Been By Now – English Lyrics

• By: Morgan Wallen

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the soulful storytelling of Morgan Wallen with 'Been By Now.' This song is a perfect gateway to learning conversational English through its expressive use of idioms, past tense reflections, and emotional vocabulary, making it a special tool for understanding how regret and longing are expressed in modern country music.

[English]

No need to act surprised, I've seen it in your eyes

I feel it when we lie here worlds apart

It's easier to stay, it's easier to say

That there's gon' come a day it won't be this hard

Nah, we don't even fight like we used to

We don't even care enough to cry no more

It's been a hundred nights since I knew you

How long we gonna keep looking at that door

If it was meant to be we'd have been by now

We wouldn't have to keep tryna work things out

Yeah baby we're a breeze when the lights go down

It wouldn't be so hard when we ain't in the dark

If we were in the stars, they'd have lined right up

Yeah maybe from the start we been trying too much

I know you wanna think that it's what we found

But if it was meant to be we'd have been by now, been by now

If I could go and find the moment or the night

My heart went cold as ice, I'd light the match

Don't wanna draw the line, don't wanna say goodbye

But we're just wastin' time, girl, that we don't have

If it was meant to be we'd have been by now

We wouldn't have to keep tryna work things out

Yeah baby we're a breeze when the lights go down

It wouldn't be so hard when we ain't in the dark

If we were in the stars, they'd have lined right up

Yeah maybe from the start we been trying too much

I know you wanna think that it's what we found

But if it was meant to be we'd have been by now, been by now

Nah, we don't even fight like we used to

We don't even care enough to cry no more

It's been a hundred nights since I knew you

And I can't spend another looking at that door

If it was meant to be we'd have been by now

We wouldn't have to keep tryna work things out

Yeah baby we're a breeze when the lights go down

It wouldn't be so hard when we ain't in the dark

If we were in the stars, they'd have lined right up

Yeah maybe from the start we been trying too much

I know you wanna think that it's what we found

But if it was meant to be we'd have been by now, been by now

Been by now

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
surprised /səˈpraɪzd/ A2	adjective - feeling or showing surprise; astonished
apart /əˈpɑːrt/ B1	adjective - separated by a distance; not together
fight /faɪt/ A2	verb - to engage in a struggle or argument
hundred /ˈhʌndrəd/ A1	number - the number 100
meant /ment/ B1	verb - intended or destined to happen
breeze /briːz/ B2	noun - a gentle wind; something very easy
dark /dɑːrk/ A2	noun - the absence of light adjective - with little or no light
stars /stɑːrz/ A1	noun - luminous points in the night sky
lined /laɪnd/ B2	verb - arranged in a line or sequence
moment /ˈmoʊmənt/ A2	noun - a very brief period of time
match /mætʃ/ A2	noun - a small stick used to start a fire
waste /weɪst/ B1	verb - to use something carelessly or for no purpose

Key Grammar Structures

• There's gon' come a day it won't be this hard

  ➔ Future Simple (negative) and 'going to' reduction

  ➔ The speaker uses "won't" (will not) to express a future prediction about the difficulty of the relationship.

• We don't even fight like we used to

  ➔ Used to + verb (past habit)

  ➔ The structure "used to" implies an action or state that was true in the past but is no longer the case.

• It's been a hundred nights since I knew you

  ➔ Present Perfect

  ➔ The present perfect "has been" describes a state that started in the past and continues up to the present.

• If it was meant to be we'd have been by now

  ➔ Third Conditional (mixed/hypothetical)

  ➔ Using "would have been" creates a hypothetical scenario about the past that did not actually happen.

• We wouldn't have to keep tryna work things out

  ➔ Gerund after "keep"

  ➔ The verb "keep" is followed by the -ing form (gerund) to indicate a continuous or repetitive action.

• If we were in the stars, they'd have lined right up

  ➔ Second Conditional (hypothetical present/future)

  ➔ Using "were" and "would" suggests a "what if" situation that is not the current reality.

• If I could go and find the moment or the night

  ➔ Modal verb "could" for ability/possibility

  ➔ "Could" is used here to express a hypothetical desire or possibility in the past.

• My heart went cold as ice

  ➔ Simile (as... as...)

  ➔ The structure "as ice" uses a simile to compare the coldness of the speaker's heart to that of ice.