Alone – English Lyrics

• By: Rhys Lewis

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language is about connecting with new cultures and perspectives, and music is a fantastic gateway. Rhys Lewis's song 'Alone' offers a unique opportunity to explore nuanced English expression. While the lyrics are straightforward, they beautifully convey a complex emotion: the positive and uplifting feeling of choosing to be alone. Through this song, you can learn vocabulary related to escapism and self-reflection, and appreciate how a single word's meaning can be reshaped by context, from something negative to a source of strength and joy.

[English]

Do you ever feel like running away

Leaving your life behind and starting again?

Do you ever feel like running away

And if you left the first light, where would you go?

Would you follow the sun and head for the coast?

If you left the first light, where would you go?

'Cause some days I wake up full of all this fear

Wishing that I was anywhere but here

I'm craving for the freezing cold of an ocean

To be somewhere lost in the moment

Out there on my own

In the darkness

That only starlight reaches

A world away, I'm dreaming

In the place that no one knows

'Cause I feel like being alone

Alone, alone

Alone, alone

Are you scared you started living too late?

That you should've been making better mistakes

Are you scared you started living too late?

'Cause some days I wake up full of all this fear

Wishing that I was anywhere but here

I'm craving for the freezing cold of an ocean

To be somewhere lost in a moment

Out there on my own

In a darkness

That only starlight reaches

A world away, I'm dreaming

In a place that no one knows

'Cause I feel like being alone

Alone, alone

Alone, alone

Alone, alone

Alone, alone

Do you ever feel like running away

Leaving your life behind and starting again

Do you ever feel like running, running, running, running away

Alone, alone

...

Alone, alone

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
feel /fiːl/ A2	verb - to experience an emotion or sensation
run /rʌn/ A1	verb - to move quickly on foot
leave /liːv/ A2	verb - to go away from a place
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter
alone /əˈloʊn/ A2	adjective - without anyone or anything else
darkness /ˈdɑːrk.nəs/ B1	noun - the absence of light
dream /driːm/ B1	verb - to imagine or hope for something
scared /skɛrd/ B1	adjective - feeling frightened or worried
crave /kreɪv/ B2	verb - to have a strong desire for something
moment /ˈmoʊ.mənt/ B1	noun - a very brief period of time
fear /fɪr/ A2	noun - an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous
ocean /ˈoʊ.ʃən/ A2	noun - a large body of salt water that covers most of the earth's surface
place /pleɪs/ A1	noun - a particular position or point in space
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries and peoples
sun /sʌn/ A1	noun - the star that the earth moves around
coast /koʊst/ B1	noun - the land next to the sea

Key Grammar Structures

• Do you ever feel like running away

  ➔ Present Simple Tense with 'ever' and 'like' + gerund

  ➔ Uses the present simple with "ever" to inquire about a repeated or habitual feeling. "Like running away" uses "like" to express enjoyment or inclination, followed by the gerund "running away".

• Leaving your life behind and starting again?

  ➔ Present Participle (gerund-participle) as reduced relative clause and conjunction 'and'

  ➔ "Leaving" and "starting" are present participles functioning as reduced relative clauses modifying 'running away' from previous line. Equivalent to saying 'running away, which leaves your life behind and starts again'. 'And' conjoins the two actions.

• If you left the first light, where would you go?

  ➔ Second Conditional

  ➔ This uses the second conditional to talk about hypothetical or unlikely situations in the present or future. "If you left..." (past simple) sets the condition, and "where would you go?" (would + base verb) expresses the result.

• Wishing that I was anywhere but here

  ➔ Wishing Clause (Subjunctive Mood)

  ➔ This expresses a wish about a present situation that is contrary to reality. The use of "was" instead of "were" is common in informal English, though "were" is grammatically more correct in the subjunctive mood.

• I'm craving for the freezing cold of an ocean

  ➔ Present Continuous for desire and preposition 'for'

  ➔ "I'm craving" uses the present continuous to emphasize the intensity and current state of longing. The preposition "for" indicates what is being craved.

• To be somewhere lost in the moment

  ➔ Infinitive of purpose and passive participle

  ➔ "To be somewhere" is an infinitive phrase expressing purpose or intention. "Lost" is a past participle acting as an adjective, describing the state of being (somewhere being 'lost' in the moment).

• That only starlight reaches

  ➔ Relative Clause with 'that'

  ➔ "That only starlight reaches" is a relative clause modifying the noun "darkness" in the previous line. "That" acts as the relative pronoun connecting the clause to the noun it describes. It specifies which darkness the speaker is referring to.

• Are you scared you started living too late?

  ➔ Past Simple in a Noun Clause after 'scared'

  ➔ "You started living too late" is a noun clause acting as the object of the adjective "scared". The past simple "started" refers to an action beginning in the past, and the noun clause expresses the *content* of the fear.