People Ain't No Good – English Lyrics

• By: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music offers a unique window into its culture and emotional landscape, and Nick Cave's 'People Ain't No Good' provides a masterful, albeit somber, lesson in English poetic expression. The song's deceptively simple language builds to a profound and melancholic conclusion, making it a powerful piece for understanding how tone, repetition, and stark imagery can convey deep meaning. Its raw honesty and beautiful sadness make it a truly special and unforgettable song.

[English]

People just ain't no good

I think that's well understood

You can see it everywhere you look

People just ain't no good

...

We were married under cherry trees

...

Under blossom we made our vows

...

All the blossoms come sailing down

...

Through the streets and through the playgrounds

...

The sun would stream on the sheets

...

Woken by the morning bird

...

We'd buy the Sunday newspapers

...

And never read a single word

...

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

...

Seasons came, seasons went

The winter stripped, the blossoms bare

A different tree now lines the streets

Shaking it's fists in the air

The winter slammed us like a fist

The windows rattling in the gales

To which she drew the curtains

Made out of her wedding veils

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good at all

...

To our love send a dozen white lilies

To our love send a coffin of wood

To our love let all the pink-eyed pigeons coo

That people they just ain't no good

To our love send back all the letters

To our love a valentine of blood

To our love let all the jilted lovers cry

That people they just ain't no good

It ain't that in their hearts they're bad

They can comfort you, some even try

They nurse you when you're ill of health

They bury you when you go and die

It ain't that in their hearts they're bad

They'll stick by you if they could

Ah, but that's just bullshit, baby

People just ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good, at all

...

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good

People they ain't no good, at all

...

Key Grammar Structures

• People just ain't no good

  ➔ Present simple negative with colloquial contraction "ain't"

  ➔ The word "ain't" is a non‑standard contraction for "is not" or "are not" used in informal speech.

• We were married under cherry trees

  ➔ Passive voice (past simple)

  ➔ "were married" is the passive form of "marry", indicating that the subject "we" received the action.

• All the blossoms come sailing down

  ➔ Present simple + gerund as complement

  ➔ "sailing" is a gerund that describes the manner in which the blossoms "come".

• The winter slammed us like a fist

  ➔ Simple past + simile with "like"

  ➔ "like a fist" is a simile that compares the force of winter to the impact of a fist.

• To our love send a dozen white lilies

  ➔ Imperative sentence with omitted subject

  ➔ "send" is a bare infinitive used as a command; the subject "you" is understood.

• They'll stick by you if they could

  ➔ Future simple + first conditional (if‑clause with past simple)

  ➔ "They'll" = "they will" (future); the "if" clause uses the past simple "could" to express a hypothetical willingness.

• The windows rattling in the gales

  ➔ Present participle clause (reduced relative clause)

  ➔ "rattling" modifies "windows" and replaces a full relative clause like "that are rattling".