– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) Thank you all.

Thank you so much.

You know, it’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since I first came to this

convention to talk with you about why I thought my husband should be president.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) Remember how I told you about his character

and convictions, his decency and his grace, the traits that we’ve seen every day that

he’s served our country in the White House?

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) I also told you about our daughters, how they

are the heart of our hearts, the center of our world.

And during our time in the White House, we’ve had the joy of watching them grow from bubbly

little girls into poised young women, a journey that started soon after we arrived in Washington.

OBAMA: When they set off for their first day at their new school, I will never forget that

winter morning as I watched our girls, just 7 and 10 years old, pile into those black

SUVs with all those big men with guns.

(LAUGHTER) And I saw their little faces pressed up against

the window, and the only thing I could think was, what have we done?

(LAUGHTER) See, because at that moment I realized that

our time in the White House would form the foundation for who they would become and how

well we managed this experience could truly make or break them.

That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls

through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight, how we urge them to ignore

those who question their father’s citizenship or faith.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) How we insist that the hateful language they

hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) How we explain that when someone is cruel

or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level.

No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) With every word we utter, with every action

we take, we know our kids are watching us.

We as parents are their most important role models.

And let me tell you, Barack and I take that same approach to our jobs as president and

first lady because we know that our words and actions matter, not just to our girls,

but the children across this country, kids who tell us I saw you on TV, I wrote a report

on you for school.

Kids like the little black boy who looked up at my husband, his eyes wide with hope

and he wondered, is my hair like yours?

And make no mistake about it, this November when we go to the polls that is what we’re

deciding, not Democrat or Republican, not left or right.

No, in this election and every election is about who will have the power to shape our

children for the next four or eight years of their lives.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And I am here tonight because in this election

there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who I

believe is truly qualified to be president of the United States, and that is our friend

Hillary Clinton.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) That’s right.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) See, I trust Hillary to lead this country

because I’ve seen her lifelong devotion to our nation’s children, not just her own

daughter, who she has raised to perfection…

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) …but every child who needs a champion, kids

who take the long way to school to avoid the gangs, kids who wonder how they’ll ever

afford college, kids whose parents don’t speak a word of English, but dream of a better

life, kids who look to us to determine who and what they can be.

You see, Hillary has spent decades doing the relentless, thankless work to actually make

a difference in their lives…

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) …advocating for kids with disabilities as

a young lawyer, fighting for children’s health care as first lady, and for quality

child care in the Senate.

And when she didn’t win the nomination eight years ago, she didn’t get angry or disillusioned.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) Hillary did not pack up and go home, because

as a true public servant Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own desires

and disappointments.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) So she proudly stepped up to serve our country

once again as secretary of state, traveling the globe to keep our kids safe.

And look, there were plenty of moments when Hillary could have decided that this work

was too hard, that the price of public service was too high, that she was tired of being

picked apart for how she looks or how she talks or even how she laughs.

But here’s the thing.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure.

She never takes the easy way out.

And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And when I think about the kind of president

that I want for my girls and all our children, that’s what I want.

OBAMA: I want someone with the proven strength to persevere, someone who knows this job and

takes it seriously, someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not

black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) Because when you have the nuclear codes at

your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions.

You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out.

You need to be steady and measured and well-informed.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) I want a president with a record of public

service, someone whose life’s work shows our children that we don’t chase form and

fortune for ourselves, we fight to give everyone a chance to succeed.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And we give back even when we’re struggling

ourselves because we know that there is always someone worse off.

And there but for the grace of God go I. I want a president who will teach our children

that everyone in this country matters, a president who truly believes in the vision that our

Founders put forth all those years ago that we are all created equal, each a beloved part

of the great American story.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And when crisis hits, we don’t turn against

each other.

No, we listen to each other, we lean on each other, because we are always stronger together.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And I am here tonight because I know that

that is the kind of president that Hillary Clinton will be.

And that’s why in this election I’m with her.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) You see, Hillary understands that the president

is about one thing and one thing only, it’s about leaving something better for our kids.

That’s how we’ve always moved this country forward, by all of us coming together on behalf

of our children, folks who volunteer to coach that team, to teach that Sunday school class,

because they know it takes a village.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) Heroes of every color and creed who wear the

uniform and risk their lives to keep passing down those blessings of liberty, police officers

and the protesters in Dallas who all desperately want to keep our children safe.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) People who lined up in Orlando to donate blood

because it could have been their son, their daughter in that club.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) Leaders like Tim Kaine…

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) …who show our kids what decency and devotion

look like.

Leaders like Hillary Clinton who has the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting

those cracks in that highest and hardest glass ceiling until she finally breaks through,

lifting all of us along with her.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) That is the story of this country, the story

that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt

the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on

striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning

in a house that was built by slaves.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent,

black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters

and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the

United States.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) So, look, so don’t let anyone ever tell

you that this country isn’t great, that somehow we need to make it great again.

Because this right now is the greatest country on earth!

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) And as my daughters prepare to set out into the world, I want a leader

who is worthy of that truth, a leader who is worthy of my girls’ promise and all our

kids’ promise, a leader who will be guided every day by the love and hope and impossibly

big dreams that we all have for our children.

So in this election, we cannot sit back and hope that everything works out for the best.

We cannot afford to be tired or frustrated or cynical.

No, hear me.

Between now and November, we need to do what we did eight years ago and four years ago.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) We need to knock on every door, we need to

get out every vote, we need to pour every last ounce of our passion and our strength

and our love for this country into electing Hillary Clinton as president of the United

States of America!

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE) So let’s get to work.

Thank you all and God bless.

(CHEERS, APPLAUSE)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
president /ˈprɛzɪdənt/ B1	noun - the elected head of a republic or organization
convention /kənˈvɛnʃən/ C1	noun - a large formal gathering or a set of accepted customs
character /ˈkærɪktər/ B2	noun - the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual
conviction /kənˈvɪkʃən/ C1	noun - a firmly held belief or opinion
decency /ˈdiːsənsi/ C1	noun - the quality of being proper, moral, or respectable
grace /ɡreɪs/ B2	noun - elegant smoothness of movement or a courteous manner
country /ˈkʌntri/ A1	noun - a nation with its own government
daughters /ˈdɔːtərz/ B1	noun (plural) - female children
journey /ˈdʒɜːrni/ B2	noun - the act of traveling from one place to another
Washington /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən/ B1	proper noun - the capital city of the United States
school /skuːl/ A1	noun - an institution for educating children
guns /ɡʌnz/ A2	noun (plural) - firearms, weapons that shoot bullets
foundation /faʊnˈdeɪʃən/ B2	noun - the basis on which something is built
challenge /ˈtʃælɪndʒ/ B2	noun - a difficult task or problem that requires effort
spotlight /ˈspɒtlaɪt/ C1	noun - a strong, focused light that draws attention
citizenship /ˈsɪtɪzənʃɪp/ C1	noun - the status of being a legal member of a state
bully /ˈbʌli/ B1	noun - someone who repeatedly harms or intimidates others verb - to intimidate or hurt someone repeatedly
motto /ˈmoʊtoʊ/ C1	noun - a short phrase expressing a guiding principle
role model /roʊl ˈmɒdəl/ B2	noun phrase - a person whose behavior is emulated by others
election /ɪˈlɛkʃən/ B2	noun - the process of choosing someone for public office by voting

Key Grammar Structures

• It’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since I first came to this convention.

  ➔ Present perfect with *since* to indicate duration up to the present.

  ➔ "It **has been** eight years" shows the present perfect tense expressing the length of time.

• When they set off for their first day at their new school, I will never forget that winter morning.

  ➔ First‑conditional clause with *when* + simple future in the main clause.

  ➔ "I **will never forget**" is the simple future expressing a firm intention about a past event.

• How we urge them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith.

  ➔ Verb *urge* followed by infinitive *to* + base verb.

  ➔ "urge **them to ignore**" – *them* is the object of *urge*, and *to ignore* is the infinitive complement.

• When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t sto​op to their level.

  ➔ Zero conditional (present + present) for general truths.

  ➔ "you **don’t sto​op**" uses the negative present simple to state a habitual action.

• Our motto is, when they go low, we go high.

  ➔ Structural parallelism with two *when* clauses, each followed by a simple present verb.

  ➔ "they **go low**" and "we **go high**" – both verbs are in the simple present to express habitual or general actions.

• I want a president who will teach our children that everyone in this country matters.

  ➔ Relative clause with future modal *will* to describe a characteristic of a future subject.

  ➔ "president **who will teach**" – *who* introduces a relative clause, and *will teach* is the future simple indicating a promise.

• Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions.

  ➔ Complex sentence with *because* + dependent clause, modal *can’t* for inability, and infinitive *to* omitted after *can’t*.

  ➔ "you **can’t make** snap decisions" – *can’t* + base verb *make* expresses inability.

• We need to knock on every door, we need to get out every vote, we need to pour every last ounce of our passion and strength into electing Hillary Clinton.

  ➔ Parallel structure with repeated infinitive phrases (*to* + verb) for emphasis.

  ➔ "**to knock**", "**to get out**", "**to pour**" – each infinitive begins with *to*, creating a rhythmic, persuasive list.