I Knew It, I Knew You – English Lyrics

• By: Taylor Swift

Lyrics & Translation

Please check the song title or artist name to receive a detailed linguistic and contextual breakdown.

[English]

I knew you

Through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer

Parachutes

For the free fall of being younger

I memorized

The sound of your bare footsteps

Running wild, it's been a long time

Life has ways of leaving those days behind

But seeing you tonight

I remembered I loved you

Came back when it mattered, I saw you

Standing there in the light of the window

Wearing that same smile

Man, it's been a while

But I knew it, I knew you

I knew it, I knew you

I knew you

All your blues like a mood ring changing colors

You did too

There were times we could fight like brothers

I watched you drive

Around the bend for

What I thought would be the last time I saw my friend

But love has ways of bringing things back to life

All you said was, "Hi"

And I remembered I loved you

Came back when it mattered, I saw you

Standing there in the light of the window

Wearing that same smile

Man, it's been a while

But I knew it, I knew you

I knew

I knew (I knew it, I knew you)

I knew

I knew (I knew it, I knew you)

I knew (oh)

I knew (whoo)

...

Oh, the rivers I cried when we said goodbye

Wondering if I'd made it up in my mind

But now you look me in the eye

And you told me I loved you

Came back when it mattered, I saw you

Standing there in the light of the window

Wearing that same smile

Yeah, it's been a while, oh

Wearing that same smile

Man, it's been a while (man, it's been a while)

Wearing that same smile

Man, it's been a while

But I knew it, I knew you

Ooh, I knew you (I knew)

I knew it, I knew you

Ooh, I knew you (I knew)

Wearing that same smile (I knew)

Ooh, I, ah (I knew)

I knew it, I knew you (I knew, I knew)

...

I knew it, I knew you (I knew)

I knew it

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
daze /deɪz/ C2	noun - a state of stunned confusion or bewilderment
parachutes /ˈpærəʃuːts/ B2	noun - devices used to slow the descent of a person or object through the air
memorized /ˈmɛməraɪzd/ B2	verb - to learn something so that you remember it perfectly
footsteps /ˈfʊtstɛps/ B1	noun - the sound of a foot hitting the ground
mattered /ˈmætərd/ A2	verb - to be important
blues /bluːz/ B2	noun - feelings of sadness or depression
bend /bɛnd/ A2	noun - a curve in a road or path
wondering /ˈwʌndərɪŋ/ A2	verb - to think about something with curiosity or doubt
younger /ˈjʌŋɡər/ A1	adjective - at an earlier stage of life
wild /waɪld/ A2	adjective - uncontrolled or energetic
smile /smaɪl/ A1	noun - a facial expression indicating pleasure
window /ˈwɪndoʊ/ A1	noun - an opening in a wall to let in light or air
rivers /ˈrɪvərz/ A1	noun - large natural streams of water flowing to the sea
cried /kraɪd/ A2	verb - to shed tears
eye /aɪ/ A1	noun - the organ of sight

Key Grammar Structures

• Life has ways of leaving those days behind

  ➔ Gerund as an object of a preposition

  ➔ The "-ing" form "leaving" functions as a noun following the preposition "of".

• What I thought would be the last time I saw my friend

  ➔ Future in the past (would)

  ➔ "Would" is used here to express a future perspective from a point in the past.

• Wondering if I'd made it up in my mind

  ➔ Past Perfect (had made)

  ➔ The contraction "I'd" stands for "I had", indicating an action completed before another past point.

• There were times we could fight like brothers

  ➔ Modal verb for past ability/possibility (could)

  ➔ "Could" denotes that fighting was something that happened repeatedly in the past.

• I remembered I loved you

  ➔ Reported speech / Object clause

  ➔ The clause "I loved you" acts as the object of the verb "remembered".

• Wearing that same smile

  ➔ Participial phrase

  ➔ The phrase starting with "wearing" describes the subject while they were standing there.

• But love has ways of bringing things back to life

  ➔ Present Perfect Simple (has...)

  ➔ "Has" followed by the base verb implies a general truth or persistent state.

• Wondering if I'd made it up in my mind

  ➔ Conditional 'if' clause (indirect question)

  ➔ "If" introduces an indirect question about whether something was real or imagined.