Down Payment Blues – English Lyrics

• By: AC/DC
• Album: Ballbreaker

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

I know that it's evil

I know that it's got to be

I know I ain't doing much

But doing nothing means a lot to me

I'm living on a shoe string

A fifty cent millionaire

I'm open to charity

For rock 'n' roller welfare

Sitting in my Cadillac

Listening to my radio

Suzy baby, get on in

Tell me where you want to go

Living in a nightmare

She's looking like a wet dream

I got myself a Cadillac

But I can't afford the gasoline

I've got holes in my shoes

And I'm way overdue

Down payment blues

Get myself a steady job

Some responsibility

I can't even feed my cat

On social security

Hiding from the rent man

Oh, it makes me want to cry

Sheriff knocking on my door

Ain't it funny how the time flies

Sitting on my sailing boat

Sipping off my champagne

Suzy baby, all at sea (Suzy baby, you're obscene)

Say she want to come again

Feeling like a paper cup

(Floating | Blowing) down a storm drain

Got myself a sailing boat

But I can't afford the gasoline (...afford a drop of rain)

I've got holes in my shoes

And I'm way overdue

Down payment blues.

Key Grammar Structures

• I know that it's got to be

  ➔ "Got to be" (Modal-like expression for strong certainty/obligation)

  ➔ "got to be" expresses a strong sense of necessity or certainty, similar to "must be" or "has to be."

• But doing nothing means a lot to me

  ➔ Gerund as Subject

  ➔ The verb "doing" is used in its gerund form (-ing) and functions as the subject of the sentence.

• I'm living on a shoe string

  ➔ Present Continuous for Ongoing Action

  ➔ "I'm living" uses the present continuous tense to describe an action or state that is happening at the current time or over a period around the present.

• Tell me where you want to go

  ➔ Indirect Question / Noun Clause with "where"

  ➔ "where you want to go" is a noun clause acting as the object of "Tell me," forming an indirect question. Note the subject-verb order (you want) is not inverted like a direct question.

• But I can't afford the gasoline

  ➔ Modal Verb of Inability ("can't")

  ➔ "can't" (cannot) is a modal verb expressing the inability or lack of possibility to do something.

• And I'm way overdue

  ➔ Adverb of Degree ("way")

  ➔ "way" is used informally as an adverb to emphasize the degree or extent of "overdue," meaning "very" or "much."

• Oh, it makes me want to cry

  ➔ Causative Verb "make"

  ➔ The causative verb "makes" is followed by an object ("me") and a bare infinitive ("want to cry") to express that something causes someone to do something.

• Ain't it funny how the time flies

  ➔ Informal Negative "Ain't"

  ➔ "Ain't" is an informal contraction of "is not," "are not," "has not," or "have not." Here, it replaces "Isn't."

• Hiding from the rent man

  ➔ Present Participle as Implied Action / Verb + Preposition

  ➔ "Hiding" is a present participle used to describe an ongoing action, often implying "I am hiding" or "He is hiding." "from" specifies the target of hiding.

• Say she want to come again

  ➔ Omission of "s" in Present Simple / Informal "want to"

  ➔ In informal speech, the "s" in the third-person singular present simple ("says") is sometimes omitted. "want to" is also an informal contraction, often pronounced as "wanna."