Welcome To New York

• By: Taylor Swift
• Album: 1989 (Deluxe)

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
crowd /kraʊd/ B1	noun - a large group of people gathered together
aglow /əˈɡloʊ/ C1	adjective - glowing with light or emotion
kaleidoscope /kəˈlaɪdəˌskoʊp/ C2	noun - a toy or device that creates changing patterns of colors
heartbeat /ˈhɑːrtˌbiːt/ B2	noun - the pulsation of the heart
sound /saʊnd/ A2	noun - vibration that can be heard
welcome /ˈwɛlkəm/ A1	verb - to greet someone kindly or politely noun - an act of greeting or reception
soundtrack /ˈsaʊndˌtræk/ B2	noun - music accompanying a film or a story
dance /dæns/ A2	verb - to move the body to music noun - a series of rhythmic movements usually to music
bright /braɪt/ B2	adjective - giving off a lot of light
broken /ˈbroʊkən/ B2	adjective - damaged or not in working order
hearts /hɑːrt/ A2	noun - organ that pumps blood; also used metaphorically for feelings

Grammar:

• Walking through a crowd, the village is aglow

  ➔ Present Participle Clause/Reduced Relative Clause

  ➔ "Walking through a crowd" acts as an adverbial clause of manner, describing *how* the singer is experiencing the village. It's a shortened version of "As I was walking through a crowd..." or could be viewed as reduction of something like, "The person walking through a crowd..." It's a more concise way to express simultaneous action or condition.

• Everybody here wanted something more

  ➔ Past Simple Tense

  ➔ Uses the "Past Simple" ("wanted") to express a completed action or state in the past. It indicates that everyone in New York *at some point in the past* desired something beyond their current circumstances. The state of wanting is complete and in the past.

• It's been waiting for you

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous Tense

  ➔ Uses the "Present Perfect Continuous" ('has/have been + -ing') to express an action that started in the past and continues until now. Here, personified New York has been waiting for a period up until the present arrival of the subject.

• I could dance to this beat, beat Forevermore

  ➔ Conditional Sentence (Type 2)

  ➔ While not a complete conditional sentence, "I *could* dance" expresses a hypothetical situation. It implies that *if* certain conditions were met (perhaps a specific feeling or atmosphere provided by New York), the speaker would dance. The use of "could" indicates possibility and enthusiasm.

• The lights are so bright But they never blind me, me

  ➔ Adverb of Degree (so...that)

  ➔ This uses an implied "so...that" construction. Although "that" isn't explicitly stated, the meaning is: "The lights are *so* bright *that* they never blind me." This emphasizes the high degree of brightness while contrasting it with the speaker's resilience.

• Everybody here was someone else before

  ➔ Past Simple with 'before'

  ➔ The use of "was" (Past Simple) with the adverb "before" implies a change in identity or circumstance over time. It suggests that each person's past self is different from their present self in New York.

• And you can want who you want

  ➔ Noun Clause with 'who'

  ➔ "Who you want" functions as the object of the verb "want". It's a noun clause introduced by the relative pronoun "who", indicating that the object of desire is a person or people, and the choice is unrestricted.

• Like any great love, it keeps you guessing

  ➔ Simile

  ➔ Uses "like" to make a comparison between New York and a great love. It emphasizes that New York, similar to a significant romantic relationship, is unpredictable and full of surprises.