Song for a Friend – English Lyrics

• By: Jason Mraz
• Album: Mr. A-Z

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into Jason Mraz's heartwarming "Song for a Friend," a beautiful acoustic track that celebrates the power of friendship and self-acceptance. The clear and sincere lyrics offer an excellent opportunity to learn English vocabulary related to emotions, relationships, and encouragement, while the song's comforting melody makes it an enjoyable and accessible listening experience for language learners.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
magic /ˈmædʒɪk/ B1	noun - the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. adjective - belonging to or using or characteristic of magic.
doubt /daʊt/ B1	noun - a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction. verb - feel uncertain about.
laughing /ˈlæfɪŋ/ A2	verb - to make sounds and movements of the face and body that show amusement or happiness
speak /spiːk/ A1	verb - say something in order to convey information, an opinion, or a feeling.
skill /skɪl/ B1	noun - the ability to do something well; expertise.
fool /fuːl/ B2	noun - a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person. verb - trick or deceive.
price /praɪs/ A2	noun - the amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something.
break /breɪk/ A2	noun - an interruption of something; a pause. verb - interrupt (a sequence, course, or continuous state).
short /ʃɔːrt/ A1	adjective - measuring a small distance from end to end.
average /ˈævərɪdʒ/ B1	adjective - constituting a norm or standard; usual. noun - a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data.
comfort /ˈkʌmfərt/ B2	noun - a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint. verb - ease the grief or distress of.
state /steɪt/ B1	noun - the condition of something at a particular time.
soul /soʊl/ B1	noun - the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
control /kənˈtroʊl/ B1	noun - the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events. verb - determine the behavior or supervise the running of.
strengths /streŋθs/ B2	noun - the quality or state of being strong.

Key Grammar Structures

• "We are magic," he said

  ➔ Direct Speech

  ➔ This uses quotation marks to report the exact words spoken by someone. "We are magic" is presented as the direct quote.

• Cause I bet if you all had it all figured out Then you'd never get out of bed

  ➔ Second Conditional

  ➔ This uses the structure "if + past simple, would/could/might + infinitive" to describe hypothetical situations and their possible results. "If you all had it all figured out, then you'd never get out of bed" illustrates an unlikely scenario.

• Of all the things that I've read what he wrote me Is now sounding like the man I was hoping

  ➔ Past Perfect Continuous (was hoping)

  ➔ Uses "was hoping" to describe an action that was in progress at a point of time in the past; something the speaker *used to* expect or want.

• Cause it keeps getting easier, he'll see

  ➔ Comparative Adjective with 'getting'

  ➔ The phrase "keeps getting easier" uses 'getting' to describe a continuous change toward the comparative adjective 'easier.' It shows an ongoing process of something becoming more easy.

• You say, you shouldn't mumble when you speak

  ➔ "Shouldn't" - Negative Advice/Suggestion

  ➔ "Shouldn't" indicates that it is not a good idea or recommended to mumble when speaking. It expresses advice in a negative form.

• And if you stumble on to something better Remember that it's humble that you seek

  ➔ Subjunctive Mood (that it's humble)

  ➔ Although not explicitly using 'be', the sentence implies "that it be humble that you seek". Using 'that' followed by a subject and a base form verb is a subtle form of the subjunctive, expressing a recommendation or suggestion.

• Remember that it's humble that you seek

  ➔ Cleft Sentence (Emphasis)

  ➔ The construction "It's + [element to emphasize] + that + [rest of the sentence]" is a cleft sentence. It's used to emphasize a particular element, in this case, 'humble'.

• There's no price to pay When you give and what you take

  ➔ Ellipsis (Omission of 'When you give and when you take')

  ➔ Ellipsis is used to avoid repetition and make the sentence more concise. The 'when' is omitted the second time around. The full sentence would be 'There's no price to pay when you give and when you take'.

• Life's too short anyway But at least it's better then average

  ➔ Comparative Adjective with 'than' (better than)

  ➔ The phrase "better than average" uses the comparative adjective 'better' to indicate a higher degree of quality compared to the standard or norm, which is 'average'.