All The Little Lights – English Lyrics

• By: Passenger
• Album: Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted

Lyrics & Translation

Embark on a heartfelt journey with Passenger's "All The Little Lights." This song offers a poignant look at life's experiences through evocative lyrics and a gentle acoustic sound. For English learners, its clear and honest storytelling provides an excellent opportunity to expand vocabulary related to emotions, personal reflection, and the human condition, making it a special piece for language and emotional understanding.

[English]

One went out at a bus stop in Edinburgh

One went out in an English pub

One went out in a nightclub when I was fifteen

Little lights in my heart

One went out when I lied to my mother

Said the cigarettes she found were not mine

One went out within me, now I smoke like a chimney

Its getting dark in this heart of mine

Its getting dark in this heart of mine

We're born with millions of little lights shining in the dark

And they show us the way

One lights up

Every time you feel love in your heart

One dies when it moves away

One went out in the backstreets of Manchester

One went out in an airport in Spain

One went out, I've no doubt

When I grew up and moved out

Of the place where the boy used to play

One went out when uncle Ben got his tumour

We used to fish, and I fish no more

Though he will not return

I know one still burns

On a fishing boat off the New Jersey shore

On a fishing boat off the New Jersey shore

We're born with millions of little lights shining in the dark

And they show us the way

One lights up

Every time we feel love in our hearts

One dies when it moves away

We're born with millions of little lights shining in our hearts

And they die along the way

'Til we're old and we're cold

And we're lying in the dark

'Cause they'll all burn out one day

They'll all burn out one day, oh

They'll all burn out one day

They'll all burn out one day, yeah, oh

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
light /laɪt/ A2	noun - something that makes things visible or affords illumination verb - to make something bright or to ignite
dark /dɑrk/ A2	adjective - having very little or no light
heart /hɑrt/ A2	noun - the organ in your chest that sends the blood around your body noun - the central or most important part
burn /bɜrn/ B1	verb - to be on fire or to produce flames
show /ʃoʊ/ A2	verb - to allow someone to see something
feel /fiːl/ A2	verb - to experience an emotion or a physical sensation
move /muːv/ A2	verb - to change position or place
die /daɪ/ B1	verb - to stop living
cigarette /ˌsɪɡəˈrɛt/ B2	noun - a small roll of paper filled with tobacco for smoking
tumour /ˈtjuːmə/ C1	noun - an abnormal growth of tissue
fishing /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/ A2	noun - the activity of catching fish
million /ˈmɪljən/ A1	noun - the number 1,000,000
place /pleɪs/ A2	noun - a particular position or point in space
boy /bɔɪ/ A1	noun - a male child or young man

Key Grammar Structures

• One went out at a bus stop in Edinburgh

  ➔ Past simple tense

  ➔ Used to describe a completed action in the past

• One went out in an English pub

  ➔ Preposition 'in' for location

  ➔ 'in' is used to specify the location where the action took place

• One went out when I lied to my mother

  ➔ Simple past tense in both clauses

  ➔ Both actions are completed in the past and are presented in the simple past tense

• And they show us the way

  ➔ Present simple tense

  ➔ Used to describe habitual actions or general truths

• One dies when it moves away

  ➔ Present simple tense (for general truth)

  ➔ Expresses a universal truth or habitual fact

• We're born with millions of little lights shining in our hearts

  ➔ Passive voice and present continuous tense

  ➔ Combines passive voice with the present participle to describe ongoing conditions

• They'll all burn out one day

  ➔ Future simple tense with 'will'

  ➔ Expresses a future certainty or prediction