No Good Deed – English Lyrics

• By: Cynthia Erivo
• Album: Wicked: For Good

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the raw emotion and powerful narrative of Cynthia Erivo's "No Good Deed." This song offers a compelling journey through Elphaba's transformation, providing an excellent opportunity to learn English through its rich vocabulary, dramatic expressions, and exploration of complex human emotions and moral dilemmas. Discover what makes this musical highlight so special and resonant.

[English]

No good deed goes unpunished.

No act of charity goes unresented.

No good deed goes unpunished,

that's my new creed.

My road of good intentions

led where such roads always lead.

No good deed...

goes unpunished.

One question haunts and hurts

too much, too much to mention.

Was I really seeking good

or just seeking attention?

Is that all good deeds are

when looked at with an ice-cold eye?

If that's all good deeds are,

maybe that's the reason why...

No good deed goes unpunished.

All helpful urges should be circumvented.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Sure, I meant well,

well look at what well-meant did.

No good deed will I do again!

Key Grammar Structures

• No good deed goes unpunished.

  ➔ Present simple tense with passive voice

  ➔ The verb 'goes' is in the present simple tense, and the sentence uses passive voice to emphasize the action rather than the doer.

• that's my new creed.

  ➔ Contraction and possessive adjective

  ➔ 'That's' is a contraction of 'that is,' and 'my' is a possessive adjective showing ownership.

• led where such roads always lead.

  ➔ Past simple tense with adverbial clause

  ➔ 'Led' is the past simple tense of 'lead,' and 'where such roads always lead' is an adverbial clause indicating place.

• Was I really seeking good or just seeking attention?

  ➔ Past continuous vs. present continuous in indirect questions

  ➔ The sentence uses 'was seeking' (past continuous) to contrast with 'seeking' (present continuous) in an indirect question.

• If that's all good deeds are, maybe that's the reason why...

  ➔ Conditional sentence (Type 1) with contraction

  ➔ The sentence uses 'If... maybe...' to express a conditional idea, and 'that's' is a contraction of 'that is.'