Young Forever – English Lyrics

• By: JAY-Z, Mr Hudson

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the layers of meaning in JAY-Z's "Young Forever" and improve your English by exploring its poignant lyrics. This song offers a unique opportunity to learn through its blend of classic pop and modern hip hop, touching on universal themes of youth, time, and legacy that are sure to resonate.

[English]

(city noise)

(fireworks setting off)

(people chattering)

(engine starting)

(people cheering)

(insects chirping)

(people cheering)

(engine starting)

(people cheering)

(whistle blowing)

(children cheering)

(whistle blowing)

(crowd cheering)

(siren blaring)

(crowd cheering)

(instrumental music)

♪ Let's dance in style, let's dance for awhile ♪

♪ Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies ♪

♪ Hoping for the best but expecting the worst ♪

♪ Are you gonna drop the bomb or not ♪

♪ Let us die young or let us live forever ♪

♪ We don't have the power, but we never say never ♪

♪ Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip ♪

♪ The music's for the sad man ♪

♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever and ever ♪

♪ Forever young, I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever, forever ♪

♪ So we live a life like a video ♪

♪ When the sun is always out and you never get old ♪

♪ And the champagne's always cold ♪

♪ And the music is always good ♪

♪ And the pretty girls just happened to stop by in the hood ♪

♪ And they hop their pretty ass up ♪

♪ On the hood of that pretty ass car ♪

♪ Without a wrinkle in today ♪

♪ 'Cause there is no tomorrow ♪

♪ Just some picture perfect day ♪

♪ To last a whole lifetime ♪

♪ And it never ends 'cause all we have to do is hit rewind ♪

♪ So lets just stay in the moment ♪

♪ Smoke some (censored), drink some wine ♪

♪ Reminisce, talk some (censored) ♪

♪ Forever young is in your mind ♪

♪ Leave a mark that can't erase, neither space nor time ♪

♪ So when the director yells cut I'll be fine ♪

♪ Ah, forever young ♪

♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever and ever ♪

♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young, forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever, forever ♪

♪ Fear not when, fear now why ♪

♪ Fear not much while we're alive ♪

♪ Life is for living, not living uptight ♪

♪ 'till you're somewhere up in the sky ♪

♪ Fear not die, I'll be alive for a million years ♪

♪ Bye bye's are not for legends ♪

♪ I'm forever young, my name shall survive ♪

♪ Through the darkest blocks, over kitchen stoves ♪

♪ Over Pyrex pots ♪

♪ My name shall be passed down to generations ♪

♪ While debating up in barbershops ♪

♪ Young slung, hung here, showed that a (censored) from here ♪

♪ With a little ambition, just what we can become here ♪

♪ And as the father pass the story down to his son's ears ♪

♪ Young'll get younger every year, yeah ♪

♪ So if you love me baby, this is how you let me know ♪

♪ Don't ever let me go, that's how you let me know, baby ♪

♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever and ever ♪

♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever, forever young ♪

♪ Slamming Bentley doors, hopping outta Porsches ♪

♪ Popping up on Forbes' list, gorgeous, hold up ♪

♪ (censored) thought I lost it, they be talking (censored) ♪

♪ I be talking more (censored), they nauseous, hold up ♪

♪ I'll be here forever, you know I'm on my fall (censored) ♪

♪ And I ain't with foreclosure, I will never forfeit ♪

♪ Less than four bars, Guru bring the chorus in ♪

♪ Did you get the picture yet ♪

♪ I'm painting you a portrait of Young ♪

♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever, forever young ♪

(crowd chanting)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
dance /dæns/ A1	verb - to move rhythmically to music, typically following a set sequence of steps noun - a series of steps and movements that match the speed and rhythm of a piece of music
young /jʌŋ/ A1	adjective - having lived for only a short time noun - young people
forever /fərˈevər/ A2	adverb - for all future time; for always
live /lɪv/ A1	verb - to have life; be alive
sky /skaɪ/ A1	noun - the region of the atmosphere and outer space seen from the earth
music /ˈmjuːzɪk/ A1	noun - vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
time /taɪm/ A1	noun - the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.
moment /ˈməʊmənt/ A2	noun - a very brief period of time
mind /maɪnd/ A2	noun - the element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought.
sun /sʌn/ A1	noun - the star around which the earth orbits, from which it receives light and warmth.
day /deɪ/ A1	noun - a period of 24 hours as a unit of time, reckoned from one midnight to the next.
girls /ɡɜːrlz/ A1	noun - a female child or young woman
car /kɑːr/ A1	noun - a road vehicle, typically with four wheels, powered by an internal combustion engine and able to carry a small number of people.
mark /mɑːrk/ A2	noun - a symbol or figure used in writing or printing. verb - to make a visible impression or stain on (something)
fear /fɪər/ A2	noun - an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. verb - be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or a threat.
blocks /blɑːks/ B1	noun - a section of a street bounded by intersecting streets.
generations /ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃnz/ B1	noun - all the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively.
ambition /æmˈbɪʃən/ B1	noun - a strong desire to do or achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.

Key Grammar Structures

• ♪ **Let's** dance in style, let's dance for a while ♪

  ➔ Imperative (Let's + verb)

  ➔ Uses the imperative form 'Let's' to suggest or encourage doing something.

• ♪ **Are you gonna** drop the bomb or not ♪

  ➔ Going to future (Are you + going to + verb)

  ➔ Uses the 'going to' future tense to express an action that is planned or expected.

• ♪ **We don't have** the power, but we never say never ♪

  ➔ Present Simple (don't/doesn't + verb)

  ➔ Uses the present simple tense with the negative 'don't' to describe a general truth or a habitual action.

• ♪ **So we live** a life like a video ♪

  ➔ Present Simple (verb)

  ➔ Uses the present simple tense to describe a general truth or habitual action.

• ♪ **So let's** just stay in the moment ♪

  ➔ Imperative (Let's + verb)

  ➔ Again, using the imperative form 'Let's' to suggest or encourage doing something.

• ♪ **Leave a mark that can't** erase, neither space nor time ♪

  ➔ Modal verb (can't + verb)

  ➔ Uses the modal verb 'can't' (cannot) to express inability.

• ♪ Fear **not when**, fear now why ♪

  ➔ Subordinating Conjunction (when, why)

  ➔ Uses subordinating conjunctions 'when' and 'why' to connect clauses.

• ♪ **I'm** forever young, my name shall survive ♪

  ➔ Contraction and Future (I'm, shall+ verb)

  ➔ Uses a contraction ('I'm') and the future form 'shall' to express a future action or state.

• ♪ **My name shall be** passed down to generations ♪

  ➔ Future Simple Passive (shall be + past participle)

  ➔ Uses the future simple passive voice to express that the name will be passed down.