Everlasting Nothing – English Lyrics

• By: Beck
• Album: Hyperspace

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the beautifully melancholic and ultimately hopeful world of Beck's 'Everlasting Nothing.' This song offers a unique opportunity to explore profound themes of life, death, and perseverance through its poetic and thought-provoking lyrics. Its blend of simple, direct language and evocative imagery makes it an accessible yet deeply meaningful piece for language learners to engage with complex emotions and abstract ideas in English.

[English]

You threw the keys to the kingdom

Over a skyscraper wall

Sowing seeds somewhere obsolete

In the everlasting nothing

It's been a long night in the slipstream

I thought I'd crash and burn if I came down

When I did I found a friend to take me home

In the everlasting nothing

Friends I've known come and go

Like a soldier with no song

Still I try to get back home

In the everlasting nothing

I woke up in a movie

Didn't know if it was my whole life

When it ended I laughed before I cried

In the everlasting nothing

And I washed up on the shoreline

Everyone was waiting there for me

Like a standing ovation for the funeral of the sun

In the everlasting nothing

Friends I've known come and go

Like a soldier with no song

Still I try to get back home

In the everlasting nothing

Nowhere child

Keep on running

Nowhere child

Keep on running

In your time you'll find something

In the everlasting nothing

Nowhere child

Keep on running

Nowhere child

Keep on running

In your time you'll find something

In the everlasting nothing

Nowhere child

Keep on running (Oh, nowhere)

Nowhere child

Keep on running (Oh)

In your time you'll find something (In your time)

In the everlasting nothing (Yeah, yeah)

...

Key Grammar Structures

• You threw the keys to the kingdom

  ➔ Simple past tense (regular verb)

  ➔ The verb "threw" shows a completed action in the past.

• Sowing seeds somewhere obsolete

  ➔ Present participle clause as adverbial

  ➔ "Sowing" functions like an adverb describing how the action occurs.

• It's been a long night in the slipstream

  ➔ Present perfect (have/has + past participle)

  ➔ "has been" links a past situation to the present, indicating duration.

• When I did I found a friend to take me home

  ➔ Past simple + infinitive of purpose

  ➔ "to take" explains the purpose of "a friend".

• Friends I've known come and go

  ➔ Present perfect + present simple contrast

  ➔ "I've known" (present perfect) shows experience up to now; "come and go" (present simple) describes habitual action.

• When it ended I laughed before I cried

  ➔ Temporal clause with "before" + simple past

  ➔ "before" introduces the sequence: first I laughed, then I cried.

• Like a standing ovation for the funeral of the sun

  ➔ Simile using "like" + noun phrase

  ➔ "Like" creates a comparison between the scene and "a standing ovation".

• Nowhere child, Keep on running

  ➔ Imperative mood + phrasal verb + gerund

  ➔ "Keep on" is a phrasal verb meaning "continue"; "running" is a gerund acting as the object of "keep on".

• In your time you'll find something

  ➔ Future simple with "will" + conditional nuance

  ➔ "you'll find" predicts a future discovery, often understood as a promise or expectation.