Wake Up – English Lyrics

• By: Arcade Fire
• Album: Funeral

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music is a powerful tool, and Arcade Fire's 'Wake Up' offers a rich lyrical landscape for English learners. The song's clear, emotive vocals and repetitive, anthemic chorus make it accessible for practicing pronunciation and building vocabulary. Its themes of growth, change, and self-realization provide a compelling narrative to explore, making the learning process both meaningful and memorable.

[English]

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Somethin' filled up

My heart with nothin'

Someone told me not to cry

Now that I'm older

My heart's colder

And I can see that it's a lie

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Children, wake up

Hold your mistake up

Before they turn the summer into dust

If the children don't grow up

Our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up

We're just a million little god's causin' rain storms

Turnin' every good thing to rust

I guess we'll just have to adjust

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

With my lightnin' bolts a-glowin

I can see where I am goin' to be

When the reaper he reaches and touches my hand

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Oh-oh-oh-oh)

With my lightnin' bolts a-glowin'

I can see where I am goin'

With my lightnin' bolts a-glowin'

I can see where I am go, goin'

You better look out below

Key Grammar Structures

• Someone told me not to cry

  ➔ Reported speech with infinitive

  ➔ Uses "told" + object + "to" + verb in base form to report speech

• Our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up

  ➔ Contrast with "but" as a coordinating conjunction

  ➔ "But" connects two clauses to show contrast between similar ideas

• Turnin' every good thing to rust

  ➔ Gerund phrase as part of a predicate

  ➔ Using the gerund "turnin'" to describe ongoing action or process

• When the reaper he reaches and touches my hand

  ➔ Complex sentence with relative clause

  ➔ Uses a subordinate clause "When the reaper he reaches and touches my hand" to specify timing

• With my lightning bolts a-glowin'

  ➔ Prepositional phrase indicating manner or condition

  ➔ Uses "with" + noun phrase to express the manner in which something happens