I Can't Win – English Lyrics

• By: The Strokes
• Album: Room On Fire

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the atmospheric world of The Strokes! 'I Can't Win' is a perfect gateway to learning conversational English nuances, specifically how to express frustration, resignation, and complex emotions through idiomatic expressions and rhythmic phrasing.

[English]

That was you up on the mountain

All alone and all surrounded

Walking on the ground you're breaking

Laughing at the life you're wasting

One, two tries won't do it

You do it all your life and you never get through it

Everything they had to say

Had been erased in just one day

Good try

We don't like it

Good try

We won't take that shit

Oh, I can't win

Things in bars that people do

When no one wants to talk to you

Failing can be quite a breeze

He told me that these girls were easy

Happy that you said you'd mount me

Felt unlucky when you found me

Some nights come up empty handed

Yes, I'll take it

Wait now

By the sidewalk

Hold on

Yes, I'll be right back

Oh, I can't win

...

Yeah, I

Wait for something

Cool it

We won't take that shit

Good try

We don't like it

Hold on

Yes, I'll be right back

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
mountain /ˈmaʊntɪn/ A1	noun - A large natural elevation of the earth's surface
surrounded /səˈraʊndɪd/ B1	adjective - Having someone or something all around you
wasting /ˈweɪstɪŋ/ B1	verb - Using or expending something carelessly
erased /ɪˈreɪst/ B2	verb - To remove something completely
failing /ˈfeɪlɪŋ/ A2	noun - Lack of success
breeze /briːz/ B2	noun - A gentle wind, or something very easy to do
unlucky /ʌnˈlʌki/ A2	adjective - Having bad luck
sidewalk /ˈsaɪdwɔːk/ A2	noun - A paved path for pedestrians at the side of a road
laughing /ˈlɑːfɪŋ/ A1	verb - Making sounds and movements of the face that express amusement
empty /ˈɛmpti/ A1	adjective - Containing nothing

Key Grammar Structures

• That was you up on the mountain

  ➔ Demonstrative pronoun as subject

  ➔ "That" is used here to identify a specific person or situation previously mentioned or contextually understood.

• Walking on the ground you're breaking

  ➔ Reduced Relative Clause

  ➔ The phrase "that you're breaking" is simplified to "you're breaking" to modify "ground".

• One, two tries won't do it

  ➔ Future Simple (Negative)

  ➔ "Won't" (will not) indicates a prediction or a conclusion that a certain action will not be sufficient.

• Everything they had to say / Had been erased

  ➔ Past Perfect Passive

  ➔ The structure "had been erased" describes an action completed before another past action.

• Things in bars that people do

  ➔ Defining Relative Clause

  ➔ The clause "that people do" defines or limits the scope of "things in bars".

• When no one wants to talk to you

  ➔ Adverbial Clause of Time

  ➔ Introduced by "when", this clause functions as an adverb to describe the timing of the "things" mentioned earlier.

• Happy that you said you'd mount me

  ➔ Adjective + That-clause

  ➔ "Happy" is the adjective modified by the following "that" clause which provides the reason for the emotion.

• Felt unlucky when you found me

  ➔ Elliptical sentence (Subject omission)

  ➔ The subject "I" is omitted from "(I) felt unlucky", common in casual or poetic English.