Ghost – English Lyrics

• By: Justin Bieber
• Album: Justice: The Complete Edition

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into Justin Bieber's "Ghost," a poignant and universally relatable song that masterfully explores themes of love, loss, and enduring memory. Through its emotive lyrics and accessible pop sound, you can learn common English expressions related to grief, hope, and connection, making it a powerful tool for understanding emotional nuances in the language and appreciating modern pop songwriting.

[English]

[OCEAN SOUNDS]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪ YOUNGBLOOD THINKS THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW ♪

♪ I MISS YOUR TOUCH SOME NIGHTS WHEN I'M HOLLOW ♪

♪ I KNOW YOU CROSSED A BRIDGE THAT I CAN'T FOLLOW ♪

♪ SINCE THE LOVE THAT YOU LEFT IS ALL THAT I GET ♪

♪ I WANT YOU TO KNOW ♪

♪ THAT IF I CAN'T BE CLOSE TO YOU, I'LL SETTLE FOR THE GHOST OF YOU ♪

♪ I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE (MORE THAN LIFE) ♪

♪ AND IF YOU CAN'T BE NEXT TO ME, YOUR MEMORY IS ECSTASY ♪

♪ I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE, I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE ♪

♪ YOUNGBLOOD THINKS THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW ♪

♪ I NEED MORE TIME, BUT TIME CAN'T BE BORROWED ♪

♪ I'D LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND IF I COULD FOLLOW ♪

♪ SINCE THE LOVE THAT YOU LEFT IS ALL THAT I GET ♪

♪ I WANT YOU TO KNOW ♪

♪ THAT IF I CAN'T BE CLOSE TO YOU, I'LL SETTLE FOR THE GHOST OF YOU ♪

♪ I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE (YEAH) ♪

♪ AND IF YOU CAN'T BE NEXT TO ME, YOUR MEMORY IS ECSTASY (OH) ♪

♪ I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE, I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE ♪

♪ WOAH-OH-OH-OH ♪

♪ NA-NA-NA ♪

♪ MORE THAN LIFE ♪

♪ SO IF I CAN'T BE CLOSE TO YOU, I'LL SETTLE FOR THE GHOST OF YOU ♪

♪ I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE ♪

♪ AND IF YOU CAN'T BE NEXT TO ME, YOUR MEMORY IS ECSTASY ♪

♪ I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE, I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE ♪

♪♪♪

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
miss /mɪs/ A1	verb - to feel sadness about the absence of someone or something
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection.
ghost /ɡoʊst/ B1	noun - the soul of a dead person believed to appear to the living.
touch /tʌtʃ/ A2	noun - the sense of feeling or physical contact
hollow /ˈhɑːloʊ/ B2	adjective - having a hole or empty space inside.
bridge /brɪdʒ/ A2	noun - a structure carrying a road, path, railroad, etc. across a river, road, or other obstacle.
memory /ˈmeməri/ B1	noun - the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.
ecstasy /ˈekstəsi/ C1	noun - an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.
youngblood /ˈjʌŋblʌd/ B2	noun - a young person, especially one regarded as vigorous and enthusiastic.
settle /ˈsetl/ B1	verb - to come to rest.
borrowed /ˈbɒroʊd/ B1	verb - past tense of borrow - to take and use (something belonging to someone else) with the intention of returning it.
follow /ˈfɑːloʊ/ A2	verb - to go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead).

Key Grammar Structures

• YOUNGBLOOD THINKS THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW

  ➔ Present Simple for general truths/beliefs

  ➔ The use of the present simple tense in "thinks" indicates a general belief or perspective that young people typically hold.

• I MISS YOUR TOUCH SOME NIGHTS WHEN I'M HOLLOW

  ➔ Use of "when" to indicate time; Present Simple "I'm hollow" to describe a current state

  ➔ "When" introduces a time clause. "I'm hollow" uses the present simple to express a feeling of emptiness that the speaker experiences at times.

• I KNOW YOU CROSSED A BRIDGE THAT I CAN'T FOLLOW

  ➔ Past Simple "crossed" for a completed action in the past; "that" as a relative pronoun; "can't" + infinitive (follow) to express inability

  ➔ "Crossed" is in the past simple because it refers to a specific action that happened in the past. "That" introduces a relative clause specifying the type of bridge. "Can't follow" expresses the speaker's inability to do something.

• SINCE THE LOVE THAT YOU LEFT IS ALL THAT I GET

  ➔ "Since" as a conjunction of reason; relative clause "that you left"; Present Simple "I get"

  ➔ "Since" indicates a cause-and-effect relationship. "That you left" is a relative clause modifying "the love". "I get" in the present simple signifies a current state of receiving only the love that was left behind.

• THAT IF I CAN'T BE CLOSE TO YOU, I'LL SETTLE FOR THE GHOST OF YOU

  ➔ Conditional Sentence Type 1 (zero conditional in this case due to "I'll settle" meaning 'willing to settle'); "if" + present simple, "will" + infinitive; "settle for" a phrasal verb

  ➔ This sentence expresses a possible condition and its likely result. "Settle for" means to accept something less than ideal. The "will" indicates a future action that the speaker is willing to take.

• I MISS YOU MORE THAN LIFE

  ➔ Comparative structure: "more than" to express a higher degree of something; "life" used as a standard for comparison.

  ➔ This is a hyperbolic statement used to emphasize the intensity of missing someone. Life is used as the ultimate measure to show how significant the feeling is.

• AND IF YOU CAN'T BE NEXT TO ME, YOUR MEMORY IS ECSTASY

  ➔ Conditional Sentence Type 1 (similar to zero conditional): "if" + present simple, present simple; Metaphorical Language: equating memory to "ecstasy"

  ➔ This sentence again uses a conditional structure to present a hypothetical situation and its resulting feeling. The memory is personified to be a source of extreme pleasure or ecstasy.