After You – English Lyrics

• By: Jason Aldean
• Album: MACON

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the heartfelt lyrics of Jason Aldean's "After You" to experience a country ballad rich with emotion and relatable themes of love and loss. This song offers a beautiful opportunity to understand how English expresses deep personal struggles, featuring common idioms and expressions about heartbreak and moving on, making it a powerful and accessible piece for language learners.

[English]

After you, I was chasin' in a sunset scene

That Seger song in the backseat was kinda our thing

You drove a Pontiac and my heart crazy

If you jumped off that river bank

Hell, I'd do the same after you

I'd walk into that bar right behind

Catch a stare down with some old boy, let him know you were mine

Swore it was gonna last the rest of our lives

But fireworks in February turned to one damn cold July

And now I'm burnin' down this hole in the wall

And I'm just tryin' to make some sense of it all

Lookin' for answers on this old bar stool

Just tryin' to figure out life after love

After leavin', after too much drinkin', after you

After you, I thought about takin' that runway

To I don't care, anywhere but this rundown place

Leave all this shit and put my Chevy in drive

I'll take any town, any day, any state but out of my mind

And now I'm burnin' down this hole in the wall

And I'm just tryin' to make some sense of it all

Lookin' for answers on this old bar stool

Just tryin' to figure out life after love

After leavin', after too much drinkin', after you

...

I should've ran after you

Fast as I can after you

I didn't know I was gonna need a plan after you

You can tell after you

It's been hell after you

I don't even know who I am after you

And now I'm burnin' down this hole in the wall

And I'm just tryin' to make some sense of it all

Lookin' for answers on this old bar stool

Just tryin' to figure out life after love

After leavin', after too much drinkin'

After us, after dreamin', after too much thinkin'

After you

After you

After you

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
heart /hɑːt/ A1	noun - the muscular organ that pumps blood through the body noun - the central or most important part; core
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - a deep affection or strong feeling of attachment verb - to feel deep affection for someone or something
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the existence of an individual human being or animal
run /rʌn/ A1	verb - to move quickly on foot verb - to manage, operate, or be in charge of something
drink /drɪŋk/ A1	verb - to consume liquid noun - a liquid that can be swallowed; a beverage
mind /maɪnd/ B1	noun - the part of a person that thinks, feels, and remembers verb - to be concerned about; to pay attention to
wall /wɔːl/ A2	noun - a vertical structure that encloses or separates an area
hole /hoʊl/ A2	noun - an opening or gap in something
bar /bɑːr/ A2	noun - a place where alcoholic drinks are served noun - a long, narrow piece of metal or wood used as a barrier or support
answer /ˈænsər/ B1	noun - a response to a question or problem verb - to reply to a question or request
sunset /ˈsʌnˌsɛt/ B2	noun - the time in the evening when the sun disappears below the horizon
fireworks /ˈfaɪərˌwɜːrks/ B2	noun - explosive devices used for visual displays, especially at celebrations
crazy /ˈkreɪzi/ B1	adjective - extremely enthusiastic or wildly eccentric
cold /koʊld/ A2	adjective - having a low temperature; lacking warmth
plan /plæn/ B1	noun - a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something verb - to arrange or devise a method for doing something
leave /liːv/ A2	verb - to go away from a place
drive /draɪv/ A2	verb - to operate a vehicle noun - motivation or ambition that pushes someone to act
town /taʊn/ A2	noun - a small urban area larger than a village but smaller than a city
state /steɪt/ B1	noun - the particular condition that someone or something is in noun - a politically organized territory; a country or region

Key Grammar Structures

• If you jumped off that river bank, Hell, I'd do the same after you

  ➔ Second conditional

  ➔ The clause "If you ""jumped"" uses past simple in the if‑clause, and "I'd" (would + base verb) in the main clause, forming a second conditional to talk about an unreal situation.

• I should've ran after you

  ➔ Modal perfect (should have + past participle)

  ➔ "Should've" is the contraction of "should have" followed by the past participle "ran"; it expresses regret about a past action.

• I didn't know I was gonna need a plan after you

  ➔ Future-in-the-past (was going to)

  ➔ "Was gonna" is informal for "was going to"; it shows a future intention from a past perspective.

• I'll take any town, any day, any state but out of my mind

  ➔ Simple future (will + infinitive)

  ➔ "I'll" is the contraction of "I will"; followed by the base verb "take", it forms the simple future to express a decision about the future.

• Looking for answers on this old bar stool

  ➔ Gerund (present participle) as noun phrase

  ➔ "Looking" is a gerund; it functions as a noun phrase meaning "the act of looking".

• After leaving, after too much drinking, after you

  ➔ Gerund after preposition "after"

  ➔ The preposition "after" is followed by gerunds "leaving" and "drinking", forming prepositional phrases that indicate something that happened earlier.

• I don't even know who I am after you

  ➔ Indirect question (embedded clause) after verb "know"

  ➔ "who I am" is an embedded question used as the object of "know"; it functions as an indirect question.

• I thought about takin' that runway

  ➔ Verb + preposition + gerund (think about + gerund)

  ➔ "thought about" is a phrasal verb followed by the gerund "takin'"; it expresses an idea that was considered.