Lovely Day

• By: Bill Withers

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
wake /weɪk/ A1	verb - to stop sleeping
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection verb - to feel affection for
sunlight /ˈsʌn.laɪt/ A2	noun - the light that comes from the sun
eyes /aɪz/ A1	noun - organs used for seeing
hurt /hɜːrt/ A2	verb - to cause pain or injury
mind /maɪnd/ A2	noun - the part of a person that thinks, feels, and reasons
look /lʊk/ A1	verb - to direct one's gaze toward someone or something noun - an act of directing one's gaze
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries, people, and natural features
alright /ˌɔːlˈraɪt/ A2	adjective - satisfactory or acceptable
lovely /ˈlʌv.li/ A2	adjective - pleasant or attractive
day /deɪ/ A1	noun - the period of light between sunrise and sunset
ahead /əˈhed/ A2	adverb - in the future
face /feɪs/ A2	verb - to deal with something noun - the front part of the head
know /noʊ/ A1	verb - to be aware of
way /weɪ/ A1	noun - a method or style of doing something

Grammar:

• When I wake up in the mornin', love

  ➔ Subordinate clause with "when"

  ➔ This line uses "when" to introduce a time clause. The main clause describes what happens when the condition in the "when" clause is met. Here, it's the act of waking up.

• And somethin' without warnin', love

  ➔ Ellipsis (omission of words): "something" instead of "something comes"

  ➔ The line uses ellipsis for a more poetic and concise feel. The implied meaning is "something happens without warning."

• Bears heavy on my mind

  ➔ Phrasal verb: "bear on" (to influence or affect)

  ➔ "Bears heavy on my mind" means something is weighing heavily on the speaker's thoughts or causing them worry. "Bear on" means to have an influence or effect on something.

• Then I look at you

  ➔ Simple present tense to express a habitual action.

  ➔ The singer repeatedly looks at the person, and it has a positive effect on them. The simple present emphasizes the recurring nature of this action.

• And the world's alright with me

  ➔ Use of the possessive "'s" (world's = world is)

  ➔ Here, the "'s" is a contraction of "is". The world is alright with the speaker because of the person they're looking at.

• Just one look at you

  ➔ Prepositional phrase acting as an adverbial modifier: "Just" modifying "one look"

  ➔ "Just" emphasizes the small amount of effort or action needed - only one look - to change the speaker's perspective. "One look" acts as the subject of the implied clause.

• And I know it's gonna be

  ➔ Future tense with "gonna" (going to)

  ➔ "Gonna" is an informal contraction of "going to" and indicates future intention or prediction. The speaker is expressing certainty about the day being lovely.

• When the day that lies ahead of me

  ➔ Relative clause: "that lies ahead of me" modifies "the day"

  ➔ This uses a relative clause to further define which day is being discussed - specifically, the day that is in the future.