It's So Hard to Say Goodbye – English Lyrics

• By: Boyz II Men

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the emotional depth of American soul music with Boyz II Men's 'It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.' This powerful a cappella performance offers a chance to learn vocabulary related to memory, loss, and the passage of time. The song's clear, emotive delivery and harmonies make it a special and moving way to experience the beauty of the English language through song.

[English]

- ♪ How do ♪

♪ Bye ♪

♪ Day ♪

- ♪ How do I say goodbye to what we had. (crowd cheering) ♪

♪ The good times that made us laugh outweigh the bad. ♪

♪ I thought we'd get to see forever, ♪

♪ but forever's gone away. ♪

♪ It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. ♪

- ♪ I don't know where this road (crowd cheering) ♪

♪ is going to lead. ♪

♪ All I know is where we've been ♪

♪ and what we've been through. ♪

♪ And if we get to see tomorrow, ♪

♪ I hope it's worth all our wait. ♪

♪ It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. ♪

- ♪ And I'll take with me the memories ♪

♪ to be my sunshine after rain. ♪

- ♪ It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. ♪

- One more time fellas.

- ♪ And I'll take with me the memories ♪

♪ to be my sunshine after rain. (crowd cheering) ♪

♪ It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday. ♪

(crowd cheering)

- Thank you. - Thank you. - Thank you.

- Thank very much.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
goodbye /ˌɡʊdˈbaɪ/ A1	noun - a farewell greeting
hard /hɑːrd/ A1	adjective - difficult or requiring effort
say /seɪ/ A1	verb - to speak words
yesterday /ˈjestədeɪ/ A1	noun - the day before today
memories /ˈmeməriz/ A2	noun - something remembered from the past
outweigh /ˌaʊtˈweɪ/ B1	verb - to be more significant than
through /θruː/ A1	preposition - from one side to the other
lead /liːd/ A2	verb - to guide or direct
sunshine /ˈsʌnʃaɪn/ A1	noun - light from the sun
rain /reɪn/ A1	noun - water falling from clouds
forever /fəˈreɪvər/ A1	adverb - for all time
laugh /læf/ A1	verb - to show happiness with a sound
worth /wɜːrθ/ A2	adjective - having a value or importance
wait /weɪt/ A1	verb - to stay in one place until something happens
road /roʊd/ A1	noun - a path for travel

Key Grammar Structures

• How do I say goodbye to what we had.

  ➔ Question formation with 'do' and relative clause

  ➔ Uses the auxiliary verb 'do' to form a question. The phrase 'to what we had' is a relative clause defining what 'goodbye' is referring to.

• The good times that made us laugh outweigh the bad.

  ➔ Relative clause (that made us laugh)

  ➔ The relative clause 'that made us laugh' modifies 'good times', providing additional information about them.

• I thought we'd get to see forever, but forever's gone away.

  ➔ Past tense (thought), Conditional with 'would' ('d get), and contrastive conjunction (but)

  ➔ Expresses a past belief (thought). Uses the conditional mood ('d get' - would get) and the contrastive conjunction 'but' to show a change in circumstances.

• It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

  ➔ It + be + adjective + to-infinitive (It's so hard to say)

  ➔ Uses the 'it' construction as a subject to make the statement. 'to say goodbye' functions as a subject complement, completing the meaning of 'hard'.

• I don't know where this road is going to lead.

  ➔ Indirect question ('where this road is going to lead')

  ➔ The question 'where is this road going to lead?' is embedded within a declarative sentence. The word order changes accordingly (subject-verb order).

• All I know is where we've been and what we've been through.

  ➔ Cleft sentence ('All I know is...'), with relative clause ('All I know' - the subject), and parallel structure (where we've been and what we've been through)

  ➔ A cleft sentence emphasizes 'what the speaker knows'. The relative clause 'All I know' serves as the subject. Parallel structures use the same grammatical construction (clause + clause) for similar ideas.

• And I'll take with me the memories to be my sunshine after rain.

  ➔ Future tense with 'will' ('I'll take'), prepositional phrase acting as an adverbial modifier ('with me'), and infinitive of purpose ('to be')

  ➔ The sentence uses the future tense to express future action or state. The prepositional phrase modifies the verb, indicating accompaniment. The infinitive 'to be' expresses the purpose.