When You Gonna Learn? – English Lyrics

• By: Jamiroquai
• Album: High Times: Singles 1992 - 2006

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the soulful grooves of Jamiroquai's debut, "When You Gonna Learn?" This acid jazz masterpiece offers a fantastic entry point for English language learners, with its clear, impactful lyrics addressing environmental awareness and social responsibility. Its direct questioning and thoughtful message, combined with Jay Kay's distinctive vocal style, make it a powerful and engaging song for understanding nuanced English expressions related to activism and reflection. You'll learn vocabulary related to environmentalism and social commentary, and experience how music can convey urgent global messages.

[English]

Yeah, yeah, have you heard the news today?

People right across the world

Are pledging they will play the game

Victims of the modern world

Circumstance has brought us here

Armageddon's come too near

Too, too near now

Foresight is the only key

To save our children's destiny

The consequences are so grave

So, so grave now

The hypocrites we are their slaves

So my friends to stop the end

On each other we depend

Oh, we depend

Mountain high and river deep

Stop it goin' on

We gotta wake this world up from its sleep

Oh, people

Stop it goin' on

Yeah, yeah, have you heard the news today?

Money's on the menu in my favourite restaurant

Well don't talk about quantity

'Cause there's no fish left in the sea

Greedy men been killing all the life there ever was

And you'd better play it nature's way

Or she will take it all away

And don't try and tell me you know more than her 'bout right from wrong

Oh you've upset the balance man

Done the only thing you can

Now my life is in your hands

...

Mountain high and river deep

Oh yeah

We've gotta stop it goin' on

We gotta wake this world up from its sleep

Oh, people

Stop it goin' on

...

Mountain high and river deep, yeah

We've gotta stop it goin' on

We gotta wake this world up from its sleep

Oh, people

Stop it goin' on

Greedy men will fade away yeah, yeah, yeah

When we stop it goin' on

I know it's got to be that way

Oh, people

Stop it goin' on

I'm asking

Oh, when you gonna learn?

To stop it goin' on?

Now when you gonna learn?

To stop it goin' on?

Now when you gonna learn?

To stop it goin' on?

Oh when you gonna learn?

To stop it goin' on?

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
news /njuːz/ A2	noun - information about recent events
world /wɜːrld/ A1	noun - the earth and all its inhabitants
play /pleɪ/ A1	verb - to engage in activity for enjoyment
grave /ɡreɪv/ B2	adjective - serious or solemn
consequences /ˈkɒnsɪkwənsɪz/ B2	noun - results or effects of an action
hypocrites /ˈhɪpəkrɪts/ C1	noun - people who pretend to have virtues they do not possess
depend /dɪˈpɛnd/ B1	verb - to rely on someone or something
mountain /ˈmaʊntən/ A2	noun - a large natural elevation of the earth's surface
river /ˈrɪvər/ A1	noun - a large natural stream of water
wake /weɪk/ B1	verb - to stop sleeping
money /ˈmʌni/ A1	noun - a medium of exchange for goods and services
nature /ˈneɪtʃər/ B1	noun - the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, and landscapes
learn /lɜrn/ A2	verb - to gain knowledge or skill by study or experience
stop /stɒp/ A1	verb - to cease movement or operation
fade /feɪd/ B2	verb - to gradually grow faint and disappear

Key Grammar Structures

• Have you heard the news today?

  ➔ Present Perfect (Interrogative Form)

  ➔ Uses "have" + past participle to ask about an event that happened at an unspecified time before now. The question focuses on the relevance of the news to the present.

• Money's on the menu in my favourite restaurant

  ➔ Possessive 's, Prepositional Phrase

  ➔ "Money's" uses the possessive 's to indicate that money is the focus or priority in the restaurant. "On the menu" is a prepositional phrase indicating where the money is figuratively located.

• 'Cause there's no fish left in the sea

  ➔ Existential "there is/are", Past Participle as Adjective

  ➔ "There's" (there is) introduces the existence of something. "Left" is the past participle of "leave", used as an adjective to describe the state of the fish – none remaining.

• Greedy men been killing all the life there ever was

  ➔ Present Perfect Continuous (Colloquial), Relative Clause

  ➔ "Been killing" is a colloquial shortening of "have been killing," implying a prolonged action that started in the past and continues to the present. "There ever was" is a reduced relative clause (there was ever life) modifying "life."

• Or she will take it all away

  ➔ Future Simple (with "will"), Phrasal Verb

  ➔ "Will take" expresses a future action, a prediction about what nature will do. "Take away" is a phrasal verb meaning to remove or deprive.

• Done the only thing you can

  ➔ Past Participle as Adjective (Elliptical Clause), Modal Verb "can"

  ➔ "Done" is the past participle of "do," functioning as an adjective describing "the only thing you can (do)." The phrase implies you have exhausted your options, "can" expressing ability or possibility.

• Now my life is in your hands

  ➔ Present Simple, Prepositional Phrase

  ➔ "Is" is the present simple tense of the verb "to be", stating a current situation. "In your hands" is a prepositional phrase indicating where the speaker's life figuratively resides.

• When you gonna learn?

  ➔ Future Simple (Contraction, Informal)

  ➔ "Gonna" is a contraction of "going to," used to express future intention. "When are you going to learn?" (When you gonna learn?). Implying a sense of frustration and questioning when someone will realize the importance of change.