Healing Hands – English Lyrics

• By: Elton John
• Album: Sleeping With The Past

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music is a powerful tool, and Elton John's "Healing Hands" offers a great opportunity to explore evocative and metaphorical English lyrics. The song's clear narrative of heartbreak and recovery, combined with its soulful and uplifting melody, makes it an engaging way to understand themes of hope and renewal. Its gospel-inspired style and rich imagery provide a special context for learners to appreciate the nuances of emotional expression in English.

[English]

("Healing Hands" by Elton John)

♪ I never dreamed I could cry so hard ♪

♪ That ain't like a man ♪

♪ I could fly like a bird some days ♪

♪ Had a place where I could land ♪

♪ I could have sworn we were all locked in ♪

♪ Ain't that what you said ♪

♪ I never knew it could hurt so bad ♪

♪ When the power of love is dead ♪

♪ But giving into the nighttime ♪

♪ Ain't no cure for the pain ♪

♪ You gotta wade into the water ♪

♪ You gotta learn to live again ♪

♪ And reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ There's a light, where the darkness ends ♪

♪ Touch me now and let me see again ♪

♪ Rock me now in your gentle healing hands ♪

♪ I never knew love like poison ♪

♪ That burned like a fire ♪

♪ All I ever wanted was a reason ♪

♪ To drown in your eyes ♪

♪ I never knew sleep so restless ♪

♪ Empty arms so cold ♪

♪ That's not the way it's supposed to be ♪

♪ It ain't the spell that I was sold ♪

♪ But giving into the nighttime ♪

♪ Ain't no cure for the pain ♪

♪ You gotta wade into the water ♪

♪ You gotta learn to live again ♪

♪ And reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ There's a light, where the darkness ends ♪

♪ Touch me now and let me see again ♪

♪ Rock me now in your gentle healing hands ♪

♪ But giving into the nighttime ♪

♪ Ain't no cure for the pain ♪

♪ You gotta wade into the water ♪

♪ You gotta learn to live again ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ There's a light, where the darkness ends ♪

♪ Touch me now and let me see again ♪

♪ Rock me now in your gentle healing hands ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ There's a light, where the darkness ends ♪

♪ Touch me now and let me see again ♪

♪ Rock me now in your gentle healing hands ♪

♪ Woo-hoo, rock me now ♪

♪ Come on come on come on and ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ Reach out for her healing hands ♪

♪ There's a light, where the darkness ends ♪

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
healing /ˈhiːlɪŋ/ B1	adjective - Having the power to cure or restore to health; therapeutic. noun - The process of making or becoming sound or healthy again; recovery.
hands /hændz/ A1	noun - The end part of a person's arm, beyond the wrist, including the fingers and thumb.
reach /riːtʃ/ A1	verb - To stretch out an arm or hand in order to touch or grasp something.
light /laɪt/ A1	noun - The natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible; a source of illumination.
darkness /ˈdɑːrknəs/ B1	noun - The partial or total absence of light.
ends /ɛndz/ A1	verb - To come to a stop; finish. noun - The final part of something; a conclusion.
touch /tʌtʃ/ A1	verb - To come into contact with something. noun - An act of touching; physical contact.
rock /rɒk/ A2	verb - To move gently to and fro or from side to side, especially to comfort someone.
gentle /ˈdʒɛntl/ A2	adjective - Having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character.
pain /peɪn/ A1	noun - Highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury; mental suffering.
cure /kjʊər/ B1	noun - A remedy or treatment for a disease or condition. verb - To relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition.
wade /weɪd/ B2	verb - To walk through water or another liquid or soft substance, typically with difficulty.
water /ˈwɔːtər/ A1	noun - A colorless, transparent, odorless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms.
learn /lɜːrn/ A1	verb - To gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught.
live /lɪv/ A1	verb - To remain alive; continue to exist or have life.
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - An intense feeling of deep affection; a great interest and pleasure in something. verb - To feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone); to like or enjoy very much.
hurt /hɜːrt/ A1	verb - To cause pain or injury to (oneself or someone else); to feel pain. noun - Physical injury or pain; emotional distress.
dead /dɛd/ A1	adjective - No longer living; deprived of life; no longer functioning or effective.
nighttime /ˈnaɪttaɪm/ B1	noun - The time between evening and morning; night.
restless /ˈrɛstlɪs/ B1	adjective - Unable to rest or relax as a result of anxiety or boredom; characterized by a lack of rest or repose.

Key Grammar Structures

• ♪ I never dreamed I could cry so hard ♪

  ➔ Past Ability/Possibility with "could" (Unexpected)

  ➔ The modal verb "could" expresses a past ability or possibility, often used here with "never dreamed" to show something unexpected. "so hard" is an intensifier.

• ♪ That ain't like a man ♪

  ➔ Informal Negation "ain't" and Comparison "like a"

  ➔ "ain't" is an informal contraction for "is not" or "are not". "like a man" is a comparative phrase indicating something is not typical or characteristic of a man.

• ♪ I could have sworn we were all locked in ♪

  ➔ Past Modal Perfect (Could Have + V3)

  ➔ "could have sworn" uses the past modal perfect to express a strong past belief or assumption that may have been incorrect, or a possibility that didn't happen.

• ♪ But giving into the nighttime ♪

  ➔ Gerund as Subject & Phrasal Verb

  ➔ "giving" is a gerund functioning as the subject of the clause. "giving into" is a phrasal verb meaning to surrender or yield to something.

• ♪ Ain't no cure for the pain ♪

  ➔ Informal Double Negative (Ain't No)

  ➔ "Ain't no" is an informal, non-standard construction used for emphatic negation, equivalent to "there is no" or "there isn't any."

• ♪ You gotta learn to live again ♪

  ➔ Informal "Gotta" & Verb Pattern (Learn to + Infinitive)

  ➔ "gotta" is an informal contraction of "have got to," indicating necessity or obligation. "learn to live" illustrates the verb pattern "verb + to + infinitive."

• ♪ And reach out for her healing hands ♪

  ➔ Phrasal Verb & Present Participle as Adjective

  ➔ "Reach out for" is a phrasal verb meaning to seek or try to obtain something. "healing" is a present participle used as an adjective modifying "hands."

• ♪ There's a light, where the darkness ends ♪

  ➔ Existential "There is" & Adverbial Clause of Place

  ➔ "There's" (There is) introduces the existence of something. "where the darkness ends" is an adverbial clause of place, providing more information about the location.

• ♪ Touch me now and let me see again ♪

  ➔ Causative Verb "Let"

  ➔ The causative verb "let" is followed by an object and a bare infinitive, meaning to allow or permit someone to do something.

• ♪ That's not the way it's supposed to be ♪

  ➔ Be Supposed To (Expectation/Obligation)

  ➔ "supposed to be" expresses what is expected, intended, or required according to a rule, custom, or plan. In this negative context, it means it's not the way it should be.