Wake Me Up – English Lyrics

• By: Avicii
• Album: True

Lyrics & Translation

Delve into the inspiring lyrics of Avicii's "Wake Me Up," a global hit that blends electronic dance music with country and folk elements. This song offers a powerful message about navigating life's journey, embracing the unknown, and the universal desire for self-discovery and growth. Through its catchy melody and thoughtful words, learners can explore common English expressions related to personal growth and facing life's challenges.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
darkness /ˈdɑːknəs/ B2	noun - the state of being dark; absence of light
heart /hɑːrt/ A1	noun - a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood
journey /ˈdʒɜːrni/ B1	noun - an act of travelling from one place to another
dream /driːm/ A2	noun - a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep verb - to experience dreams during sleep
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
eyes /aɪz/ A1	noun - organs used for seeing
wake /weɪk/ A2	verb - to emerge from sleep; stop sleeping
wiser /ˈwaɪzər/ B2	adjective - having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgement.
older /ˈoʊldər/ A1	adjective - having lived for a relatively long time.
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.
finding /ˈfaɪndɪŋ/ A1	verb - discover or perceive by chance or unexpectedly.
lost /lɔːst/ A2	adjective - unable to find one's way; not knowing one's whereabouts.
weight /weɪt/ A2	noun - a body's relative mass or the quantity of matter contained by it, giving rise to a downward force; the heaviness of a person or thing.
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth, together with all of its countries and peoples.
hands /hændz/ A1	noun - the end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist, including the palm, fingers, and thumb.
chance /tʃæns/ A2	noun - a possibility of something happening.
travel /ˈtrævl/ A2	verb - make a journey, typically of some length or abroad.
young /jʌŋ/ A1	adjective - having lived or existed for only a short time.
afraid /əˈfreɪd/ A2	adjective - feeling fear or anxiety; frightened.
game /ɡeɪm/ A1	noun - a form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or chance.
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - an intense feeling of affection.
prize /praɪz/ A2	noun - a thing given as a reward to the winner of a competition or in recognition of an outstanding achievement.

Key Grammar Structures

• Feeling my way through the darkness

  ➔ Present participle used as a noun modifier.

  ➔ "Feeling" modifies the implied subject, indicating a state of action. It's functioning like an adjective describing the speaker's method.

• Guided by a beating heart

  ➔ Past participle used as an adjective phrase.

  ➔ "Guided" describes the speaker, showing they are being led by their heart. It's a reduced relative clause (who is guided...).

• They tell me I'm too young to understand

  ➔ Complex sentence with indirect speech and "too...to" structure.

  ➔ The sentence combines indirect speech ("They tell me...") with the "too...to" construction indicating an inability due to being too young.

• Well life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes

  ➔ First conditional sentence.

  ➔ This sentence expresses a likely possibility in the future: "if" condition (I don't open up my eyes) and a "will" result (life will pass me by).

• All this time I was finding myself, and I didn't know I was lost

  ➔ Past continuous contrasted with past simple, followed by past perfect continuous in reported speech.

  ➔ The "was finding" shows an ongoing process in the past, contrasted with the simple past "didn't know". "I was lost" is past continuous in reported speech because the original thought/feeling was likely 'I am lost'.

• Hope I get the chance to travel the world

  ➔ Subjunctive mood implied with "hope", and the use of the infinitive "to travel"

  ➔ "Hope" implies a desire or possibility; the speaker isn't certain it will happen. "to travel" is an infinitive functioning as a noun complement to "chance".