Most People Are Good – English Lyrics

• By: Luke Bryan

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

♪ I BELIEVE KIDS OUGHTA STAY KIDS AS LONG AS THEY CAN ♪

♪ TURN OFF THE SCREEN, GO CLIMB A TREE, GET DIRT ON THEIR HANDS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE WE GOTTA FORGIVE AND MAKE AMENDS ♪

♪ CAUSE NOBODY GETS A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE NEW OLD FRIENDS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE IN WORKING HARD FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT ♪

♪ EVEN IF IT DON'T ADD UP TO A HELL OF A LOT ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ AND MOST MAMA'S OUGHTA QUALIFY FOR SAINTHOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST FRIDAY NIGHTS ♪

♪ LOOK BETTER UNDER NEON OR STADIUM LIGHTS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE YOU LOVE WHO YOU LOVE ♪

♪ AIN'T NOTHING YOU SHOULD EVER BE ASHAMED OF ♪

♪ I BELIEVE THIS WORLD AIN'T HALF AS BAD AS IT LOOKS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE THEM STREETS OF GOLD ARE WORTH THE WORK ♪

♪ BUT I'D STILL WANNA GO EVEN IF THEY WERE PAVED IN DIRT ♪

♪ I BELIEVE THAT YOUTH IS SPENT WELL ON THE YOUNG ♪

♪ CAUSE WISDOM IN YOUR TEENS WOULD BE A LOT LESS FUN ♪

♪ I BELIEVE IF YOU JUST GO BY THE NIGHTLY NEWS ♪

♪ YOUR FAITH IN ALL MANKIND WOULD BE THE FIRST THING YOU LOSE ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ AND MOST MAMA'S OUGHTA QUALIFY FOR SAINTHOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST FRIDAY NIGHTS ♪

♪ LOOK BETTER UNDER NEON OR STADIUM LIGHTS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE YOU LOVE WHO YOU LOVE ♪

♪ AIN'T NOTHING YOU SHOULD EVER BE ASHAMED OF ♪

♪ I BELIEVE THIS WORLD AIN'T HALF AS BAD AS IT LOOKS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE THAT DAYS GO SLOW AND YEARS GO FAST ♪

♪ AND EVERY BREATH'S A GIFT THE FIRST ONE TO THE LAST ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ AND MOST MAMA'S OUGHTA QUALIFY FOR SAINTHOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST FRIDAY NIGHTS ♪

♪ LOOK BETTER UNDER NEON OR STADIUM LIGHTS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE YOU LOVE WHO YOU LOVE ♪

♪ AIN'T NOTHING YOU SHOULD EVER BE ASHAMED OF ♪

♪ I BELIEVE THIS WORLD AIN'T HALF AS BAD AS IT LOOKS ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

♪ I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ARE GOOD ♪

Key Grammar Structures

• I believe kids oughta stay

  ➔ Modal verb “ought to” (colloquial “oughta”) for giving advice or recommendation.

  ➔ The verb "oughta" (short for "ought to") shows the speaker’s recommendation: "I believe "kids" "oughta" "stay"."

• Turn off the screen, go climb a tree, get dirt on their hands

  ➔ Bare infinitive after the verb “go” used to express purpose (go + verb).

  ➔ The verbs "go" "climb" and "get" are bare infinitives showing what to do after turning off the screen: "go" "climb" "a tree".

• Cause nobody gets a second chance to make new old friends

  ➔ Zero conditional with present simple in both clauses (if omitted, “cause” = because).

  ➔ The clause "nobody gets a second chance" uses present simple to state a general truth; "cause" functions as "because" linking cause and effect.

• I believe most people are good

  ➔ Use of “most” as a determiner before a plural noun; simple present for general statements.

  ➔ "most" quantifies the noun: "most" "people" are good – a general truth expressed with the simple present "are".

• I believe most mama's oughta qualify for sainthood

  ➔ Possessive apostrophe with singular noun ending in “a” (mama’s); modal “ought to” for obligation.

  ➔ "mama's" shows possession (the qualities of a mother) and "oughta" (ought to) expresses a moral recommendation: "most" "mama's" "oughta" "qualify".

• I believe most Friday nights look better under neon or stadium lights

  ➔ Comparative structure “look better” + prepositional phrase “under …” for location.

  ➔ "look" + comparative adjective "better" describes a quality, and "under neon or stadium lights" tells where this improvement is noticed.

• I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks

  ➔ Negative contraction “ain’t” for “is not”; comparative “half as … as” structure.

  ➔ "ain't" replaces "is not" in informal speech; "half as bad as it looks" uses the pattern "half as + adjective + as" to compare degree.

• If you just go by the nightly news, your faith in all mankind would be the first thing you lose

  ➔ Second conditional: if + past simple, would + base verb (unreal present/future).

  ➔ "If you just go by the nightly news" (past simple) sets up an unreal situation; "would be" shows the imagined result: "your faith ... would be the first thing you lose".

• And every breath's a gift the first one to the last

  ➔ Contraction "'s" for "is"; noun phrase with appositive "the first one to the last".

  ➔ "breath's" contracts "breath is"; the appositive "the first one to the last" further describes the gift, meaning from beginning to end.