Hard Feelings / Loveless – English Lyrics

• By: Lorde
• Album: Melodrama

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the emotional complexity of Lorde's songwriting to explore advanced English expressions of grief and detachment. This song is a perfect study in how contrast and sonic texture can be used to convey deep psychological shifts, making it a unique tool for learning how to describe nuanced feelings in English.

[English]

Go back and tell it

...

Please, could you be tender?

And I will sit close to you

Let's give it a minute before we admit that we're through

Guess this is the winter

Our bodies are young and blue

I'm at Jungle City, it's late, and this song is for you

'Cause I remember the rush when forever was us

Before all of the winds of regret and mistrust

Now we sit in your car and our love is a ghost

Well, I guess I should go, yeah, I guess I should go

Hard feelings

These are what they call hard feelings of love

When the sweet words and fevers

All leave us right here in the cold-old-old

Alone with the hard feelings of love

God, I wish I believed ya

When you told me this was my home-ome-ome

I light all the candles

Cut flowers for all my rooms

I care for myself the way I used to care about you

These days we kiss and we keep busy

The waves come after midnight

I call from underwater

Why even try to get right?

When you've outgrown a lover (oh)

The whole world knows, but you (oh)

It's time to let go of this endless summer afternoon

Hard feelings

These are what they call hard feelings of love

When the sweet words and fevers

All leave us right here in the cold-old-old

Alone with the hard feelings of love

God, I wish I believed ya

When you told me this was my home-ome-ome

...

Three years, loved you every single day, made me weak

It was real for me, yup, real for me

Now I'll fake it every single day

'Til I don't need fantasy, 'til I feel you leave

But I still remember everything

How we'd drift buying groceries

How you'd dance for me

I'll start letting go of little things

'Til I'm so far away from you

Far away from you, yeah

...

What is this tape?

This is my favorite tape

...

Bet you wanna rip my heart out

Bet you wanna skip my calls now

Well, guess what? I'd like that

'Cause I'm gonna mess your life up

Gonna wanna tape my mouth shut

Look out, lovers

We're L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

All fuckin' with our lover's heads, generation

...

Bet you wanna rip my heart out

Bet you wanna skip my calls now

Well, guess what? I'd like that

'Cause I'm gonna mess your life up

Gonna wanna tape my mouth shut

Look out, lovers

We're L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S (look out, lovers) generation

All fuckin' with our lover's heads generation (look out, lovers)

L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
tender /ˈtɛndər/ B2	adjective - gentle and kind
regret /rɪˈɡrɛt/ B1	noun - a feeling of sadness about something you did or did not do
mistrust /ˌmɪsˈtrʌst/ C1	noun - lack of trust; suspicion
fevers /ˈfiːvərz/ B2	noun - a state of nervous excitement or agitation
underwater /ˌʌndərˈwɔːtər/ A2	adjective - existing or used below the surface of the water
outgrown /ˌaʊtˈɡroʊn/ C1	verb - to grow too large or too mature for something
fantasy /ˈfæntəsi/ B2	noun - the faculty or activity of imagining things
drift /drɪft/ B2	verb - to be carried slowly by a current of air or water
generation /ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən/ B1	noun - all of the people born and living at about the same time
groceries /ˈɡroʊsəriz/ A2	noun - items of food sold in a grocery store

Key Grammar Structures

• Let's give it a minute before we admit that we're through

  ➔ Let's + base verb (Imperative)

  ➔ "Let's" is a contraction of "let us," used to make suggestions.

• I care for myself the way I used to care about you

  ➔ Used to + base verb

  ➔ "Used to" describes a past habit or state that is no longer true.

• When you've outgrown a lover

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense (have + past participle)

  ➔ "Have outgrown" uses the present perfect to describe an action completed in the past with relevance to the present.

• I'll fake it every single day

  ➔ Future Simple (will + base verb)

  ➔ "I'll" is the contraction of "I will," expressing a future intention or decision.

• 'Til I don't need fantasy

  ➔ Conjunctions of time (Until/'Til)

  ➔ "Til" (until) indicates the duration or the point in time up to which something happens.

• Bet you wanna rip my heart out

  ➔ Colloquial omission (Subject + auxiliary)

  ➔ The subject "I" and auxiliary "do" are omitted: "(I) bet (that) you want to..."

• Gonna wanna tape my mouth shut

  ➔ Informal contractions (Going to / Want to)

  ➔ "Gonna" is "going to" and "wanna" is "want to," common in casual speech.

• All fuckin' with our lover's heads

  ➔ Present Participle as an adverbial phrase

  ➔ "Fuckin'" is the present participle describing the ongoing action of the generation.