I've Been Loving You Too Long

• By: Otis Redding
• Album: The Very Best of Otis Redding

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
loving /ˈlʌvɪŋ/ A2	adjective - feeling or showing love. verb - to feel affection for
stop /stɒp/ A1	verb - to cease moving or operating
tired /ˈtaɪərd/ A2	adjective - in need of sleep or rest
free /friː/ A2	adjective - not under the control or power of someone else
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection verb - to feel deep affection for someone
stronger /ˈstrɒŋɡər/ A2	adjective - having the power to move heavy weights or perform other physically demanding tasks.
habit /ˈhæbɪt/ B1	noun - a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
wonderful /ˈwʌndərfl/ B1	adjective - inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good; marvelous.
cold /koʊld/ A1	adjective - of or at a low or relatively low temperature
affair /əˈfeər/ B2	noun - an event or sequence of events of a specified kind or that has previously been referred to.
old /oʊld/ A1	adjective - having lived for a long time; no longer young.
knees /niːz/ A1	noun - the joint between the thigh and the lower leg in humans.
heart /hɑːrt/ A1	noun - a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation.
soul /soʊl/ B1	noun - the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.

Grammar:

• I've been loving you too long to stop now

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous + "too" + adjective/adverb + "to" + infinitive

  ➔ The "Present Perfect Continuous" (I've been loving) emphasizes the duration of the action. "Too long to stop" means the period of loving is excessively long, making it difficult or impossible to stop. The structure shows the consequence of the long duration.

• You were tired and you want to be free

  ➔ Past Simple + conjunction "and" + present simple with infinitive "to be"

  ➔ "You were tired" describes a past state. "And" connects it to the present desire "you want to be free". "To be free" is an infinitive phrase explaining the specific wish.

• My love is growing stronger as you become a habit to me

  ➔ Present Continuous + "as" (conjunction of time) + Present Simple

  ➔ "My love is growing stronger" indicates an ongoing process. "As" introduces a dependent clause showing the reason or accompanying development: "you become a habit to me." It shows that the speaker's love intensifies *in proportion* to the other person becoming a habit.

• I don't wanna stop now, oh

  ➔ Informal contraction "wanna" (want to) + adverb "now"

  ➔ "Wanna" is a casual contraction of "want to". It's common in informal speech and song lyrics. "Now" emphasizes the immediacy of the speaker's desire not to stop.

• With you, my life has been so wonderful

  ➔ Prepositional phrase + Present Perfect Simple

  ➔ "With you" is a prepositional phrase acting as an adverbial modifier, specifying the condition or reason for the speaker's life being wonderful. "Has been so wonderful" is in the present perfect, indicating a past experience with continuing relevance or result in the present.

• And your love is growing cold

  ➔ Present Continuous tense + adjective

  ➔ "Is growing cold" uses the present continuous to describe a changing state. "Cold" is an adjective describing the state of the love.

• As our affair, affair grows old

  ➔ Repetition for emphasis + Present Simple

  ➔ Repeating "affair" emphasizes the specific relationship being discussed. "Grows old" in the present simple shows a general truth about the relationship - it is aging or declining over time.

• Don't make me stop now

  ➔ Imperative (negative) + Object pronoun + verb + adverb

  ➔ "Don't make" is a negative imperative, a command telling someone not to do something. "Me" is the object pronoun. "Stop" is the verb indicating the action to be avoided. "Now" is the adverb.