Forever Young – English Lyrics

• By: Alphaville

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the enduring magic of Alphaville's "Forever Young," a quintessential 80s synth-pop track that offers a window into the era's Cold War anxieties while celebrating the timeless quest for youthful spirit. Its evocative lyrics, powerful vocals, and lush electronic soundscape make it a perfect song to explore the nuances of English, especially its metaphorical expressions of hope, fear, and resilience.

[English]

Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while

Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Let us dance in style, let's dance for a while

Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Can you imagine when this race is won?

Turn our golden faces into the sun

Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune

The music's played by the the madman.

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, and ever.

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, forever young.

Some are like water, some are like the heat

Some are a melody and some are the beat

Sooner or later they all will be gone

Why don't they stay young?

It's so hard to get old without a cause

I don't want to perish like a fading horse

Youth's like diamonds in the sun

And diamonds are forever.

So many adventures couldn't happen today

So many songs we forgot to play

So many dreams swinging out of the blue

Let them come true

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, and ever.

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, forever young.

Forever young

Forever young

Do you really want to live forever?

Forever, forever young.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
young /jʌŋ/ A1	adjective - having lived or existed for only a short time and not yet old.
forever /fəˈrevər/ A2	adverb - for all time; always.
live /lɪv/ A1	verb - to have life; to be alive.
dance /dæns/ A1	verb - to move your feet and body to the rhythm of music.
heaven /ˈhev(ə)n/ B1	noun - (in some religions) the place where God lives and where good people are believed to go after they die; a state of supreme happiness.
sky /skaɪ/ A2	noun - the space over the earth where the sun, moon, and stars can be seen; the air or atmosphere.
sun /sʌn/ A1	noun - the star that the Earth moves around and that gives it light and heat.
bomb /bɑːm/ B1	noun - a weapon that explodes and causes damage.
imagine /ɪˈmædʒɪn/ B1	verb - to form a picture or idea in the mind of something that is not present or has not happened.
youth /juːθ/ B1	noun - the period of your life when you are young.
diamond /ˈdaɪəmənd/ B1	noun - a very hard, valuable, clear mineral that is used as a jewel and in industry.
perish /ˈperɪʃ/ C1	verb - to die, especially in a sudden, violent, or unexpected way.
fading /ˈfeɪdɪŋ/ B2	adjective - losing color, brightness, or strength gradually.
dream /driːm/ A1	noun - a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.
adventure /ədˈventʃər/ A2	noun - an unusual, exciting, and possibly dangerous activity, journey, or experience.
music /ˈmjuːzɪk/ A1	noun - the art of arranging sounds in a way that produces a pleasing or exciting effect.
melody /ˈmelədi/ B1	noun - a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying.
worst /wɜːrst/ A2	adjective - of the poorest quality or lowest standard; most bad or unpleasant. noun - the most unpleasant or severe thing possible.

Key Grammar Structures

• Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while

  ➔ Let's (Suggestion/Imperative)

  ➔ The structure ""Let's"" (short for ""let us"") is used to make a suggestion or an invitation for a group, including the speaker, to do something.

• Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies

  ➔ Modal verb "can" (Possibility/Permission)

  ➔ The modal verb ""can"" indicates possibility or permission, suggesting that waiting is an option or allowed.

• Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

  ➔ "Be going to" (Future intention/Prediction)

  ➔ ""Gonna"" is an informal contraction of ""going to"", used here to express a future intention or a prediction about what someone will do.

• Can you imagine when this race is won?

  ➔ Passive Voice (Present Simple)

  ➔ The phrase ""is won"" is in the passive voice, indicating that the race is the recipient of the action (winning) rather than the performer. The focus is on the state or result.

• I want to be forever young

  ➔ Verb + to-infinitive (Desire/Intention)

  ➔ The structure ""want to"" followed by a base verb (""be"") expresses a desire or intention to do something.

• Do you really want to live forever?

  ➔ Question formation with "Do/Does" + Verb + to-infinitive

  ➔ This is a question formed using the auxiliary verb ""Do"" for present simple questions, followed by the subject and the main verb ""want"" which is then followed by a ""to-infinitive"".

• Why don't they stay young?

  ➔ Negative Question (Suggestion/Rhetorical)

  ➔ A negative question using ""Why don't"" is often used to make a suggestion, or it can be a rhetorical question expressing confusion or a subtle complaint.

• It's so hard to get old without a cause

  ➔ Impersonal Construction "It's + adjective + to-infinitive"

  ➔ The impersonal construction ""It's + adjective + to-infinitive"" is used to describe the quality of an action or state, making a general statement.

• I don't want to perish like a fading horse

  ➔ Present Participle as Adjective

  ➔ The present participle ""fading"" is used as an adjective to describe the noun ""horse"", indicating a continuous or ongoing state of losing strength/color.

• So many songs we forgot to play

  ➔ Omitted Relative Pronoun

  ➔ In this sentence, the relative pronoun (e.g., ""that"" or ""which"") connecting ""songs"" to ""we forgot to play"" is omitted because it is the object of the verb in the relative clause.