noun - the remains of a building or city destroyed or decayed
pass /pæs/ B1	verb - to move past or succeed in reaching a point
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - a measured or passing period

Key Grammar Structures

• Does it take your breath away

  ➔ Do/Does + subject + base verb

  ➔ The phrase uses the auxiliary verb **'does'** to form a question in the present tense for third person singular.

• Lay down your arms

  ➔ Imperative mood / Verb + object

  ➔ The phrase is in the **imperative** form, giving a direct command or instruction.

• When you're at the end of the road

  ➔ Adverbial clause of time (When + subject + present tense)

  ➔ The **adverbial clause** provides a time context, indicating when an event occurs.

• And the hangover doesn't pass

  ➔ Simple present tense for habitual or timeless actions

  ➔ The verb **'doesn't pass'** is in the present simple, indicating a repeated or ongoing condition.

• You're in ruins

  ➔ contractions of 'you are' in the present continuous tense

  ➔ The phrase uses the **contraction** 'You're' for 'you are', indicating a state of being.

• And you feel yourself suffocating?

  ➔ Reflexive pronoun + verb + -ing form (present participle)

  ➔ The structure **'yourself suffocating'** combines a reflexive pronoun with a present participle to describe the action.