Pistol – English Lyrics

• By: Cigarettes After Sex
• Album: X's

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

Give me the pistol, aim it high

I'm out in the desert shooting at the sky

Guess I really miss you and I don't know what else to do

...

Beautiful pictures that you took of us

Used to hang up there on your bedroom walls

But you took 'em all down now and you put 'em into a drawer

...

You've been on my mind

You've been on my mind

You've been on my mind so long, I can't deal with it

You've been on my mind

And I'll waste my time

'Til you lift me off the floor and love me again

...

I know if I saw you and we kissed just once

You could be happy, maybe you'd come back

'Cause I really miss you, don't know how much more I can take

You've been on my mind

You've been on my mind

You've been on my mind so long, I can't deal with it

You've been on my mind

And I'll waste my time

'Til you lift me off the floor and love me again

Oh, yeah

'Til you lift me off the floor and love me again

Oh, yeah

...

Key Grammar Structures

• Give me the pistol, aim it high

  ➔ Imperative verbs

  ➔ The verbs "give" and "aim" are used in the imperative mood, issuing a command or instruction. It's a direct request.

• Guess I really miss you and I don't know what else to do

  ➔ Modal Verb + Infinitive

  ➔ The phrase "what else to do" employs an infinitive. The use of the infinitive after "else" indicates the action the speaker doesn't know how to perform.

• Used to hang up there on your bedroom walls

  ➔ Used to + Verb

  ➔ "Used to" describes a past habit or state. It implies the action of hanging the pictures happened regularly in the past but no longer does.

• But you took 'em all down now and you put 'em into a drawer

  ➔ Past Simple Tense

  ➔ The verbs "took" and "put" are in the past simple tense, describing completed actions in the past. 'em' is a contraction of 'them'.

• You've been on my mind

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous

  ➔ The phrase "You've been on my mind" uses the present perfect continuous tense to describe an action that started in the past and continues to the present. It emphasizes the duration of the thought.

• You've been on my mind so long, I can't deal with it

  ➔ Result Clause with "so"

  ➔ The phrase uses "so" to indicate a consequence. The extent to which the person is on the speaker's mind (the cause) leads to the speaker's inability to deal with it (the result).

• And I'll waste my time

  ➔ Future Simple Tense (with "will")

  ➔ The use of "will" indicates a future action or intention. The speaker states their plan to waste time.

• 'Til you lift me off the floor and love me again

  ➔ Subordinating Conjunction "Til"

  ➔ 'Til is a contraction of "until", used here as a subordinating conjunction to introduce a time clause. It shows the condition under which the speaker's action (wasting time) will stop.

• I know if I saw you and we kissed just once

  ➔ Conditional Sentence - Type II

  ➔ This sentence uses a type II conditional, describing an unreal or hypothetical situation in the present. "Saw" is the past simple form and "kissed" is also in the past simple form, creating a hypothetical scenario.