Too Much Love Will Kill You – English Lyrics

• By: Queen
• Album: Made In Heaven

Lyrics & Translation

Delve into the poignant lyrics of Queen's "Too Much Love Will Kill You," a song that masterfully conveys deep emotional conflict and the anguish of impossible choices in love. Through Freddie Mercury's iconic vocals and Brian May's expressive songwriting, this track offers a powerful journey into human vulnerability, making it a compelling piece for understanding English song lyrics and universal themes of heartbreak and resilience. You'll discover how personal struggles can be transformed into universally resonant art, enhancing your appreciation for the language's capacity to express profound sentiment.

[English]

I'm just the pieces of the man I used to be

Too many bitter tears are raining down on me

I'm far away from home

And I've been facing this alone for much too long, oh

I feel like no one ever told the truth to me

About growing up and what a struggle it would be

In my tangled state of mind

I've been looking back to find

Where I went wrong

Too much love will kill you

If you can't make up your mind

Torn between the lover and the love you leave behind

You're headed for disaster 'cause you never read the signs

Too much love will kill you every time

I'm just the shadow of the man I used to be

And it seems like there's no way out of this for me

I used to bring you sunshine

Now all I ever do is bring you down

Mmm, how would it be if you were standing in my shoes?

Can't you see that it's impossible to choose

No, there's no making sense of it

Every way I go I'm bound to lose

Oh-oh, yeah

Too much love will kill you

Just as sure as none at all

It'll drain the power that's in you

Make you plead and scream and crawl

And the pain will make you crazy

You're the victim of your crime

Too much love will kill you every time

Yeah-yeah, too much love will kill you

It'll make your life a lie

Yes, too much love will kill you

And you won't understand why

You'd give your life, you'd sell your soul

But here it comes again

Too much love will kill you

In the end

In the end

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
kill /kɪl/ A1	verb - to cause the death of
torn /tɔːrn/ B1	adjective - split or ripped into pieces
struggle /ˈstrʌɡl/ A2	verb - to make a great effort to do something noun - a great effort to do something
tangled /ˈtæŋɡəld/ B2	adjective - twisted together in a confused mass
disaster /dɪˈzæstər/ B1	noun - a sudden event that causes great damage or harm
drain /dreɪn/ B1	verb - to remove liquid from something
plead /pliːd/ B2	verb - to make an emotional appeal
crawl /krɔːl/ A2	verb - to move on hands and knees or with the body close to the ground
victim /ˈvɪktɪm/ A2	noun - a person harmed or killed by another
crime /kraɪm/ A2	noun - an illegal act
impossible /ɪmˈpɒsəbl/ A2	adjective - unable to occur or be done
bound /baʊnd/ B1	adjective - certain to happen or destined
sunshine /ˈsʌnʃaɪn/ A1	noun - the light and heat from the sun
crazy /ˈkreɪzi/ A2	adjective - mentally deranged
understand /ˌʌndərˈstænd/ A1	verb - to comprehend or grasp the meaning

Key Grammar Structures

• I'm just the pieces of the man I used to be

  ➔ Used to + base verb

  ➔ Expresses a past habit or state that no longer exists. "Used to be" contrasts the speaker's former self with his current fragmented state.

• Too many bitter tears are raining down on me

  ➔ Present continuous passive

  ➔ Describes an ongoing action affecting the subject (tears actively falling ON the speaker). "Are raining" personifies tears as an active force.

• I've been facing this alone for much too long

  ➔ Present perfect continuous

  ➔ Emphasizes the duration (from past to present) of an ongoing struggle. "Have been facing" highlights the continuous nature of isolation.

• Torn between the lover and the love you leave behind

  ➔ Past participle as adjective + prepositional phrase

  ➔ "Torn" functions as an adjective describing emotional state. The prepositional phrase "between...behind" shows conflicting relationships.

• You're headed for disaster 'cause you never read the signs

  ➔ Contraction + present simple passive

  ➔ Informal contraction "'cause" (because) + passive construction "signs are never read" showing habitual neglect of warnings.

• It'll drain the power that's in you

  ➔ Future simple + defining relative clause

  ➔ "Will drain" predicts future consequence. The relative clause "that's in you" (that is in you) specifies which power is affected.

• Make you plead and scream and crawl

  ➔ Causative verb + bare infinitives

  ➔ Causative "make" forces the actions (plead, scream, crawl). Bare infinitives show direct causation without "to".

• You'd give your life, you'd sell your soul

  ➔ Conditional would

  ➔ Hypothetical actions (would give/would sell) showing extreme sacrifice in imagined scenarios. Repeated structure emphasizes desperation.