Settling Down – English Lyrics

• By: Miranda Lambert

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

♪♪

♪♪

♪ Should I give up sunsets ♪

♪ For marigold mornings ♪

♪ Should I look for rainbows ♪

♪ Or wait for the rain ♪

♪ Is happiness on the highway ♪

♪ Or is it parked in the driveway ♪

♪ Should I lean on you, babe ♪

♪ Or should you lean on me ♪

♪ Am I looking for comfort ♪

♪ Am I looking for an escape ♪

♪ Am I looking for you ♪

♪ Am I looking the other way ♪

♪ I'm a wild child and a homing pigeon ♪

♪ Caravan and an empty kitchen ♪

♪ Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds ♪

♪ One heart going both directions ♪

♪ One love and a couple of questions ♪

♪ Am I settling up ♪

♪ Or settling down ♪

♪ Am I settling up ♪

♪ Or settling down ♪

♪ I could plant a pretty garden♪

♪ Or just send myself flowers ♪

♪ Be a jet set Friday ♪

♪ Or a Sunday hometown girl ♪

♪ I could stay a little lonely ♪

♪ Or let you get to know me ♪

♪ Yeah, I could love a picket fence ♪

♪ If it wrapped around the world ♪

♪ I'm a wild child and a homing pigeon ♪

♪ Caravan and an empty kitchen ♪

♪ Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds ♪

♪ I'm one heart going both directions ♪

♪ One love and a couple of questions ♪

♪ Am I settling up ♪

♪ Or settling down ♪

♪ Am I looking for comfort ♪

♪ Am I looking for an escape ♪

♪ Am I looking for you ♪

♪ Am I looking the other way ♪

♪ I'm a wild child and a homing pigeon ♪

♪ Caravan and an empty kitchen ♪

♪ Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds ♪

♪ I'm one heart going both directions ♪

♪ One love and a couple of questions ♪

♪ Am I settling up ♪

♪ Or settling down ♪

♪ Am I settling up ♪

♪ Or settling down ♪

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
settling /ˈsɛtəlɪŋ/ B1	verb - to adopt a more steady or secure style of life
sunsets /ˈsʌnˌsɛts/ A1	noun - the time in the evening when the sun disappears
marigold /ˈmærɪɡoʊld/ B2	noun - a plant with bright yellow or orange flowers
rainbows /ˈreɪnˌboʊz/ A1	noun - a multicolored arc in the sky caused by rain and sunlight
happiness /ˈhæpɪnɪs/ A1	noun - the state of being happy
highway /ˈhaɪweɪ/ A2	noun - a main road, especially one connecting major towns or cities
driveway /ˈdraɪvˌweɪ/ A2	noun - a private road leading from the street to a house or garage
comfort /ˈkʌmfərt/ A2	noun - a state of physical ease and freedom from pain
escape /ɪˈskeɪp/ A2	noun - an act of breaking free from confinement or control
wild /waɪld/ A1	adjective - living or growing in the natural environment
homing /ˈhoʊmɪŋ/ B1	adjective - able to find the way back to a place
pigeon /ˈpɪdʒən/ A1	noun - a bird often found in cities
caravan /ˈkærəvæn/ B1	noun - a vehicle equipped for living in, typically towed by a car
tile /taɪl/ A2	noun - a thin square slab of baked clay or other material used for flooring
jet /dʒɛt/ A2	noun - a very fast aircraft
picket /ˈpɪkɪt/ B2	noun - a fence consisting of wooden or metal stakes
directions /dɪˈrɛkʃənz/ A1	noun - a course along which someone or something moves
questions /ˈkwɛstʃənz/ A1	noun - a sentence worded or expressed so as to elicit information
garden /ˈɡɑːrdən/ A1	noun - a piece of ground used for growing flowers, fruit, or vegetables
lonely /ˈloʊnli/ A2	adjective - sad because one has no friends or company

Key Grammar Structures

• Should I give up sunsets

  ➔ Modal Verb 'Should' for deliberation + Phrasal Verb 'give up'

  ➔ 'Should' is used to ask for advice or to deliberate on a choice. 'give up' means to stop doing something or to abandon something.

• Is happiness on the highway / Or is it parked in the driveway

  ➔ Rhetorical Questions + Prepositions of Place + Parallel Structure

  ➔ These are rhetorical questions presenting two contrasting options. 'on the highway' and 'in the driveway' use prepositions to indicate location.

• Am I looking the other way

  ➔ Present Continuous Tense + Idiomatic Expression

  ➔ 'Am I looking' uses the present continuous to ask about an ongoing action. 'looking the other way' is an idiom meaning to intentionally ignore something or avoid dealing with it.

• One heart going both directions

  ➔ Present Participle as an Adjectival Phrase

  ➔ 'going both directions' is a present participle phrase modifying 'one heart', describing its state or action.

• Am I settling up / Or settling down

  ➔ Phrasal Verbs with Contrasting Meanings

  ➔ 'settling up' means to pay a debt or conclude an agreement, while 'settling down' means to establish a stable life, often implying marriage or a permanent home. The song plays on this contrast.

• I could plant a pretty garden / Or just send myself flowers

  ➔ Modal Verb 'Could' for Possibility + Reflexive Pronoun

  ➔ 'could' expresses alternative possibilities. 'myself' is a reflexive pronoun, indicating the subject (I) is also the object of the action.

• Or let you get to know me

  ➔ Causative Verb 'Let' + Phrasal Verb 'get to know'

  ➔ 'let you get to know me' uses 'let' to mean permit or allow. 'get to know' is a phrasal verb meaning to become familiar with someone or something.

• If it wrapped around the world

  ➔ Second Conditional (Hypothetical Past/Unreal Present)

  ➔ This is part of a Second Conditional sentence ('I could love... If it wrapped...'), used to talk about an imaginary or hypothetical situation and its possible result. 'wrapped' is the simple past tense, used here for the unreal condition.

• Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds

  ➔ Complex Prepositional Phrases + Idiomatic Expression

  ➔ 'on the tile' and 'in the clouds' are prepositional phrases indicating location. 'my head up in the clouds' is an idiom meaning to be dreamy, unrealistic, or not paying attention to practical matters.