Back From The Dead – English Lyrics

• By: Skylar Grey, Big Sean, Travis Barker
• Album: Don't Look Down

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the lyrical depth and raw emotion of "Back From The Dead" by Skylar Grey, Big Sean, and Travis Barker. This track offers a rich vocabulary for expressing feelings of loss, surprise, and resilience, making it an excellent choice for English learners. Its blend of pop melodies, hip-hop verses, and powerful drumming creates a compelling narrative that will help you grasp nuanced expressions of emotional complexity and conversational English in a captivating musical context.

[English]

♪ ♪

♪ I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOU AND I WOULD EVER MEET AGAIN ♪

♪ I MOURN THE LOSS OF YOU SOMETIMES ♪

♪ AND PRAY FOR PEACE WITHIN ♪

♪ THE WORD 'DISTRAUGHT' CANNOT DESCRIBE ♪

♪ HOW MY HEART HAS BEEN ♪

♪ BUT WHERE DO WE BEGIN ♪

♪ NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ I HELD A FUNERAL THE DAY YOU LEFT ♪

♪ A BLACK UMBRELLA AND A SAD SONG IN MY HEAD ♪

♪ BURIED YOUR PICTURE THAT I LOVED THE MOST ♪

♪ CUZ IF YOU SURVIVED ME I JUST DIDN'T WANNA KNOW ♪

♪ SO YOU CAN'T JUST COME BACK NOW LIKE A DEMON UNINVITED ♪

♪ NO YOU CAN'T JUST EXPECT ME ♪

♪ TO OPEN MY DOOR TO YOU BECAUSE ♪

♪ I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOU AND I WOULD EVER MEET AGAIN ♪

♪ I MOURN THE LOSS OF YOU SOMETIMES ♪

♪ AND PRAY FOR PEACE WITHIN ♪

♪ THE WORD 'DISTRAUGHT' CANNOT DESCRIBE ♪

♪ HOW MY HEART HAS BEEN ♪

♪ BUT WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT ♪

♪ YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ I'M SO CONFUSED I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO FEEL ♪

♪ SHOULD I THROW MY ARMS AROUND YOU ♪

♪ OR KILL YOU FOR REAL? ♪

♪ CUZ I WORKED SO HARD TO PUT THE PAST TO REST ♪

♪ NOW IT'S TUMBLING DOWN ON ME JUST LIKE AN AVALANCHE ♪

♪ SO YOU CAN'T JUST COME BACK NOW LIKE A DEMON UNINVITED ♪

♪ NO YOU CAN'T JUST EXPECT ME ♪

♪ TO OPEN MY DOOR TO YOU BECAUSE ♪

♪ 3RD VERSE: (BIG SEAN) I KNOW I KNOW I CAN SIT ♪

♪ AND TALK BUT I CAN'T MAKE YOU LISTEN, ♪

♪ YOU WISH THAT I PAID ATTENTION, ♪

♪ I THOUGHT IF I PAID ADMISSIONS, ♪

♪ TO WHEREVER, GO HOWEVER, IT WOULD PAINT THE ♪

♪ PERFECT PICTURE, YOU SAID ♪

♪ "NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU FUCKING MAKE ♪

♪ IT DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE", ♪

♪ AND I'M SO SO SO SORRY THAT WE FELL IN LOVE, ♪

♪ GERONIMO, IT'S LIKE ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER, ♪

♪ SWEAR WERE FUCKING WERE DOMINOS BUT, HERE WE ARE, ♪

♪ NOW I'M TRYING TO FIND AN ANSWER IN THIS BOTTLE GIRL, ♪

♪ AND I'M I'M DRIVING SLOW, DRIVING SLOW, ♪

♪ DON'T LET THE PIRANHAS KNOW ♪

♪ BUT YOU GON MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE, ♪

♪ WHY WE GOTTA WAIT THAT LONG? ♪

♪ BABY DO-DO-DO-DO-DON'T, ♪

♪ OR SHOULD I WALK OUT INSTEAD, ♪

♪ IS THIS LIVE AND LET DIE OR NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD? ♪

♪ I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOU AND I WOULD EVER MEET AGAIN ♪

♪ I MOURN THE LOSS OF YOU SOMETIMES ♪

♪ AND PRAY FOR PEACE WITHIN ♪

♪ THE WORD 'DISTRAUGHT' CANNOT DESCRIBE ♪

♪ HOW MY HEART HAS BEEN ♪

♪ BUT WHERE DO WE BEGIN ♪

♪ NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

♪ WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD? ♪

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
mourn /mɔːrn/ B2	verb - to feel or show sorrow for someone's death or a great loss
distraught /dɪˈstrɔːt/ C1	adjective - extremely upset and unable to think clearly
funeral /ˈfjuːnərəl/ B1	noun - a ceremony held after someone's death, usually including the burial or cremation of the body
buried /ˈberid/ A2	verb - to place a dead body in the ground or in a tomb
survived /sərˈvaɪvd/ B1	verb - to continue to live or exist after a difficult or dangerous situation
demon /ˈdiːmən/ B1	noun - an evil spirit or devil
uninvited /ˌʌnɪnˈvaɪtɪd/ B2	adjective - not asked to come or join
confused /kənˈfjuːzd/ A2	adjective - unable to think clearly or understand something
avalanche /ˈævəlæntʃ/ B2	noun - a large mass of snow and ice mixed with rock and earth that falls quickly down a mountainside
admissions /ədˈmɪʃənz/ B1	noun - the process or fact of being allowed to enter or join
Geronimo /dʒəˈrɒnɪmoʊ/ C1	noun - an exclamation used when jumping from a great height or taking a risk
dominos /dəˈmɪnoʊz/ B1	noun - a game played with small rectangular blocks bearing dots or other patterns
piranha /pɪˈrænə/ B2	noun - a small, carnivorous freshwater fish with sharp teeth
zombie /ˈzɒmbi/ B1	noun - (in fictional stories) a dead person who is brought back to life and eats the flesh of living people

Key Grammar Structures

• I NEVER THOUGHT THAT YOU AND I WOULD EVER MEET AGAIN

  ➔ Past Perfect (Thought)

  ➔ The phrase "I **never thought**" uses the past perfect tense to express an action completed before another point in the past. It emphasizes the singer's previous belief. "Would ever meet" is a conditional clause expressing a hypothetical situation.

• I MOURN THE LOSS OF YOU SOMETIMES

  ➔ Present Simple, Adverb of Frequency

  ➔ The use of Present Simple "I **mourn**" to express a habitual or recurring action. "Sometimes" is an adverb of frequency, describing how often the action happens.

• AND PRAY FOR PEACE WITHIN

  ➔ Parallelism

  ➔ The structure mirrors the previous clause "I mourn the loss" creating a sense of balance and reinforcing the similar ideas/actions.

• BUT WHERE DO WE BEGIN NOW THAT YOU'RE BACK FROM THE DEAD?

  ➔ Inversion, Present Simple, Adverbial Clause of Time/Reason

  ➔ The question uses inversion ("Where **do we begin**") to emphasize the beginning. "Now that" introduces an adverbial clause of reason, explaining the context for the question.

• I HELD A FUNERAL THE DAY YOU LEFT

  ➔ Past Simple, Time Clause

  ➔ The verb "held" is in the past simple, describing a completed action. "The day you left" is a time clause that indicates when the funeral occurred.

• SO YOU CAN'T JUST COME BACK NOW LIKE A DEMON UNINVITED

  ➔ Modal verb (can't), Simile

  ➔ "Can't" is a modal verb expressing inability. The phrase "like a demon uninvited" is a simile, creating a comparison.

• CUZ IF YOU SURVIVED ME I JUST DIDN'T WANNA KNOW

  ➔ Conditional Sentence (Type 2), Past Simple

  ➔ The phrase "If you survived me" implies a hypothetical situation in the past using the Past Simple. The second clause "I just didn't wanna know" describes the result in a hypothetical past.

• I'M SO CONFUSED I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO FEEL

  ➔ Adjective (Confused), Present Simple, Infinitive of Purpose

  ➔ "Confused" is an adjective describing the speaker's state. "I don't know" is in present simple. "What to feel" is an infinitive of purpose, which suggests the action (to feel) has a purpose in mind.

• OR KILL YOU FOR REAL?

  ➔ Inversion, Emphasis, Question Tag

  ➔ The use of "or" followed by an imperative verb form creates a rhetorical question and adds emphasis and a sense of strong emotion.

• NOW IT'S TUMBLING DOWN ON ME JUST LIKE AN AVALANCHE

  ➔ Present Continuous, Simile

  ➔ The use of "it's tumbling" (present continuous) to show the action's immediate happening and duration. The phrase "just like an avalanche" is a simile for comparison.