Love/Paranoia – English Lyrics

• By: Tame Impala
• Album: The Slow Rush

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the hypnotic sounds of Tame Impala's 'Love/Paranoia'. This song is a perfect gateway for English learners to explore the expression of contrasting emotions and psychological states, all wrapped in a sophisticated, modern psychedelic production that makes language learning feel like a sonic journey.

[English]

I may not be as honest as I ought to be

Now that, when the walls go up

I said it didn't worry me but it hit me like an arrow

Babe, to know, I could just be paranoid

Won't quell the desire to know what was really going on

"Does it really fucking matter? Babe?" Is all you can ask me

Okay, fair play, here we go

I've heard those words before

Are you sure it was nothing

'Cause it made me feel like dying inside

Never thought I was insecure

But it's pure

Didn't notice until I was in love

For real

Am I really gonna cross the line

Just to find what you're typing?

If only I could read your mind

Oh, I'd be fine, I'd be normal

Now's my time, gonna do it

And suddenly I'm the phoney one

The only one with a problem

True love is bringing it out of me

The worst in me, and I know now

Do you remember the time we were

The time we were by the ocean?

I didn't care if it was day or night

The world was right where I wanted

Girl I'm sorry

...

Babe I'm really, really sorry

...

Key Grammar Structures

• I may not be as honest as I ought to be

  ➔ Modal verb 'ought to' for obligation/duty.

  ➔ Using "ought to" expresses a moral obligation or expectation to be honest.

• I said it didn't worry me but it hit me like an arrow

  ➔ Past simple tense for a specific completed action.

  ➔ The speaker uses "said" and "hit" to narrate a past emotional realization.

• Won't quell the desire to know what was really going on

  ➔ Noun phrase containing an infinitive clause and an embedded question.

  ➔ "to know" acts as the object of "desire", and "what was really going on" is an indirect question.

• Didn't notice until I was in love

  ➔ Time clause with 'until' indicating a transition point.

  ➔ The conjunction "until" links the action of noticing to the state of being in love.

• Am I really gonna cross the line

  ➔ Future intention using 'be going to'.

  ➔ The informal "gonna" replaces "going to" to express a future plan or intention.

• If only I could read your mind

  ➔ Second conditional structure for hypothetical desire.

  ➔ Using "If only" with "could" expresses a strong longing for an impossible or unlikely scenario.

• True love is bringing it out of me

  ➔ Present continuous tense for an ongoing process.

  ➔ The structure "is bringing" describes an effect that is happening as a result of love.

• The world was right where I wanted

  ➔ Relative clause describing a specific location.

  ➔ "where I wanted" acts as a modifier for the location implied in the context.