The Best Was Yet to Come – English Lyrics

• By: Bryan Adams
• Album: Cuts Like A Knife

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music is a powerful tool, and 'The Best Was Yet to Come' by Bryan Adams offers a unique opportunity to connect with English on an emotional level. The song's clear and heartfelt storytelling, born from a tragic real-life event, allows learners to engage with themes of hope and loss. Its narrative structure and poignant vocabulary provide a rich context for understanding nuanced expression, making it a special and memorable song for language learners.

[English]

Just a small town girl in the city lights

The best was yet to come

...

Then lonely days turned to endless nights

The best was yet to come

...

How were you to know

That you would be the lucky one

Ain't it funny how time flies

When the best was yet to come

You can cry yourself to sleep at night

You can't change the things you've done

...

You had it there then it slipped away

Yeah, you left the song unsung

...

Even through your tears

I never saw you come undone

What's so good about goodbye

When the best was yet to come

...

I find myself thinkin' about yesterday

When you were here and livin' in a dream

In the moment that it takes

You find you made your first mistake

Like the setting sun

You turn around it's gone

Just a small time girl who had it made

Or so the story goes

...

She had it there then it slipped away

Oh, how was she to know

...

Even through her tears

I never saw her come undone

Ain't it funny how time flies

When the best was yet to come, oh

What's so good about goodbye

When the best was yet to come

...

Key Grammar Structures

• Just a small town girl in the city lights

  ➔ Prepositional phrase (in the city lights)

  ➔ The preposition "in" introduces the phrase describing the setting where the girl is. It provides information about **location**.

• The best was yet to come

  ➔ Future perfect tense (was yet to come)

  ➔ This phrase uses the auxiliary verb "was" combined with "yet to come" to express an event that will happen in the future. It suggests something positive is **still going to happen**.

• How were you to know

  ➔ Inversion for emphasis and question formation

  ➔ The auxiliary verb "were" is placed before the subject "you" to form a question and add emphasis to the question. This also sounds more poetic.

• Ain't it funny how time flies

  ➔ Contraction and rhetorical question

  ➔ "Ain't" is a colloquial contraction for "am not/is not/are not" (depending on the context). The sentence is a rhetorical question; it doesn't require an answer but emphasizes the speed of time.

• You can cry yourself to sleep at night

  ➔ Reflexive pronoun ("yourself")

  ➔ The reflexive pronoun "yourself" is used because the subject of the verb "cry" is the same as the object of the verb "cry" - you are crying to yourself. It emphasizes self-directed action.

• You had it there then it slipped away

  ➔ Past Perfect tense and simple past

  ➔ The first clause "You had it there" could be considered past perfect but is often simplified in this context. The second clause uses simple past to describe a completed action in the past ("slipped away").

• Even through your tears

  ➔ Prepositional phrase (through your tears)

  ➔ The preposition "through" introduces a phrase describing the situation or context. It suggests something exists despite the tears.

• What's so good about goodbye

  ➔ Inversion and question formation; contraction.

  ➔ The contraction "What's" indicates a question. The sentence questions the merit of saying goodbye, highlighting the negative emotion.