November Rain – English Lyrics

• By: Guns N' Roses
• Album: Use Your Illusion I

Lyrics & Translation

Learning English through "November Rain" offers a unique opportunity to delve into the language of emotion and metaphor. The song's rich lyrical tapestry explores themes of love, loss, and hope with poetic depth. Its narrative structure and vivid imagery, such as "holding a candle in the cold November rain," provide a powerful context for understanding figurative language. What makes "November Rain" special is its epic scale, combining rock with classical orchestration, which elevates the emotional weight of the lyrics and makes learning both a moving and memorable experience.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection verb - to feel affection for
eyes /aɪz/ A1	noun - organs of sight
hold /hoʊld/ A2	verb - to grasp or support with one's hands
hearts /hɑːrts/ A2	noun - organ that pumps blood
change /tʃeɪndʒ/ A2	verb - to become different noun - the act or instance of making or becoming different.
cold /koʊld/ A2	adjective - low temperature
rain /reɪn/ A1	noun - water falling from the sky
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - duration
pain /peɪn/ B1	noun - physical suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury
sure /ʃʊr/ A2	adjective - confident
rest /rest/ A2	verb - to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength
heal /hiːl/ B2	verb - to become sound or healthy again
broken /ˈbroʊkən/ B1	adjective - having been fractured or damaged
fears /fɪrz/ B1	noun - an unpleasant emotion caused by the perception of danger, pain, or threat
blame /bleɪm/ B2	verb - assign responsibility for a fault or wrong noun - responsibility for a fault or wrong
darkness /ˈdɑːrknəs/ B2	noun - the state of being dark
somebody /ˈsʌmbədi/ A1	noun - an important person

Key Grammar Structures

• When I look into your eyes, I can see a love restrained.

  ➔ Modal verb 'can' for ability/possibility; Past participle 'restrained' used as an adjective.

  ➔ Here, 'can' expresses the ability to perceive something, and 'restrained' describes the state of love, indicating it's held back or controlled. The past participle is functioning as an adjective modifying 'love'.

• Nothin' lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change.

  ➔ Use of indefinite pronoun 'Nothin''; Modal verb 'can' expressing possibility

  ➔ 'Nothin'' is used informally as a contraction of 'nothing'. 'Can change' expresses the possibility that hearts might not remain constant.

• And it's hard to hold a candle in the cold November rain.

  ➔ Use of 'it' as a dummy subject; 'to hold' as infinitive of purpose.

  ➔ 'It' is used as a placeholder subject because the real subject ('to hold a candle') is placed later in the sentence. 'To hold' functions as the purpose of why it's hard.

• We've been through this such a long long time, just tryin' to kill the pain.

  ➔ Present perfect continuous tense ('We've been through'); use of 'such' as an intensifier.

  ➔ The present perfect continuous indicates an action that started in the past and continues to the present. 'Such a long long time' emphasizes the duration of the experience.

• If we could take the time to lay it on the line, I could rest my head.

  ➔ Second conditional ('If' + past simple, 'could' + infinitive); phrasal verb 'lay it on the line'

  ➔ This sentence expresses a hypothetical situation. 'Lay it on the line' means to be honest and direct. 'Could' indicates a conditional possibility.

• Don't you know you need some time all alone?

  ➔ Tag question with negative auxiliary verb and pronoun ('Don't you know'); need + noun phrase + adjective

  ➔ The tag question 'Don't you know' is used to seek confirmation or agreement. 'Need some time all alone' expresses a requirement for solitude and emphasizes the adjective 'alone'.

• When there's no one left to blame.

  ➔ Existential 'there' followed by the verb 'to be'; Reduced relative clause ('to blame' modifying 'no one')

  ➔ 'There's' introduces the existence of 'no one left'. 'To blame' acts as a reduced relative clause, meaning 'no one who is left to blame'.