Father Of Mine

• By: Everclear

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
father /ˈfɑːðər/ A1	noun - a male parent
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries and peoples
eyes /aɪz/ A1	noun - organs used for seeing
back /bæk/ A1	adverb - to or towards the rear noun - the rear surface of a body
loved /lʌvd/ A2	verb - felt deep affection for someone
walking /ˈwɔːkɪŋ/ A1	verb - moving on foot
hand /hænd/ A1	noun - the part of the body at the end of the arm
life /laɪf/ A2	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter
years /jɪərz/ A1	noun - a period of twelve months
name /neɪm/ A1	noun - a word or set of words by which a person or thing is known verb - give a particular name to
children /ˈtʃɪldrən/ A1	noun - plural of child
wife /waɪf/ A1	noun - a married woman
safe /seɪf/ A2	adjective - protected from or not exposed to danger or risk
grown /ɡroʊn/ A2	verb - past participle of grow; matured, adult
pain /peɪn/ B1	noun - physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury

Grammar:

• Tell me where have you been?

  ➔ Inversion in questions with embedded clauses.

  ➔ The expected word order for a question is "Have you been...?", but because it's embedded inside "Tell me", the subject and auxiliary verb invert again *after* the "tell me" part. Correct would be "Tell me where you have been" if this were not a question.

• Back before you went away

  ➔ Use of "before" as a conjunction to indicate a time prior to another event.

  ➔ "Before" introduces a subordinate clause that happened earlier in time. The phrase "went away" implies abandonment or departure.

• You had the world inside your hand, But you did not seem to know

  ➔ Use of the past simple tense and contrast with "but".

  ➔ The first part of the sentence "You had the world inside your hand" utilizes the past simple to describe a state of possession or potential. "But" introduces a contrasting idea, negating the potential by stating a lack of awareness. "did not seem to know" suggests a lack of understanding or appreciation.

• Wasn't easy for me to be a scared white boy In a black neighborhood

  ➔ Use of the impersonal "it" construction with an adjective and infinitive clause.

  ➔ The phrase "It wasn't easy for me to be..." uses the impersonal pronoun "it" to introduce a general statement. The actual subject of the sentence is "to be a scared white boy in a black neighborhood". The "for me" clarifies who experienced the difficulty.

• And I guess I never will

  ➔ Ellipsis (omission) in conditional sentences or clauses; future tense

  ➔ The full sentence would be something like "And I guess I never will understand you." The words 'understand you' are omitted, as they are understood from the prior context.

• Tell me how do you sleep?

  ➔ Question Formation: Inversion of auxiliary verb and subject in direct questions.

  ➔ The auxiliary verb "do" is used to form the question. The subject "you" follows the auxiliary verb. While grammatically correct, this structure is less common with "how" unless it emphasizes disbelief or surprise. More naturally, "How do you sleep?"

• With the children you abandoned And the wife I saw you beat

  ➔ Relative clauses without relative pronouns ("that", "which", "whom").

  ➔ In "the children you abandoned", "you abandoned" modifies children, but the relative pronoun is omitted. Similarly, "the wife I saw you beat", "I saw you beat" is the relative clause modifying 'wife' with the relative pronoun omitted. This is very common, especially in spoken English.